Right, it is possible in some cases to hire a mini bus or people carrier. You also have to consider the length of time in getting your car across on the ferry from Malta to Gozo and back again. Whilst the ferry crossing itself is quite quick, the queing and loading time for vehicles on and off can be quite lengthy and you would need to consider that when coming back to do the transfer to the airport.

What I would suggest for you, if you have never driven in Malta before is to get a people carrier transfer from the airport to Cirkewwa to the ferry terminal. It should not be too expensive. Sort yersens out on the ferry and then seriously consider just doing the hire car/people carrier for when you are in Gozo. Gozo is much smaller and easier to get around...you just cant get lost (remember all roads eventually lead to Victoria!). On the way back, you can return your hire car at Mgarr and then hop on the ferry and meet your transfer back to the airport at Cirkewwa when you get off.
Most firms are very reliable and will provide a service for both islands with no extra or only a very small surcharge.

This is a guy based in Xaghra where our friends have a place. http://www.gozo.com/mario

If you have no joy with that, here is another one http://www.gozo.com/gozoway
They may actually be a better option, you may have more choice of vehicle.

They also have a friend Dennis who has a taxi firm (he lives next door to them)..if I can get hold of his contact details I will do.

A simple search on google would be able to provide you with loads of firms that would do transfer etc though.

oh, you will need the ferry times too..it has a different time table in summer. http://www.gozochannel.com/timetable.asp?w=0

Driving is on the left too. Many roads though are little more than cart tracks and it can take a little getting used to the Maltese driving mentality!

I will try and dig some more info out for you..and catch up with my friends too.
You may of course want to do things differently but this is the method we have alwasy preferred.

Cheers Val.. you are a star .

Before seeing this just did a quick scan through the forums elsewhere & found lots of recommendations for http://www.mayjocarhire.com . Checking their prices it is cheaper by about 50 euros to pick up a car at mgarr rather than the aiport anyway so that will cover the cost of a mini bus transfer and what it would of cost us for a car on the ferry . So thats the cost settled , spoke to Dave and he also thinks it will be less hassle for us to pick up a car in gozo .. No doubt we can get one delivered wherever we want anyway . I've found a couple of transfer recommendations too but going to check your links out now as well .we are staying in Xaghra too at the cornucopia so right on the doorstep for your 1st link .

To kick things off I've emailed both of those & mayjos for prices & suggestions on both transfer and Car hire .

when do you go? I will see if my friends are about then..they may be able to help you out a little bit...a few pointers, places to visit..cheaper prices in the bars as they know EVERYONE!! everywhere we went with them..."ah, you friends of Dave and Christine" and brought us free drinks or a little plate of anti pasto...

Xaghra is a lovely little place..and the town hall is just amazing. There is an excellent little place in the square where you can sit and have a drink and a chill out and just gaze at it with its 2 clocks saying different times. (so the devil does not know what time it really is)

Hmm starting to feel excited now after clicking on a few links whilst waiting for my replies . Thurs 5th -Sat 14th July . It does look lovely, think I will order myself a guide book too as my little notebook is getting full. Im a bit worried about how much we will realistically want to do during the day in the heat on top of the diving but It would be nice if we can get out and about late afternoons and evenings . Need to check on opening times etc for places like the citadella & the Temples . Need to sort the diving too .. will start with Calypso & maybe Frankies in Mgarr .

St Andrews in Xlendi is also a good diving school, I have dived with them before.
I guess if you are based in Xaghra though you would be better running with Calypso from Marselforn rather than any of the others.

There is another guy based in Marselforn called Scuba King and he has a very very good reputation and you may be able to get a better deal with him rather than with Calypso.

I will check some prices out first on their web pages and email those that give me the right vibe I think Val.I know Dave will want flexibility, good customer service and preferably other British divers . His priority will be relaxing , Safe & enjoyable Dives with good banter between other Divers rather than the price .

Judging by their Website liking the sound of scuba king more & I think Dave and the lads will be happier with them .They are a british run family busines too with a very informative website . Theres a big difference between their prices & calypso too .. 6 dive package 114 Euros against 160 with calypso , although theres probably a bit of extra discount available on the calypso price for 4 .

Scuba King is very popular and highly rated. We were going to dive with him last time round/next time round but obviously it didnt happen

Out of the 2, I would go for him..but also, as an option, they can also arrange for transfer from the airport to you accomodation in Xaghra. Think it is relatively cheap. They did offer it to us when we were going to go with them...and sort us out a hire car at discounted rates. We decided that we would do it under under one roof so it was less hassle etc. Don't know if they still offer this service. Think the owner was a guy called Nick. Rob spoke to him more..send him an email and see what the craic is.

will do thanks Val

Finally got the transfers and car hire sorted and confirmed . Had prices from all 3 + the hotel ( ridiculous price on Car hire) and must say customer service and email communication excellent from all of them . My head was spinning last week with various options , prices , calculations and complications with 5 of us . Mario was more expensive on car hire but cheaper with transfers , Gozo way good on car hire but expensive on the transfers .. Mayjo were reasonable on both so decided to concentrate on them and try and get a discount for taking both which they have given me .

Gone for the door to door transfer in the end which includes the driver coming on the ferry so we dont need to offload all our luggage .. car will be delivered to us first thing in the morning so we wont need to pay for an extra full days hire when we dont arrive til the evening . After adding up the costs for upteen different options it's only cost us about another £20 to do door to door transfer both ways . A small price to pay for the grief I would of got from you know who by having to drag luggage on the ferry etc , collect car and have to try and ram everything in to get to our accomodation in gozo. It could of been the case that a couple of us would need to jump in a taxi at that point which would probably cost the £20 I would of saved.

so Im happy now and I will now move on to sorting the diving today .

Glad you got sorted Lyn. be careful with the diving though as there are alot of "hidden" extra's. eg: the prices they quote will be for a basic shore dive but then, if they have to take you out on the rib somewhere, even if it just a couple of hundred yards off shore, they will charge you for that..and class it as a boat dive..which can be quite expensive.

Also, if you go for say a 6 day package, they equate that to just 2 dives per day over 3 days..but if you did 3 dives one day and only one the next thinking as long as you did just 6 dives you would be ok..you would definitely not....., they would charge you for an extra dive on the first day, again at a ridiculous rate.

All things you need to negotiate before the start. Calypso and Scuba King would be the 2 I would recommend, possibly Scuba King more over Calypso..if you are basing your diving from Marselforn. Most dive schools will actually pick you up from your accomodation to dive..so if you are looking further afield, Frankie's in Mgarr (the ferry port) is also highly recommended by the English divers. In Xlendi (which is the other side of the island to Marselforn), we went with St Andrews, very professional and is very popular with all nationalities from Western Europe..not so much Eastern.

Hi Lyn

I have skim read this a bit as I tend to switch off a little when diving is talked about (much to my DD's disgust).

I don't really know if you are beach people but delving back into the mists of time I think there was somewhere called Ramla Bay (?) that was considered to be the one to visit, you would need to research though as things might have changed.

In fairness we tend to plonk down by pools and just have the odd day at the beach to break things up a little. Gozo is very small so you should be able to get about very easily.

After our recent visit to Malta and trip to Gozo, am toying with Gozo as the destination of our next holiday so am looking forward to Lyn's report on her return

I was so lucky really Glynis we did a week on Gozo and a week on Malta, talk about the best of both worlds. But obviously that is a big time and to a certain extent big money commitment.

Doe

You know we love Malta Glynis, however in 2014 we are all going as an extended family holiday for my retirement and it is not Malta but a farmhouse villa in Gozo that we have unanimously voted for, I even offered them the Caribbean or Florida but Gozo won.

A holiday in Gozo is much more relaxed than one in Malta and everything is much more slower paced, the one thing that you might find beneficial is hiring a car to get to all the very small places that public buses don't go to, there are a lot of small coves and villages accessible by car.

I am still sure the first time we went to Gozo it was closed, we drove through many small villages and never saw one single person

Doe Ramla Bay is still probably the best sandy beach depending on what you are looking for, it is certainly the biggest on Gozo, there are lots of small coves with either a small sandy beach or pebbles leading in to the crystal clear sea, often you can find a small cove and have it to yourself, a small bay popular with locals is Hondoq Bay which looks on to Comino.

We'd definitely hire a car Graham.

On one of our stops in Gozo we walked to the top of the church where you can see right across the Island, and we noticed all the winding roads that were quiet, it just made you want to go out and explore!

The only thing that is a little off putting is the travel ie landing in Malta then the journey up to the ferry port, the 25 min crossing, then to your accommodation Not, maybe so much on the inbound journey as you're excited but the return. I suppose you need decent flight times too?

If we did decide on Gozo (nearly wrote Goa then ) then I'd prefer to arrange transport from Malta airport that will take us straight to our accommodation. I presume this is possible?

We'd then hire a car to pick up in Gozo.

as I tend to switch off a little when diving is talked about (much to my DD's disgust).

I can see your glazed over expression from here Chris .. It's ok dont worry

Thanks for the tips Val .. Scuba king sent me lots of info but still waiting for them to come back to me with answers to a couple of questions. Yes did notice there were extra charges for boat dives etc on their price list so thats another for my checklist

Ramla bay is down in my little note book incase we fancy a beach day and I have added Hondoq Bay down too now .. thanks Graham

then I'd prefer to arrange transport from Malta airport that will take us straight to our accommodation. I presume this is possible?

Thats what we've done now Glynis .. arranged transfers & car hire with same company .. have a looksey at my last post above . It hasnt worked out much more after allowing for the fact we wont need car hire for the day we get there and the day we leave .. we would of had to pay for them as full days when we dont get there until late -ish and leave early in the morning . Now we wont even need to get our cases out of the boot until we arrive at the hotel ... with the grief I would get about that it's easier to pay the extra euros

lynwestie wrote:

Thats what we've done now Glynis .. arranged transfers & car hire with same company .. have a looksey at my last post above . It hasnt worked out much more after allowing for the fact we wont need car hire for the day we get there and the day we leave .. we would of had to pay for them as full days when we dont get there until late -ish and leave early in the morning .

Good idea re leave 1st and last day out of car hire

Now we wont even need to get our cases out of the boot until we arrive at the hotel ... with the grief I would get about that it's easier to pay the extra euros

That's exactly what I was thinking

Thanks Lyn.