Location of Site:
North West of Santa Marija Tunnel to the large natural arch
Average Depth: 7 metres
Maximum Depth: 30 metres
The Dive:
These caves are located on the North West coast of Comino, close to Santa Marija Bay and one can find a series of interconnecting grottos and tunnels and abundant sea life. It is also a very popular site for fish feeding such as Saddled Bream, two banded bream and chromis but please remember if you take with you food to feed the fish in a plastic bag , please take it back up !!! The Santa Marija Caves lie adjacent to each other within an inlet (8-12 metres). The inlet is host to a large number of friendly sea breams (kahli) that are used to being fed by divers and will swarm on any tasty morsel offered. To navigate the caves it is a good idea to start with the left-most cave within the inlet.
This cave, which is connected to the adjacent grotto on the right, does not otherwise lead to any other exit but the sandy bottom rises almost to the surface. While in this cave it is always possible to surface as it is semi-submerged. Once out of the first cave, either through the entrance or the side passage on the right and out of the grotto, the next cave, also semi submerged up to an extent, leads to a number of interconnecting passages all ultimately leading out to the open sea. For land-based adventurers it is worth noting that the part of the cave lying above the water surface may be reached through a passage leading down from the rocks above. Once the passages are explored and the open sea is reached, the area to the left of the exits may be explored (max depth approx 20 metres) prior to returning to the boat, either through the caves or by circumnavigating the inlet.
