The cave is not underwater but in the emerged wall of the promontory.
Legend has it that since the 4th century AD. a man named Giovanni had lived in solitude in a natural cave near Punta Chiappa. He fed on what the sea provided him and what the fishermen gave him passing by. After a few years, one day a very strong storm brought him with it. It is said that gods were often seen after his death
wisps come out of the cave entrance. When they decided to search for his body they found him buried under stones, but “the bones breathed a sweet smell” and he was buried in the millenary church of Ruta where a plaque still remembers him.
RED PATH (up to -40 meters)
After the pre-dive check we will descend until we reach the dead body at about -20 meters. In the bay, large brown groupers are seen entering and exiting their burrows under the rocks. With the wall on our right we will follow south-west direction until we reach the mouth of a canyon created by huge rocky boulders up to -36 meters. From here we will reverse the route and begin to climb over the large boulder that was on our left during the descent into the canyon. Arrived at -18 meters with the wall on the left we will swim among the rocks of the landslide continuing to go up until we reach the wall of the promontory or the chain of the buoy.
GREEN PATH (up to -18 mt)
After the pre-dive check we will go down to the wall where we will identify a reference point at -6 meters to be used at the end of the dive to find the boat.
We will reach the maximum depth of -18 meters southwest with the wall on the right, near large boulders that we will search with the torch in search of
conger eels, octopuses, moray eels and dogfish. After about 15 mn with the promontory on our left we will go up to about -10 meters always zigzagging among the rocks that make up the landslide. A school of snapper hunting for damselfish attracts our attention! Arrived at -6 meters we will continue to swim among the rocks going first wall to the right and then head with the wall to our left towards the reference point taken during the descent. Found the point and made our stop of 3 mn at -5 m we will decide, based on the visibility, whether to go out there or reach the
chain.
Cecilia Luconi
