San Vito Lo Capo & Scopello · Italy · Cave & cavern · Wall
Grotta Perciata
A cave roof so riddled with holes that a torch is barely needed
Photo: Alessio Rovere · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grotta Perciata is a wall and cave dive off Cala Mancina near San Vito lo Capo. Its name means 'holed' in Sicilian dialect, because the cave roof is pierced by so many openings that daylight floods in, and it serves as a first taste of cave diving for divers new to it.
Also known as Perciata.
Where it is and how deep
38.1746° N, 12.7178° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The boat anchors on a rock plateau with the bottom at about 6 m. The dive then follows a wall running between about 22–23 m at its deepest and about 9 m, where small octopuses often shelter in the cracks of the rock and colourful nudibranchs are easy to find, with white sea bream and young dentex around. The wall leads to the cave, whose vault is broken by so many holes that a torch is almost unnecessary inside.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows San Vito Lo Capo & Scopello: Summer is the peak season and conditions stay good well into autumn; the sea is warmest in August and coolest in February.
Dive videos
San Vito Lo Capo GROTTA PERCIATA · subseaexplorer1 on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Is the Grotta Perciata a good first cave dive?+
Yes. The roof is full of holes that let in daylight, the wall runs between about 9 and 23 m, and the dive is used as a first cave experience.
Sources
- Immersione Grotta Perciata | Under Hundred — Under Hundred
Photo credits
- Rocky shore platform with brown algae-covered rims at the waterline and clear turquoise water beyond by Alessio Rovere, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in San Vito Lo Capo & Scopello
Cave & cavern
One cave, two doors: a mouth at 18 m and another on the wall
Wreck
Conger eels and big lobsters on a wartime arms carrier
Pinnacle
An offshore shoal rising to 10 m in the Tonnara gulf
A sandy cove at 10 m, then the coast drops to 40 m
Similar dives elsewhere
A 5 m cave passage that comes out at Dofí Sud
An air dome at the end of the first cave
A tunnel crossing beneath the Kabal Peninsula
Cave & cavern
Lara Bay
Akamas Peninsula & Latchi · Cyprus
Blow holes and swim-throughs in a protected turtle bay