From a Phoenician shipwreck to downed World War II boats and bombers, online oglers can now take an amazing interactive tour of underwater archaeological sites in Malta without getting wet, or even travelling to the Mediterranean nation for that matter.

Three years in the making through a collaboration between with the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), the University of Malta, and Heritage Malta, the recently launched “The Virtual Museum – Underwater Malta” web site was not designed with the pandemic in mind, but certainly lends itself to aspirational rather physical travel.

The project’s aim is to allow viewers to see panoramic underwater scenes that are typically only viewable by diving down deep into the Mediterranean with the addition goal of perhaps inspiring divers to one day visit Malta, which offers some of the besting diving in region.

Said to be the first project of its kind in the Mediterranean, the first-rate
Underwater Malta project features 10 sites (with another 10 expected to be added by the end of the year and even more in the future) that include shipwrecks, plane crashes, submarines, and other sites off Malta’s coast at depths of between two and 110 metres.

Via 3-D models, VR video and photography that has been collected over a five-year period, viewers can explore and learn about a B24 Liberator, JU88, Phoenician shipwreck, HMS Stubborn, Victorian guns, Xlighter 127, Beaufighter, Schnellboot S-31, Fairey Swordfish, and the HMS Maori.

“The concept of the museum highlights the importance of Malta’s heritage that can only be found underwater. What we see today is just the tip of the iceberg. There was intense research done behind this project using different media and technology,” says University of Malta professor Tim Gambin.

“This Virtual Museum will also enrich our diving tourism (and) make more of Malta’s cultural heritage accessible to all tourists, not just the divers,” says Malta Tourism Authority CEO Gavin Gulia,

In 2019, there were over 100,000 tourists visiting Malta who took part in diving activities.