Cathedral Cave Freediving Revisited, Gozo, Malta

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Back again to Cathedral Cave (Ghasri Valley, Gozo, Malta). I decide to investigate entry into the cave via an air shaft then free dive out of the cavern via the underwater arch. Space is tight as the shaft is only 2 feet high, but a sight to behold after crawling on my belly: I find myself on a ledge perched above water and, with a calm sea and the morning divers gone, the rocks below look like giant blue sapphire gemstones below. I jump in from the ledge and take more video from the back of the cave looking toward the underwater arch and the roof before freediving beneath the underwater arch to exit. Special shout out to Alex from Ritual Dive in Xlendi and his dive group for helping me out with mask recovery and using his much better flashlight for videography inside the cave.
Music: 'Spacial Harvest' Kevin MacLeod (TH-cam Audio Library)
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[@user-tr8zp9fw8t]

Spectacular!

[@GaryGozo]

Thanks Sue!...yeah, this one turned out really well....captured the beauty from above in the the air shaft....unfortunately, dropped my mask, but the next group of scuba divers came in and retrieved it for me and kept me going....added to the thrill....😁

[@sueash1392]

That was absolutely beautiful!

[@GaryGozo]

Thanks Sue...yeah, I had the right conditions: south wind and south waves; no swells, so inside the cave with no divers bubbles, from the ledge looking down, it was like glass and with that light coming through the entrance, really made those rocks look straight out of a movie scene.......and from the water level inside the cave you get that effect looking toward the cave entrance... deciding to enter the cave through the air shaft was the key as I could take my camera out of the waterproof case as capture better images and footage.....

[@gerhardbulla2999]

What an adventure! Great to see you well my friend!

[@GaryGozo]

Thanks Gerhard!...Yep, nice to do this cave again and get some better footage of the inside....lucky to have some divers help me out getting my mask...my mistake🤷‍♂️...but it all worked out in the end...thanks for watching and commenting...feeling good Gerhard🙂

[@thebruthaknownasp3882]

That's very cool! As you know, caves aren't good for divers. I'm glad you're ok!🙏🏿

[@GaryGozo]

Thanks Bro P....yeah, esp. the freediving rule of always go with a buddy - which I obviously didn't do on this occasion....fortunate to have some scuba divers help me out and get my mask....added to the thrill of the adventure....😁....thanks for the support....

[@ggpadilla8446]

Wow -- pretty cool! Is your stomach scratched up from crawling on that ledge? Did not look fun.

[@GaryGozo]

Thanks Ginpad! No. The rock inside the air shaft is fairly smooth- bumpy - but smooth as when the sea is angry, waves go crashing through there, so the water has worn it down....I just went slowly...as I had to move the camera in front first, then pull myself through...

[@chrisg9627]

I dived this many times, but always wanted to free-dive it.
I always took my dive groups in on the bottom to a managed ascent, but thats scuba for you.
I free dived the blue hole at Dwejra many times, both in and and out staying well clear of the arch, so my question is, what is a safe depth to dive the exit from Cathedral, and how wide is the rock arch above you ?

[@GaryGozo]

Great questions CG!...at the closest point, the top of the arch is 2-4 meters from the surface with an arch thickness of a few meters at the shortest. The arch thickness is VARIABLE, and entering to the left (looking from outside) is a LONGER swim to the inside to get under the arch. Width of the arch is about 5-10 meters. If you can free dive blue hole then no problem here....I've done blue hole long time ago and it was challenging for me...the challenging part of cathedral is 'diving into the darkness' it's flat out scary....I can't comment on safe depth as I entered/exited upside-down (so when I was swimming through, I was facing up). This way I could just 'crawl' along the arch underside until it curved away from me then I just ascended.....I did it this way initially (years ago) because I had no idea how long the swim in was and if I was running out of air and still had the arch underside above me, I could bailout and reverse course and go back outside....freediving out of the cathedral is MUCH easier as you are going into the light....