A little gem in the med
I am a huge fan of Gozo, the smaller sister Island to Malta. With some 280 days of sunshine per year, Malta is a great place to escape to when things just look far to grey in the UK. Travel time is also less than driving to the far reaches of Cornwall, with a simple 3 hours flight time. The food and culture is heavily inflenced by the proximity of Italy and the near Middle Eastern countries bordering the med. 
Evidence of the presence for centuries of the Knights of St John also abounds. The strong ties to the British ever since the Napoleonic wars have made it a perfect destination for many ex-pats. English is one off the official languages of Malta and the driving is on the left.
The diving is very diverse, including wrecks and many scenic dives with a fair few caves thrown in for good measure. The scenery is rustic and some of the drives to the mainly shore based diving sites make for interesting off-roading. But it’s so worth it. Like most of the med, the sealife is less obvious than in the Redsea, but nevertheless plentiful and diverse if you care to look. Squid, octopus, wrasse, tuna, barracuda, jack, seahorses, dolphins and even very occasionally turtles can be seen.
And so I leave you for a little while, as I am off to pack. I just got some more tickets to Gozo, so this will have to wait.
