Ras Il-Hobz

Ras il-Hobz, known to divers as the Middle Finger, is a shore dive on a quiet stretch of the south coast of Gozo between Xatt l-Ahmar and Mgarr ix-Xini. The name roughly translates as bread point, and the road to it runs through farmers' fields to a rocky headland facing mainland Malta.

There are two entry and exit points, one on each side of the headland, both easy and both equidistant from the reef, so you can choose according to wind and dive plan. It takes about 10 minutes to swim to the Middle Finger, a pinnacle that rises from deep water, 40 metres and more, to roughly 8 to 10 metres below the surface. The channel between the rock and the shore is 35 metres deep, and the seaward side drops past 100 metres. A plateau at 5 metres suits training and deco stops, and on the reef wall at 63 metres tec divers can find a large three-pronged anchor stuck in the rock. Buoyancy control matters because of the depth all around the pinnacle.

The pinnacle is close to the drop-off along the shore, and the dive suits all levels. The topography can set up a little current that brings in fish, and most of the interesting life is above 18 metres. Nudibranchs, peacock worms swaying in the light current, moray eels in the crevices and slipper lobsters live on the pinnacle. If there is a small current at the end, it can push you back toward one of the exits.