A list of the best rated scuba dive sites in Italy.

Grotto Azzurra, Blue Cave

The most beautiful and most popular dive site of Taormina, is without doubt the Grotta Azzurra or Blue Grotto. You will see thousands of shrimps and a lot of colorful corals and eels, easy for all certifications. Many dive shops offer fish feeding directly from your hand at the end of the dive. The Grotta Azzurra (Blue Cave) is shallow and fairly well sheltered from the current. The best part of the dive is the shrimps cave, marked by a coral patch on a high cliff. The small bay beneath has a s...

Secca della Colombara

The Secca della Colombara (Colombara Shoal) is one of Ustica's most popular dive sites. Located at the northern coast, it offers steep wall diving to depths of more than 50 meter deep. Separate mini walls followed by small plateaus to continue further down to depths of 55 meter. Fantastic sponge formations, huge red gorgonians and lots of small creatures inhabiting the in coral covered walls. Jacks, snappers, bream, barracuda, tuna, mackerel, you name it, it's a place for big pelagic....

HMS Regent

One of the more popular historic wreck dives in Italy is the HMS Regent, a 40 meter long British submarine serving partly as a tanker and as a minefield signaling vessel. Launched in 1930 in England, it made fame as it entered the Italian port of Kotor (Montenegro) to negotiate the release of British Foreign Minister Ronald Campbell. On their arrival, a Yugoslav naval officer told them that Yugoslavia had just been taken over by the Italians and that the minister had fled south down the coast. F...

Grotta Azzurra Wall

The Grotta Azzurra Wall is accessible only by boat and is located near Blue Cave. This dive site can only be dived in calm conditions. The captain of the boat will drop you near the entrance of Grotta Azzurra, where you can descend down to about 25 meters and swim out into the blue, make sure you keep your eyes open as you may spot moray eels and schools of barracuda and with luck a big stingray! Drift gently along with the current. Circle around the wall once or twice and marvel at the pristine...

Christ of the Abyss

Christ of the Abyss is one of the most famous dive sites in the Mediterranean; a giant bronze statue submerged in memory of scuba diver pioneer Duilio Mercante and now a symbol for all those who devote their lives to the ocean. In the Portofino protected Marine Park, Best diving possible with an abundance of marine life large and small, including barracudas, giant moon fish and many nudibranch, also beautiful walls of red and violet gorgonian and corals. Multilevel dives suitable for all...

Angelo's Cave

Angelo's Canyon is one of the most popular dive sites in Taormina and an essential dive for all fanatics of caves and cavern diving. The Canyon is, itself quite a phenomenon. Up to 10 m deep and virtually closed over at the top, it snakes its way up from depths, to emerge in a large school of reef fish and groupers. After an easy boat entry, you cross a sandy lagoon that opens onto a gently sloping reef marked with Posidonia sea weed. The amazing and eerie canyon soon comes into view. It has th...

Taormina

Taormina is a lovely village situated on the east coast of the Province of Messina, built on top of the cliff Monte Tauro. It used to be an ancient Greek settlement of which many walls, fortresses, water reservoirs and even parts of a castle remain. However, the most important attraction is without doubt the famous Teatro Greco (Greek Theatre) from the third century BC where spectacles, concerts and festivals are being held. Taormina is a picturesque village with a superb backdrop at the highest...

Pozzo del Merro

The sinkhole Pozzo del Merro (Merro Sink Hole) is Italy's most famous cave, with depths of up to 400 meter, believed to be the deepest flooded cavity in the world, a real geologic and natural monument. It is located 3 km east of Mentana, about 20km north-east of Rome inside the protected nature reserve 'Riserva Macchia del Barco e Macchia di Gattaceca'. It all starts setting up your gear near the entrance of a small 120 times 70 meter large hole in the ground. From there you walk down the stairs...

Villagonia

Situated along Capo Taormina, dive site Villagonia starts in a small sandy lagoon divided from the plateau by a big forest of Posidonia sea grass. Outside the reef table, directly in front of the lagoon, you can find some beautiful pinnacles. This is often surrounded by red and black anthias and silver sides who are hunted in flashes of silver by rainbow runners. A shallow plateau descends dramatically into a sandy wall with pinnacles. On a longer dive it is possible to see schools of barracudas...

Grotta Niedda

The Grotta Niedda is one of Italy's most popular dive sites, especially by cave specialists. The cave network called Niedda exists out of a series of caverns, canyons, rock formations and tunnels of which many can be accessed if you have the right experience. For advanced divers, but not cave specialists, there is something to be seen as well. The most popular route is a quick enter near La Punta pinnacle, descent and enter the opening to the cave there. From there you will enter another cave, ...