Blue Grotto (Capri)

Blue Grotto (Capri), Italy

A wooden boat prow leads the eye toward the entrance of the Blue Grotto under a golden sunset.

Go for the electric blue water inside a small sea cave on Capri, and go early, before the boats queue up.

The place

The Blue Grotto sits on the coast of Capri, an island off the Bay of Naples in southern Italy. Its entrance is low and easy to miss from the surface, so you reach it by small boat, and the boatmen time each approach to the gap in the swell. Once inside, the walls look grey-green until the light changes, and then the whole cavern fills with a blue that seems to rise out of the water itself. The colour comes from sunlight entering below the waterline through an opening in the rock, bouncing off the sandy floor and lifting back into the chamber. The cave runs deep into the cliff and drops a long way beneath the surface, so most of what you see is water lit from underneath.

The island is small, but its reputation is large. Capri has been a holiday place for a very long time, and Roman rulers liked its cliffs and quiet bays enough to build villas here. Today the grotto is the island's best-known attraction, and it brings the crowds you would expect. From late morning in high summer, boats queue at the sea entrance, and the wait can stretch to an hour or more on busy days. Outside the peak months the island slows down, and the water is often at its clearest in the early hours when the sun is still low.

Be realistic about the day. The sea decides whether you get in at all. Swell or wind can close the entrance, and the light depends on the weather, so a grey afternoon can make the water look flat. Bring a towel, a dry bag and some patience. Treat the grotto as one part of a day that also takes in the town, the cliffs and the views across to the Sorrentine coast.

Its story

The grotto's story begins in Roman times, when it served as a private bathing place for the emperor Tiberius. He moved his court to Capri and had the cave fitted out with sculpture and resting ledges around its walls. Fragments of that decoration have since been recovered from the floor. Statues of the sea gods, including Neptune and Triton, lie scattered somewhere below the surface, and enough bases have turned up to suggest that several more figures still rest on the bottom.

A Roman writer, Pliny the Elder, described the cave as holding a Triton figure blowing on a shell. The statue that survives lacks its arms, which were probably raised to hold a conch, so the recovered pieces fit his description closely. Some scholars picture the original scheme as a crowd of Triton figures led by a Neptune, set around the walls of the chamber. A modern conservation group has since placed new statues in the grotto to give visitors a sense of that vision, a reminder of how theatrical the cave once was.

The legends are less verifiable but more colourful. Capri features in Greek myth as the island of the sirens, and Tiberius's villa above the cliffs became the centre of stories about excess and cruelty. Whatever happened on those rocks, the grotto's shape and light have drawn painters and photographers for generations, and the sea entrance has changed little in appearance. Its natural glow is the real star. The statues, lost and partly recovered, explain why the cave was once more than a swimming hole.

What to see

Culture

The Blue Grotto is a working sea cave as well as a natural wonder, and the people who run its boats take the entrance seriously. Queues form at the ticket kiosks, so buy your ticket before you join the line rather than pushing towards the front. The boatmen usually ask passengers to lie back or sit low as the boat ducks under the rock, and it is wise to follow their calls, because the opening is narrow and the water rises and falls with the swell. Swimming inside is forbidden, so keep arms and legs inside the boat at all times. Capri as a whole is used to visitors arriving in large groups, and the cave's echo makes everyone louder, so keep your voice down. Ask before photographing people sharing your boat, and avoid bargaining with touts on the quay, since the posted fare is the fair one. Keep your rubbish and cigarette ends on the boat, because the cave's calm water is the one thing everyone has come to enjoy.

What to wear

Traditional dress on Capri was plain working clothing for fishing and farming. It was usually made of cotton or linen, dark and sturdy, with headscarves and full skirts for women and loose shirts with trousers for men. Some of that practical cut survives in the cloth sold at local markets, but most of what you see on Capri today is Italian resort dress, shaped by the island's long life as a holiday place. The best-known local garment is the Capri trouser, a cropped, wide-legged style that visitors took up and carried home.

People on the island dress for the town rather than for the heat. Expect linen shirts, neat sandals and sunglasses in the piazza, and smarter clothes for dinner than for the beach. Boat trips and the hill walks call for footwear with grip.

For a visitor, pack light cotton or linen, a hat and a cover-up for the walk to the shops. Cover your shoulders and knees when you enter a church such as San Michele Arcangelo. Sandals suit the boat, but choose flat soles with grip for steps and cobbles, which turn slippery when wet. Take a light layer for the boat, where the cave's shade and the sea breeze can feel cool.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. April to June and September to October bring warm weather and a sea that is pleasant to be on, without the peak crowds. July and August are the busiest and hottest months, and the grotto queue is longest then. Winter is calmer, but some services run reduced hours and the tourist office opens for shorter daytime hours.

How long. 1–2

Getting there. Hydrofoil or ferry from Naples, Sorrento, Ischia or Forio; the hydrofoil from Ischia or Forio takes under an hour. Boats dock at Marina Grande, where a funicular climbs to Capri Town and boats leave for the grotto.

Budget. high

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources