Grotta dei Gamberi

A gigantic submerged cave covered by a carpet of unicorn shrimps in an environment decorated by enchanting light plays.

 

This dive site is located on the southwestern coast of the island of Ustica‚ at “Punta Galera”. Here‚ a tongue of land that forms a rocky ridge devides the bay into two adjacent coves.

The dive starts with a descent in the shallow waters of the cove. Following the contours of the rocky ridge towards the open sea‚ we arrive at a submerged buoy; this is where the sloping reef of “Punta Galera” commences. From this point‚ we descend straight towards the base of the reef‚ reaching a depth of 40m‚ where on a sandy seabed the big mouth of the cave appears.

Inside the cave‚ we can admire the carpets of unicorn shrimp that are found on each and every of its rock formations‚ walls and ceilings. Other species we can encounter here are lobsters‚ various types of crabs‚ conger eels and a few brown hakes that enthusiastically satisfy their hunger with shrimps. Don’t forget to take a minute to admire the astonishing play of lights and emerald colours presented at the mouth of the cave.

The exit of the cave is located between a collection of big boulders and a gorgeous arch facing the open sea. From here we start our ascend along the contours of the sloping reef of Punta Galera‚ where we can take some time admiring shoals of seabream and blue runners or explore the reef for nudibranchs‚ sea stars‚ pencil sea urchins‚ octopuses‚ cuttlefish‚ moray eels‚ pipefish and lobsters.