DISCOVER GOZO

Gozo – a wonderful diving spot!

Hello! We are delighted to have a guest blogger this weekend. Philip is from Geneva and visited Gozo last September. We didn’t need to ask him twice to share his diving experience, including some great photos, with our readers.

Philip was also one of the first participants in the photo competition of Renzo, Knight of Gozo, with this great picture:

By the way, you are still in time to participate in the game if you like! You still have until 24th April 2010, to download the competition details and get shooting & tagging!

But now, without further ado, here is Philip’s blog post! (Thanks a lot Philip!)

Already before coming to the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz on Gozo, we had planned to do a diving course on this beautiful island.

With a diving school on the spot – informing us about everything and picking us up from the hotel – we started our course immediately. After a day in the pool and a first orientation dive near the beach we went on our first open water dive near the Blue Hole at Dwejra Bay just some minutes away from the hotel.

The Azure Window sitting enthroned above us and the blue sea in front of us was just amazing.

The water was crystal clear, and we saw many colorful fishes, sea stars, corals and jellyfish. After spending over an hour under water, we were really stunned about the diving spot – underwater cliffs, tunnels, caves – on Gozo you find everything!

The next day, however, was even better! Finishing off our license in the morning, we went on our first adventure dive with our instructor Roger. He took us to the so called Inland Sea – a lagoon with a tunnel connection to the open sea.

After an incredible dive through the tunnel right under the Azure Window we finished our day with a nice cocktail at the pool bar! We will definitely come back!

Guest Bloggers wanted…

Did you have a particular Gozo experience that you think is of interest to our readers and you would like to share with them? Then we’d love to hear from you! You could add a comment to this post and we’ll get in touch with you, or send an e-mail to blog[at]discover-gozo[dot]com.

Dwejra Bay, San Lawrenz

Hi there! Just a quick intro: my name is Sabine. Being a somewhat seasoned blogger, I’ll tackle the first real installment of our new blog. But don’t be fooled – this will certainly not become a one-man-show. Quite to the contrary, our aim is to show you the nooks and crannies of Gozo how they are perceived by totally different people – real people! You are very welcome to leave comments and/or suggestions on our posts, and should you have questions, we’ll be happy to answer those too!

So without further ado, let’s get going!

It will perhaps not come as a surprise to you that our first post should be about Dwejra. I dare say that everyone who stays at the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz will pay at least one visit to the famous Azure Window (which almost made it into the New 7 Wonders of Nature!), Fungus Rock and the little Inland Sea, all of which form part of stunning Dwejra Bay. To get there is easy: exiting the hotel grounds with a left turn, turn left again at the main road – and yet again upon reaching the village square of San Lawrenz. From then on it’s downhill all the way and as straight forward as the meandering course of the steep road allows it.

Dwejra’s vicinity to the hotel have made it the favourite spot I often visit when I’m in need of “getting out”. When a day has been particularly stressful, or the stifling monotony of a never-ending week gets to me, I head down there straight after work. On four wheels it barely takes five minutes; walking, obviously, takes a little longer – unfortunately a lot longer on the steep way back!

As I leave the village core of San Lawrenz and get the first glimpses of the Mediterranean Sea, I invariably slow down, and marvel at the huge agaves that grow on more or less barren land to the right hand side of the road. They look particularly good just before sunset making for beautiful lens fodder!

The Azure Window itself is an awesome view to behold; however my preferred corner in Dwejra is a little away from that spot. I normally park my car at the first open space just before reaching the bottom of the long-winding road, and head for the rocky terrain to the left, underneath the tower and just opposite Fungus Rock.

Being a “sea person”, I love to sit down on a rock and just watch nature as she plays with water. This spectacle is especially marvellous when the sea is a little whipped up and waves crash onto shore relentlessly.

If you haven’t gathered yet what Azure Your Mind is all about, then it might be helpful if I tell you that this, for me, is it!
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