"Wait… I'm Sure I Saw That In…"

Here's a confession: my wife and I are deep into a Game of Thrones rewatch, and we've turned it into a game — "spot Malta." Once you start, you can't stop. Half of Hollywood has filmed on these rocks, and chances are you've already seen Malta, Gozo and Comino without realising it.

I'll be honest — I'm a hopeless tourist. I'm far happier 60 metres down a wreck than wandering a town with a guidebook, and I'm lucky my wife has the whole land-day thing covered. But even I can't dive every day, and on the dry days (or a lazy afternoon after a morning dive) Malta turns out to be one giant film set. So here's your spotter's guide — and because I can't help myself, I've flagged which ones sit right next to a cracking dive.

Game of Thrones

This is the big one, and the reason for the rewatch obsession. Season one practically lived here. Mdina — the gorgeous walled "Silent City" — was the original King's Landing, and that main gate is the one Catelyn Stark rides through. Stand in front of it and the theme tune just starts playing in your head.

And then there's the one closest to my heart: the Azure Window at Dwejra, Gozo, where Daenerys married Khal Drogo. It famously collapsed into the sea in 2017 — and honestly, it sucks for the tourists, it's a real shame the icon is gone. But wow, what a dive site it left behind. Those enormous toppled blocks now sit on the seabed as a dramatic boulder field, and dropping down through them is one of the most atmospheric dives in Gozo. The window's still there — you just need a cylinder to see it now.

Gladiator, Troy & Napoleon

Are you not entertained? Fort Ricasoli, across the water from Valletta, is where they built the Colosseum set for Gladiator — so you've quite literally watched Russell Crowe march where Maltese stonework meets the Grand Harbour. The same fort doubled up for Troy and, more recently, Ridley Scott's Napoleon. It's basically Malta's go-to "epic" backdrop.

And for the gamers — yes, there's a crossover. The 2016 Assassin's Creed film with Michael Fassbender shot a big chunk here, with Fort Ricasoli and Malta's old stonework standing in for 15th-century Spain during the Inquisition. So if you've ever leapt off a tower in the games and fancied seeing the real-world version of that kind of architecture, a decent slice of the movie's world is sitting right across the harbour from where we kit up. Not a bad excuse for an afternoon off the boat.

Popeye — the literal village

This one's gloriously daft. The 1980 Popeye musical with Robin Williams was filmed in a purpose-built set at Anchor Bay, north-west Malta — and they never knocked it down. It's now Popeye Village, a little tourist attraction of wonky wooden houses. The bay itself is a sheltered, easy dive, so you can surface and have Bluto's house staring back at you.

By the Sea — and yes, it's a dive site

Here's my favourite bit of crossover. Mġarr ix-Xini, a tiny sheltered inlet on Gozo's south coast, is where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie filmed By the Sea (2015) — Jolie picked it herself. And it just so happens to be one of our gentle Gozo dive sites: seahorses, octopus, the lot. So you can dive the bay in the morning and watch the film that night going "I was literally just there." Smug? Absolutely.

The quick-fire round

Once you've got the eye for it, the whole place is a game of "wait, I'm sure I saw that in…". Try it on your next film night. I give it about ten minutes before you're pausing to argue about whether that's Valletta or not.

Make a day of it

This is the bit I actually believe in: a Malta dive trip doesn't have to be all wetsuit, all the time. The islands are small, the topside is genuinely world-class, and a fair few of these locations sit a stone's throw from where we dive. Do a morning dive, then let the non-diving half of the trip go full tourist round the film sets in the afternoon. Everyone's happy — even the reluctant tourists like me.

Planning a trip? Have a look at our guide to topside Malta, or how to plan a Malta dive trip around both.

Image credits: Azure Window — Berit Watkin (CC BY 2.0); Mdina gate — Nenea hartia (CC BY-SA 4.0); Fort Ricasoli — acediscovery (CC BY 4.0); Popeye Village — Felix König (CC BY 3.0); Mġarr ix-Xini — Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0). All via Wikimedia Commons.