Punta Campanella & the Sorrento Coast · Italy · Cave & cavern
Grotta di Mitigliano
A vertical shaft with a breathable air pocket inside the cavern
Photo: Mario Apuzzo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grotta di Mitigliano is a cavern about 80 m long in the north wall of Mitigliano bay, named for a Roman lord. It never goes deeper than 15 m, and divers come for the long passage, an air pocket partway in and a rare dark-loving fish.
Also known as Mitigliano cave.
Where it is and how deep
40.5854° N, 14.3270° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The entrance lies between 6 and 15 m and is about 3 m wide. After the first 20 m of passage a vertical shaft rises to a pocket of breathable air. The cavern runs on for about 80 m in all, and in its darkness lives Oligopus ater, a very rare fish that shuns light like the creatures of the abyss.
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 | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Punta Campanella & the Sorrento Coast: Spring and autumn bring the most tuna and yellowtail to Li Galli; the sea warms from 14 °C (57 °F) in February to 26 °C (79 °F) in August.
Know before you go
- An overhead passage about 80 m long and only some 3 m wide.
Dive videos
La Grotta di Mitigliano · Piero Castellano on YouTube
Sources
- Diving Sorrento - Nettuno Residence Diving — Nettuno Residence Diving
- Punti di immersione AMP Punta Campanella — Punta Campanella Diving Sorrento
- OpenStreetMap geocoding — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- Clear turquoise water over a pale seabed in a cove ringed by white limestone cliffs with dark cave mouths at the waterline by Mario Apuzzo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Punta Campanella & the Sorrento Coast
Pinnacle
Five large rock pinnacles under protection since 1993
Cave & cavern
Surfacing inside the islet in a large chamber full of breathable air
White gorgonians on a plateau, yellow sea fans down the wall below
Gorgonians in shades through to bright yellow below a tower cliff
A bronze Madonna placed by devout divers stands on the rock at 12 m
Pinnacle
A crack lined with colourful cup corals on the swim back to the boat
Similar dives elsewhere
The Shrimp Hole cavern at 24 m and a cave that holds 10 divers
A 50 m training cavern at 17 m, 15 minutes from Moraira port
Shafts of light turning the cave chambers an intense blue
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An air dome at the end of the first cave