SHRIMP GROTTO

(called PUNTA CHIAPPA - LEVANTE (Chiappa Point - East) in the marine protected area (AMP) dive sites)
The Shrimp Grotto dive, shown on the official AMP maps as Chiappa Point east side, begins at approximately 18 meters at the base of the mooring buoy.

Heading south and slightly west, the rocky mixed Poseidonion seabed slopes gradually down to 22 meters, and here a beautiful vertical wall begins that plunges quickly into the blue.
Keeping the wall to our right, we swim to the west, where the red coral (Corallium Rubrum) covers the recesses in which the spiny lobsters, forkbeards, and sometimes a few dogfish find cover.

At about 37 meters down, a crevice opens that penetrates the wall for a dozen meters. It is called the Shrimp Cave because it houses a dense colony of Plesionika Narval, or Parapandalo, a small decapod crustacean up to 15 cm long, pale red, with lighter longitudinal streaks and long antennae.
The floor of the cave consists of extremely fine mud that impairs visibility if we stir it up with our fins.
The cave is a cul-de-sac, and divers must turn around in a relatively confined space to gain exit.
Continuing the dive, we ascend along the wall, and returning to the plateau, we conclude the dive by exploring the large rocks on the seabed, which hide large groupers.
We can return to the surface ascending along the buoy's mooring line, or in the shelter of the wall on the east side of Punta Chiappa.

Difficulty: intermediate, Seabed: wall