Ponza & the Pontine Islands

Everything runs out of Ponza port. The island's dive centres, Odissey Diving Ponza and Ponza Diving Center, are both in the town around the harbour, and sites are reached by dinghy: the LST 349 off the west coast, the Le Formiche and Punta Papa shoals, the Faraglioni di Punta della Madonna with wall and cave diving from 4 m, the sheltered wall behind Punta Madonna used for courses, and the Guardia lighthouses on the southern tip, where current runs along the walls. Palmarola, Zannone and Gavi have no dive infrastructure of their own and are day-boat runs from Ponza; Gavi lies 120 m off the island and Scoglio Grosso sits between Ponza and Zannone.

The rock is volcanic and the coast is cut into cliffs, sea stacks and caves. The caves at Maga Circe and Capo Bianco are shallow enough for mask and fins, the Gavi cave starts at 3 m and runs about 50 m into the rock to a dark chamber, and Palmarola's Cattedrali are four caves in a row that go back until the light goes. Offshore the secche rise as shoals from deep bottoms: Secca di Silverio from 90 m of mud to a 50 m top, Secca di Gioia from 90 m to 58 m, Secca di Tramontana past 80 m on its northwest face. Groupers hold behind the boulders, morays and lobster fill the cracks in the walls, scorpionfish sit on the wrecks, and the Punta Papa wall is known for its gorgonians.

The place suits divers with range, and the technical crowd in particular. The outer secche are marketed to experienced open-circuit and CCR divers: Punta Papa tops out at 32 m, Vricci runs from 27 m to 62 m in strong current, Mezzogiorno from a 42 m cap to 85 m, and wrecks below 80 m are rebreather-only. Open Water divers still have real dives, the LST 349 stern at 19 m, the Kastell Luanda wreck at 6 m and the Faraglioni from 4 m among them, but the island's signature ground starts at 30 m. An Abruzzo dive club runs organised diving weekends on the island into early November. Divers after a reserve with tame grouper on every dive should look to Ustica instead.

Protection here is specific rather than blanket. Zannone has been inside Circeo National Park since 1979, with free landing but no overnight stays for the general public; the seabed around Palmarola is a 1,929 ha marine Site of Community Importance, separate from the smaller land-and-shore site covering Palmarola and Zannone themselves; and Capo Bianco on Ponza's west coast is a National Natural Monument. No marine-reserve status was found for Ponza's own waters or the Gavi islet. The Roman amphorae and Bourbon anchor at Secca dei Mattoni remain on the bottom.