Billinghurst Cave

Billinghurst Cave

Billinghurst cave is located beneath the village of Żebbug in a strongly indented part of the seashore on Gozo’s north coast, past the Xwejni salt pans and to the west of Reqqa point. Billinghurst is one of Gozo’s longest caverns, at about 100 meters, and not a dive for beginners. It’s circular, with a notch in the middle, a tiny bend to the left, and an airlock at the far end. This cave receives very little light, and the interior is dark. Divers do not have to dive all the way in to admire the enormity of the exit and its beautiful silhouette perspective. Colourful sponges and corallites decorate the sides of the Billinghurst cave.

A short concrete ramp on the coast road, beyond the Xwejni salt pans, leads to this dive spot. The dive trucks are then carefully moved westward around 100 meters past Ras ir-Reqqa on the uneven limestone rocks. Divers don their gear near the vehicles and descend to where they leap 2 meters into the ocean. Railings were erected around the cave to make the descent easier, and a ladder was installed near the cave for the summer months. Divers frequently end their dives in Reqqa.

The 2-meter gigantic stride places divers directly over the cave entrance, where they begin a 25-meter drop down the cavern mouth’s rock wall. After then, divers enter the tunnel and usually stick to the left wall. They dive deeper into the tunnel and lose natural daylight passing through a slit in the cavern roof. Some divers aim to turn around halfway through this massive tunnel and depart, while others seek full penetration.

Divers can surface in an airlock after diving for more than 5 minutes into the cavern and continue breathing via their regulators while casting their light on the arched natural granite ceiling. Many of the crevices and crevasses on the underwater cavern walls are home to shrimp. Following the tunnel walls or the sandy bottom, divers descend and begin diving towards the exit, where they can see anemones and shattered fragments of Lace Bryozoans. On the way out of this tunnel, the sight of blue open water is a beautiful contrast to the gloom of the cavern itself.

After departing Billinghurst cave, the dive continues along the walls or around the boulders. Divers may choose to leave from the ladder or follow the wall towards Reqqa point, where they will spend the final minutes of their dive and their safety stop.