Buggerru & Pan di Zucchero · Italy · Wall · Pinnacle · Cave & cavern
Pan di Zucchero
A great arch under the white limestone stack off Masua
Photo: Maurizio Panicara · CC BY-SA 4.0
Pan di Zucchero is the white limestone sea stack off Masua, on Sardinia's south-west coast, and its walls keep dropping below the waterline under a coat of multicoloured sponges and Parazoanthus. The dive is an easy one between 5 and 20 m, with a great arch to pass beneath and a grotto at the end, and it suits long, slow dives spent searching under boulders.
Where it is and how deep
39.3338° N, 8.3997° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The route follows the walls of the stack, which are covered in multicoloured sponges and Parazoanthus and patrolled by passing fish. The boulders at the foot hide lobsters, octopus, dusky groupers, rays and torpedo rays, and the dive passes under the stack's great arch, which is thick with colour.
The rock is a playground for nudibranch photographers, while a look into the blue can turn up schools of barracuda. The dive finishes back at 5 m inside a grotto, where divers can take the regulator out of their mouths and study the detail of the vault.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Groupers
- Stingrays
- Nudibranchs
- Barracuda
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Buggerru & Pan di Zucchero: Across Sardinia the seas are calm from May to October; each dive is planned around the state of the sea.
Dive videos
Immersione a Pan di Zucchero · carloforte diving on YouTube
Questions divers ask
What certification does the Pan di Zucchero dive need?+
It is rated easy and open from Scuba Diver level, with the route held between 5 and 20 m.
Sources
- Pan di Zucchero - Ajoodive — Ajoodive
- Grotta Pan di Zucchero - Coral Reef — Coral Reef
- Pan di Zucchero (Sardegna) — Wikipedia
Photo credits
- A white sea stack offshore beside high limestone cliffs, turquoise water over pale sand and rock, one sailing boat at anchor by Maurizio Panicara, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Buggerru & Pan di Zucchero
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Three-petal cavern where a sponge-carrying crab hides
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Surface inside an air chamber hung with stalactites
Cave & cavern
One-way swim through a wide gallery to a waiting boat
Pinnacle
Canyons between natural rock columns, rich in nudibranchs
Similar dives elsewhere
Sea stacks five minutes from port: a wall from 4 m to 20 m, an arch and a swim-through
A crack at 12 m rising to a swim-through cave at 6 m
Towering rock walls and boulders reached down two cliff ladders
A walk-in wall at 3–22 m used for courses and night dives