
Portofino Marine Reserve · Italy · Wreck
Relitto dell'Ischia
A 1943 merchant ship on the bottom at 90 m
Area photo: Stefan Schäfer, Lich · CC BY-SA 4.0
The merchant ship Ischia lies offshore of Punta Chiappa, on the bottom at 90 metres. She was sunk on 28 February 1943 by a British submarine, and the depth puts her outside recreational diving entirely: the published listing of Portofino's dive sites records the wreck as visitable by technical divers only.
Also known as Wreck of the Ischia.
Where it is and how deep
44.3092° N, 9.1325° EPublished position for this site.
Site maps published elsewhere
The dive
This is a technical dive and nothing else. The Ischia lies offshore of Punta Chiappa on a 90-metre bottom, which puts her outside recreational limits by a wide margin, and the published listing of the reserve's dive sites records her as visitable only by technical divers. Reaching her means the equipment, gas and staged decompression that depth requires, and a team that plans the dive as a technical one from the start.
What is published about the ship is thin: a merchant vessel, sunk on 28 February 1943 by a British submarine, lying off the point. Her dimensions, tonnage and present condition appear in no published listing of the site, so anyone planning the dive should be taking that detail from a local technical operator rather than from a site description. The position and the depth are the parts that are on record.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Ischia
- Type
- Merchant vessel
- Sunk
- 1943
- Cause
- Sunk by a British submarine on 28 February 1943
- Lies
- Offshore near Punta Chiappa, on the bottom at 90 m
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| 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)
More dive sites in Portofino Marine Reserve
Large red gorgonians on the slope under the lighthouse
Red coral and lobster on the rocks out towards open water
Pinnacle
Gorgonians and red coral on a pinnacle topping out at 13 m
Wall
A shrimp-filled cave at 37 m under a rock headland
Wall
Probably the finest red coral colony in the reserve
Wreck
A 120 m cargo ship on her side between 20 and 39 m
Wall
A wall to nearly 40 m under a rock shaped like a lion's head
Cave & cavern
Three caves, the deepest at 30–35 m ringed with red coral
Similar dives elsewhere
Near-vertical stone-cargo wreck, propeller at 75 m, trimix only
A tugboat scuttled at 16 m and opened up for divers
Wreck
Nasello Wreck
Cala Gonone & the Gulf of Orosei · Italy
An opened-up steamship hull with its engine parts exposed
Ancient amphorae and an old anchor at Mljet's western cape



