Italy is well known for its amazing beaches , cristalline water and beautiful sands in different varieties.
Over 7.600 km of coastline, and 6 different seas surrounding the Italian Peninsula, Adriatic, Thyrrenian , Ionian, Ligurian, Sicilian and Sardinian, make of Italy an amazing Summer destination to discover from North to South.
Not only lying on the beach and drinking our Aperol Spritz... in those sea you can also experience an interesting activity, diving through historic submerged wrecks
A wreck is considered what remains of a ship after sinking (shipwreck) or stranding as a result of breakdown, accident or war action at sea, but for a wreck lover it is much more.
Italy has numerous histories of legend and fact that surrounds its underwater life (or not) with the variety of sites and experiences to try : Military vessels, submerged cities, Submrines and marine life. An experience that you will never forget!
1. Wrecks on the water's surface in Elba's Island
A few meters from the surface and the coast, the Elviscot is an Italian merchant ship sunk at the Ogliera rock near Pomonte. Since 1972, the ship has been there, lying on the shallow water a dozen meters deep, clearly visible thanks to the crystal clear water, a short distance from the beach. Swimming to the wreck is not difficult and, even just snorkeling, you can admire from the surface an exciting history of the sea.
Admiring the boat from the surface is a very suggestive experience. If you are an expert in diving, you can also go down to visit the wreck up close and, only if you are accompanied by local professional divers, even enter the Elviscot through some large openings in the hull, walk the corridors furrowed by the beams of light of the portholes or get to the engine room from the smokestack.
2. A museum in the seabed: Sicilian wrecks
Only Sicily hosts more than 800 submerges wrecks to discover while diving in the beautiful Sicilian Sea.
On of the most beautiful wreck is located in Panarea, in the Aeolian Islands, and it is the Lisca Bianca. The bow of the ship lies about 43 meters deep and is perfectly visible, as well as its propeller. The seabed is also rich in marine fauna, including large groupers, moray eels and lobsters.
Off the coast of Palermo, the wealth of wrecks is truly exciting. The Loreto, or Slave Ship, sunk in '42, but also the Junkers 52, shot down in '43, and the torpedo boat Chinotto, sunk in '41.
Near San Vito lo Capo, Trapani, there is a ship sunk in the seventies. It is called the Ship of the Qur'an because it carried thousands of copies of the Qur'an. The wreck is visible from a depth of 25 meters, but only the most experienced divers are recommended to visit.
Finally, the waters of Lampedusa are another treasure for all diving enthusiasts. The sea around the island is dotted with dozens of wrecks, at a depth ranging from 33 to 140 meters. At least 40 merchant wrecks have been resting here since the Second World War. A great heritage that Lampedusa wants to enhance to become, rightly, a pole of Italian underwater tourism.
3. Diving in Liguria : The Christ of the Abyss
The small village of San Fruttuoso is nestled between 33 hectares of Mediterranean scrub and the beautiful sea of Eastern Liguria, about 30 meters
from the shore, you will discover one of the most famous dive sites in the region: the Christ of the Abyss.
Immersed at a depth of about 17 meters, the famous statue of Christ of the Abyss is about 2.5 meters high by about 260 kg. Its enormous bulk was specially laid on the seabed in the mid-twentieth century.
Not a wreck, an attraction... born when Duilio Marcante, an Italian diver who theorized the didactic method of approaching diving. With the statue, then made by the sculptor Guido Galletti, he wanted to remember the disappearance at sea of Dario Gonzatti. Not only that, the arms of Christ that aim at heaven want to be an unequivocal symbol of peace.
The beautiful bronze sculpture can be admired with a dive or, if visibility is good, even on the surface of the water, using a bathyscope.
4. Submerged Park of Baia : A city underwater in Campania
The Submerged Park of Baia is an invaluable archaeological reality that the phenomenon of bradyseism has confined to the seabed: The sea, the resource that has allowed the splendor of the Phlegraean Fields, merges with archeology where under a thin layer of sand mosaics are discovered and where flora and fauna animate the remains of walls and statues.
Already in Republican age, the sea has covered a large strip of ancient coast that must be imagined in continuity with the structures on land that make up the Archaeological Park of the Baths and that overlooked a bay much smaller than the current one, formerly Baianus lacus, which was accessed by an artificial canal.
Among the main submerged buildings visible there is the nymphaeum of the Claudian age, located at -7 m on the seabed in front of Punta Epitaffio, while, to the east of the nymphaeum there is a villa attributed to the Pisoni family for the boluses imprinted on a lead water pipe. Other villas and spas occupied the large sector around the lacus now submerged: among these, for its well-known mosaic floors should certainly be mentioned the so-called villa with protiro entrance, one of the most visited by divers and snorkelers.
Ready to dive through this stunning underwater landscape? We can arrange everything for you and suggest you more and more places to discover the Unseen Italy...
Contact us to begin soon this amazing journey in Italy !!
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