Malta and Gozo Diving - MV Karwela Wreck Diving Compilation - Dark Horizon Diving
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- čas přidán 18. 03. 2024
- If you have seen only one image of weck diving in Gozo, chances are it featured the iconic stairs of the MV Karwela. The Karwela is one of Gozo's 'house wrecks,' easily reached from the shore.
This video is a compilation of several dives in 2023, which is why you see different divers ascending and descending those very stairs. But there is so much more to discover on this wreck that we really love diving it on CCR with plenty of time to explore and take in those details.
The Karwela was built as a passenger ferry in Germany in 1957. This 50 m long vessel had a capacity of more than 850 passengers (no cars, though). The ship changed hands and names several times before coming to Malta on 1986 and being named Karwela. For the next few years, Karwela took passengers around the Grand Harbour in Valletta.
In 2006, this wreck was scuttled together with the nearby Cominoland. The wreck now sits just below 40 m with the deck in the 30 m range. That makes MV Karwela accessible for recreational divers, but you see so much more on a technical dive.
This compilation of videos is the result of several dives in 2023 completed by divers in open circuit and on CCR rebreathers. In this case, the rebreathers used were:
Kiss Sidewinder
Triton
DiveRite CMOptima
Hollis Prism 2
If you'd like to see this wreck for yourself, check out darkhorizondiving.com. Visit kisssidewinder.pro for more information on becoming a Sidewinder diver. Thanks to Gozo Technical Diving for the support. - Sport
The little guy in the pipe 0:55
This was so trippy! Very cool
Yes, I loved getting that shot! Took a few dives, too, because congers can be shy.
The irony of wreck dive: we're diver enjoying and grateful so much for the existence of wrecks over the unfortunate loss of life and properties of other people.
Well, in this case, there were no lives lost. The wreck was scuttled deliberately to create a place for training and an artificial 'reef' for divers to explore. Here's a link to more of the Karwela's history: maltadives.com/sites/mvkarwela-xattlahmar/en. But you're right, of course, many shipwrecks tell very sad stories.
This is off Gozo? No way, I never knew! I lived in Marsalforn for 6 months but then I never went diving. Beautiful clear seas as seen in the video. Used to love swimming at Marsalforn.
Hi Alex, yes, this is off the south coast of Gozo at Red Bay/Xatt l-Ahmar. Looks like you need to come back...
@darkhorizondiving I think so yes!
Nice search video
Thanks
Loads more life there than I ever seen when i dived there. Very little to see in the way of fish 😫
Well, compared to other areas, the Mediterranean is not exactly known for having a lot of fish. There's potentially been too much fishing, but then it's had to argue with people whose livelihood depends on it.
Hiya I have a silly question about the frontmount RB diver @0:12 - is that isolator valve missing its knob, and assuming its OPEN, what scenario is this dive that you would take ~5,000lt of a single bailout gas pls? Cheers and loving the images its a holiday at my desk!
Hey, not a silly question at all, and I guess I need to give some more context here. First of all, this is a private fun dive between friends rather than training or anything else. The diver had recently completed his Triton course and wanted to try the rebreather with different types of bailout configurations. So ... the isolator valve is closed because there is air in one cylinder and a deco gas in the other. The handwheel has been removed to avoid accidental opening/mixing. Both cylinders and regulators are labeled to avoid using the wrong gas at the wrong depth. Why not take out the manifold completely then? Because this was a trial to see how hose routing and other things would work before going to the (somewhat larger) effort of dismantling the twinset.
Now for the 5,000 lt question - maybe you've seen some of my Kiss Sidewinder videos? Taking the Sidewinder into long but not necessarily deep caves would warrant that volume of a single bailout gas, for example, because you may not be deep and have a deco obligation that requires a higher O2 concentration, but you may be far from the exit and need to cover that time.
@@darkhorizondiving Awesome, that make total sense. Love youre work and thank you very much. I'm starting down the sidewinder path but a long way to go yet. Only recently gave my bands away and now clipping my steels to my new Stealth 2.0 - never going back I'm loving it. Cheers!
@@asecret900 Geat, glad it makes sense. There are many different ways to handle bailout. Anyway, I'm actually getting ready for a Sidewinder dive this morning. Shout if I can help with your 'Sidewindering' at all.
I canno see gut
Not sure I understand?