Mediterranean · Italy
Aeolian Islands — Lipari & Vulcano
Amphorae of a Roman wreck on a volcanic shoal off Lipari
Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian Islands, and its volcanic neighbour Vulcano share a pool of boat dives on sheer walls, gullies, caves and offshore shoals. Secca di Capistello holds the amphorae of a Roman ship dated to around 300 BC, Punta Castagna drops from a white pumice plain down gullies rimmed with red gorgonians, and Secca del Bagno rises as three drowned sea stacks. Boats from Lipari also run day trips to Stromboli, Panarea and Filicudi.
About diving in Aeolian Islands — Lipari & Vulcano
The Lipari centre runs its daily dives on a RIB that carries up to 15 divers, working the coasts of Lipari and Vulcano, while the Vulcano base sits on the Sabbie Nere bay. Sites are chosen each day by the sea and the weather, and divers staying several days are not taken back to sites they have already done. Night dives are arranged on the spot when asked for, and a separate day programme takes one or two dives at Stromboli, Panarea or Filicudi.
The seabed is volcanic: vertical walls that plunge from the coast, gullies, caves and crevices, and offshore shoals thick with life. On Lipari, white dust from the old pumice quarries lies over some of the shallow ground. Red gorgonians crown the gully rims and walls, groupers hold dens among the boulders, and barracuda schools and passing amberjack work the deeper shoals, where seagrass meadows draw clouds of damselfish.
The diving suits certified divers with some experience. Secca del Bagno is hard to locate and demanding, the Roman wreck site at Capistello starts below the 18 m limit of an Open Water card, and the deepest sites run to 50 m. Secca delle Formiche, two rocks rising from 30 m to within 10 m of the surface, is not especially demanding and makes a pleasant, relaxed dive.
Best time to dive Aeolian Islands — Lipari & Vulcano
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Winter water bottoms out at about 14 °C in February, and from December to March diving on Lipari runs only on request. The Lipari centre opens its season in April, and the Vulcano base on the Sabbie Nere bay follows in May, so both islands have boats out from May to October. The archipelago is at its busiest in July and August, and August brings the warmest sea, about 26 °C. Vulcano closes after October, while Lipari keeps diving through November.
Best months: April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November
Dive types & marine life
Groupers are the steady presence, sitting in dens at Capistello, Secca del Bagno and the boulders of Pietra Menalda. Barracuda schools turn up over the Capistello wreck site, and large amberjack pass during decompression stops at Secca del Bagno. No month is tied to any of these sightings.
- Wall
- Wreck
- Reef
- Groupers
- Barracuda
- Trevally & jacks
- Octopus & cuttlefish
Best dive sites in Aeolian Islands — Lipari & Vulcano
- 1
Secca di Capistello
Archaeological zone dived only with authorised centres, on a rock running from 25 to 50 m
- 2
Punta Castagna
Plateau at about 10 m blanketed in white pumice dust from an ancient eruption
- 3
Secca del Bagno
Three submerged sea stacks, the most interesting topping out at 22 m
- 4
Scoglio dei Monaci
A gully leads onto a sheer wall followed at 35 m under fans of red gorgonians
- 5
Pietra Menalda
Circuit of a sea stack from 18 to 40 m, its boulders holding dens of octopus and morays
- 6
Secca delle Formiche
Two rocks rising from 30 m to within 10 m of the surface, the top visible from above
- 7
Parete dei Gabbiani
Wall of red and yellow gorgonians with crevices holding large lobsters
Site guides
An upright British freighter with its propeller still in place
Gullies of white pumice dropping off a snow-white plateau
Two rocks whose tops show through the clear water from the surface
How to get to Aeolian Islands — Lipari & Vulcano
Most visitors fly into Palermo or Catania on Sicily, or Reggio di Calabria on the mainland. Car ferries and faster hydrofoils run from Milazzo and Messina, and from Reggio di Calabria, to and between the islands. One dive centre is on Lipari, the largest island, and another on Vulcano.
Photos from Aeolian Islands — Lipari & Vulcano
kuhnmi · CC BY 2.0
t_y_l · CC BY-SA 2.0
Dive videos
Scuba diving in Lipari, the Aeolian Islands · Dispatches from Somewhere on YouTube
S01E03 A Typical Day - Aeolian Islands 2018 · Immersea Ocean Explorers on YouTube
Questions divers ask
What certification is needed to dive Lipari and Vulcano?+
Open Water certification allows dives to 18 m and Advanced Open Water to 30 m. The Capistello wreck site starts at 25 m and Secca del Bagno is a demanding dive, so Advanced divers get far more of the area.
Can divers visit the Roman wreck at Secca di Capistello?+
Yes, but only with an authorised dive centre, because Capistello is an archaeological zone. The ship, dated to around 300 BC, spilled its amphorae down a rock that runs from 25 to 50 m.
Do the dive centres visit the other Aeolian Islands?+
The Lipari centre runs a day programme with one or two dives at Stromboli, Panarea or Filicudi, alongside its daily dives around Lipari and Vulcano.
Sources
- La Gorgonia - Lipari dives — Diving Center La Gorgonia
- La Gorgonia - guided dives — Diving Center La Gorgonia
- La Gorgonia - the diving centre — Diving Center La Gorgonia
- Diving Center Saracen — Diving Center Saracen
- Aeolian Islands — Wikivoyage
- Lipari average sea temperatures — seatemperature.org
- Adventure dives from Lipari — Manawa
Photo credits
- A yellow-streaked volcanic crater rim in the foreground, with a bay, a village and a rocky island across deep blue sea beyond by kuhnmi, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
- A steep island coast with white-streaked slopes running down to calm blue water, seen from a boat by t_y_l, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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