HMS Maori
Gozo · Malta
A Tribal-class Royal Navy destroyer that joined the 1941 hunt for the battleship Bismarck, HMS Maori was sunk by a German air raid in Valletta's Grand Harbour in February 1942. The salvaged forward section was later scuttled off Fort St Elmo, where it now lies broken and upright on sand at 12-16 m, making it Malta's shallowest wreck and an easy shore dive after a 120 m surface swim. Flattened hull plates and exposed framework shelter moray eels, octopus, scorpionfish and shoals of salema and bream, while nudibranchs, cuttlefish and the occasional seahorse work the wreckage for macro divers.
Conditions
Depth
12 to 16 m
Good for beginners
Current
Usually still
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
20 to 30 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
14 to 27°C
Tropical wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 15 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 22 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 20 | 17 |
| Vis (m) | 12 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 12 |
| Current | Still | Still | Still | Still | Gentle | Still | Still | Still | Still | Gentle | Gentle | Still |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Mediterranean moray
Last confirmed May 15, 2026 · 130 records
Almost always
Nearly every dive
Salema
Last confirmed May 26, 2026 · 17 records
Very likely
Most dives
Common octopus
Last confirmed Jun 8, 2026 · 8 records
Likely
About 6 in 10 dives
Cardinalfish
Last confirmed Nov 18, 2025 · 7 records
Likely
About 6 in 10 dives
Common cuttlefish
Last confirmed Jun 7, 2026 · 7 records
Likely
About 6 in 10 dives
Red scorpionfish
Last confirmed Oct 8, 2025 · 6 records
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Long-snouted seahorse
Last confirmed Aug 21, 2025 · 4 records
Rare
Now and then
Gear