Tremiti Islands · Italy · Cave & cavern
Grotta del Bue Marino
Seventy metres of cave over 2 m of water, with a beach inside
Area photo: eric spenle · CC BY-SA 4.0
A sea cave cut into the foot of Ripa dei Falconi, the cliff below Colle dell'Eremita. It runs roughly 70 m back into the rock over water only 2 m deep, with a small sandy beach inside and an innermost section that splits into two branches and holds no daylight at all. The name comes from the monk seals that once used the archipelago.
Also known as Marine Ox Cave.
Where it is and how deep
42.1073° N, 15.4776° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The cave opens at the foot of Ripa dei Falconi, the cliff under Colle dell'Eremita, and it is entered from the water rather than descended to: the water inside is about 2 m deep and stays that shallow for the roughly 70 m the cave runs back into the rock. The dive is a slow swim into the cliff rather than a depth profile, and the limits that matter are the overhead and the light you carry, not gas or bottom time.
Sunlight comes in through the mouth, and in summer the rays passing through the entrance set off reflections between the water and the walls that give the cave its colour. That fades as you go further in. The innermost part is completely dark and divides into two branches, one of which overlooks the small sandy beach inside.
Background
The cave takes its name from monk seals — the bue marino, or “marine ox”, of the Italian name. They inhabited the area in the past and were still wallowing in the waters of the archipelago a few decades ago; they are now almost totally extinct in the Mediterranean. The waters around the cave lie inside the Tremiti Islands Marine Protected Area, established in 1989, a reserve of 14.66 km² of sea and 20.41 km of coastline in the Apulia region.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
Season follows Tremiti Islands: Operators run Apr–Oct with Jun–Sep warmest; winter bora and Adriatic swell close the ferry and the dive centres.
Know before you go
- The innermost part of the cave is totally dark and splits into two branches; carry a primary light and a backup, and treat the inner section as a penetration rather than a swim-through.
Dive videos
Grotta del Bue Marino (San Domino - Tremiti) · velocebrass blues on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Grotta del Bue Marino?+
Shallow. The water inside is only about 2 metres deep along the roughly 70 m the cave runs back into the rock, so the dive is about the overhead and the darkness rather than about depth.
Sources
- Tremiti Islands — Wikivoyage
- List of Marine Protected Areas of Italy — Wikipedia
In The Logbook
- Where to dive with seals and sea lionsBig animals · 17 min read
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