Portofino Marine Reserve · Italy · Wall
Grotta dell'Eremita
Red coral and lobster on the rocks out towards open water
Area photo: Stefan Schäfer, Lich · CC BY-SA 4.0
A dive of medium difficulty on the western side of the promontory, where the rock steps down as a wall until it meets sandy bottom at about 30 metres. Working out towards open water brings you to the best of it: red coral in quantity among the rocks, along with gorgonians, lobster and moray eels in the cracks.
Where it is and how deep
44.3169° N, 9.1502° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is graded medium difficulty and has a simple shape: the rock steps down as a wall until it reaches sandy bottom at around 30 metres, which gives you a clear floor to work above and an easy reference for the profile. Take it as a slow descent along the face rather than a drop to the sand, because the interest is in the rock itself and in the cracks that break it up.
Heading out towards open water the ground breaks into rocks, and that is where the site earns its reputation: red coral is abundant among them, along with gorgonians, lobster and moray eels tucked into the holes. It is close, torch-lit looking rather than a swim, and it rewards divers who spend the gas on one stretch of rock instead of covering ground. Come back up the wall to finish the dive shallow.
Background
The site is named for a cave on the shore above it. A hermit lived in that cave for thirty years, fed by the fishermen who worked this coast, and died there. The name transferred to the water below, and the dive is now one of the numbered sites on the Portofino reserve's own map — the cave itself is on land, not part of the dive.
Marine life and season
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Portofino Marine Reserve: May–Oct is the settled season; visibility is often best in late autumn, and winter storms close the exposed southern walls.
Sources
- Area naturale marina protetta Portofino — Wikivoyage (IT)
- Grotta dell'Eremita dive site — Scubago
More dive sites in Portofino Marine Reserve
Wall
Probably the finest red coral colony in the reserve
Wall
Rare false black coral on the points at 50 m
Cave & cavern
Three caves, the deepest at 30–35 m ringed with red coral
A 2.5 m bronze Christ standing on the seabed at 17 m
Wall
A submerged tunnel through the rock at 18 m
Wall
A shrimp-filled cave at 37 m under a rock headland
Large red gorgonians on the slope under the lighthouse
Green ball algae at 12–20 m, nudibranchs on the deep wall
Similar dives elsewhere
A reddish cut in the Cabo Tiñoso cliffs, down to 30 m
An old fishing net at 30 m is now a colony of peacock worms
A yellow-daisy wall at 20–30 m with groupers and barracuda over it
Beginner platform above a gorgonian drop-off starting at 30 m