Independent Scuba

Um el Faroud

Um el Faroud is no doubt one of Maltas top recreational wreck dives and one of the most famous. Although she is a scuttled wreck she makes a remarkable dive which many would consider absolute top class. In fact, I was browsing through a book store the other day and I came across a book listing top wreck dives in the world and to my surprise Malta had quite a few listed in it (HMS Maori, Imperial Eagle, Blenheim Bomber for example). Interesting and it goes to show the good quality of the wreck diving in Malta although I would probably not list all of these alongside the Yongala in Australia and the Mikhail Lermontov in New Zealand.

So – in spite of being a deliberately sunk wreck Um el Faroud does have a story to tell. While being repaired in the Malta drydocks in 1995 a gas explosion occured which killed 9 shipyard workers – a massive tragedy in a country as small as Malta. The explosion caused lots of structural damage and she was deemed unsuitable for any further commercial use so the opportunity came up to scuttle her to benefit the islands dive industry. The scuttling took place in September 1998.

She is massive – 110 meters long and with a height from the keel to the top of the funnel of 22 metres. A storm broke the wreck in two pieces a few years ago and she is gradually collapsing. That is in my opinion not a great problem – she was almost too intact before and she feels more like a “real” wreck when she is slightly damaged.

The marine life on the Faroud is often good. Big dentex are rather common, as are barracuda. You can almost always see lots of purple nudibranchs on here and this is also one of the two places where I have spotted dolphins underwater. Besides that there is always the usual cloud of damselfish and breams. In short – very nice.

Diving the Faroud can be rather tricky. It is a long swim from the entry point (perhaps 10 minutes) and some of it in blue water. There are currents which can change quickly and in addition to that, often rather poor visibility (20 metres or less most days). The depth is between 35 and 18 metres so that in combination with all other factors mean that it is very easy to use too much gas and not save enough for the way back. Unfit divers will struggle with the distance and if that is not enough the hill from the exit point to the car is very steep.

A wreck in this condition and size literally asks to be penetrated and it is very rewarding to do so. Some sections are relatively safe but one must be extremely catious in the lower areas where there is a very thick layer of slit. Do not go there without proper training or equipment.

If you want to get the most our of Faroud I strongly recommend a nitrox blend, 32% is pretty ideal. It takes away the stress of running low on both the NDL and on gas. Divers with high gas consumption should go for larger tanks as well.

I am not 100% sure what rating to give this dive but in the end it will be 5 stars. People travel far simply to do this dive and it is easy to understand why. She is huge and I have thoroughly enjoyed over 100 dives on her so she is well worth her stars!