Rdum Dun Nazju

Rdum Dun Nazju

06th June 2010

Some forty minutes after leaving the quay at Marfa, the Atlantis II was in the shadow of the cliff face known Rdum Dun Nazju. This is a cliff running more or less in a straight line from just beyond the Blata Tal-Melh right to the headland beyond which is Migra l-Ferha. Anyone has any idea who Dun Nazju was?

As soon as we rounded Cirkewwa it became apparent that although the SW was light, it was stirring up a surface chop which was causing the boat to roll and pitch. This actually became more felt at the dive site where the waves were being reflected back by the shoreline. It is impossible for any dive boat to anchor here, so this had to be a drift dive, heading in a NW direction along the cliff, so wall on the right it had to be.

Because of these conditions, time on the surface was kept to a minimum, and we immersed a few metres away from the cliff face..

For a minute or two, descent was into the blue, then the sea bed started to present itself – a sea bed pretty typical of that found beneath cliffs – this time, a jumble of car sized boulders on a gentle slope. Visibility was very good, the deep blue (probably because we were in the shade) it seemed to me, gave the place an atmosphere of an undisturbed and rarely visited place. My depth gauge stated 42.8 metres.

We spent some four minutes below 40m exploring in the crevices beneath boulders with torches on and camera shutter fingers ready for anything interesting. Then we started to ascend gradually along the cliff wall.

The dive then takes the shape of a classic wall dive with sheer walls going down into what seemed deeper water the more we headed NW. The cliff is not just a plain wall however we came across an interesting protrusion that seemed like a natural rampart jutting out. Then a few minutes before the dive’s end we came across a large overhang with a very unusual feature – in the overhang’s roof there was an opening, which led into a chamber that in turn had a wide balcony like opening on the cliff face. Pity we found this so late.

Crocodile Rock Gozo
Photo Adam Sant

Sea life – not too much! We found a couple of lobsters, and an interesting purple and yellow nudibranch, a small grouper, but precious little else. Another group however, came across a very large octopus (some one said monster), and another group reported sighting a couple of slipper lobsters (ckal).

All in all, a very interesting and relaxed dive in a remote and very rarely dived location.

DIVE SUMMARY*:

Dive location:   Rdum Dun Nazju
Dive type:         Boat dive
Bearings:          Compass not required – this a drift dive which

                         takes place on the slope beneath the cliffs

Max depth:        42.3m
Dive time :         62 mins

Sea temp :        20deg
Visibility :          Excellent – est 40m +
Attractions:       No navigation hazards

                         Boulders & spectacular wall

Overhang with interior chamber                        

The summary refers to the information recorded during this particular dive only as described in the preceding write-up, and does not reflect the actual features of the dive site.