Double Arch (Xwejni)

Divers cross the Xwejni salt pans on foot, keeping to the rocky dividing ridges so the working pans stay undisturbed, before easing into the water at a rocky inlet locals call the washing machine. From there it is a genuine slog: 200 to 300 metres of surface swimming before the reef even comes into view. The payoff starts at a drop-off around 14m, where the seabed gives way to house-sized boulders resting near 25m. The two arches appear here, stacked directly on top of each other on a headland jutting from the reef. Most divers pass through the larger, lower arch first, with the option to push out along the headland wall toward 40m before turning back. The return threads up through the smaller upper arch and along the wall to the reef top near 17m, then a long swim south over seagrass meadows toward shore, with a safety stop worked in along the rocky coastline. Sources place the site's true maximum anywhere from 40 to 52m. Treat that as a spread, not a fixed number, since it clearly shifts with how far a diver pushes along the wall.

Divers choose Double Arch for the stacked-arch geometry itself, not for an easy day out. The smaller arch sits directly above the larger one, and both undersides carry sponges and golden cup coral that only show real colour under a torch or a strobe. It is a swim-through, not a cave. The route passes under open rock rather than into a sealed passage, so no cavern certification applies, though the overhead sections still call for solid buoyancy and awareness of what sits above. Large groupers have long been part of this reef's reputation, and amberjack are regularly seen hunting off the drop-off. Barracuda were once the headline draw too. At least one recent report suggests the reef shoal has been absent since around 2017, though centre marketing still features it. Whether that population returns or not, the arches and the boulder field beneath them remain the reason to make the long swim out.

Judge this site by the forecast, not the calendar. It sits exposed to north winds and can be blown out by anything from the east, with a shore entry that turns choppy in poor weather. Dive it only in calm to moderate conditions. Bring a computer and an SMB given the current and boat traffic nearby; thin gloves help on the limestone walls without needing to touch the reef. Bottom temperatures run cooler than the surface figures suggest once a diver crosses into the 30 to 40m range, so pack heavier exposure protection than the season alone would indicate. A 5mm wetsuit covers the warmer shoulder months, but a 7mm or semi-dry is the safer call for the depths this site reaches. AOW is the accepted minimum, but the lower arch and boulder zone sit well past that certification's comfort depth, so treat anything below 30m as guided territory rather than an independent extension of the dive.