Tinetto’s Cave

The dive starts upon descending along a wall which, after a 5 metre deep step, sinks into a vertical wall. After a few minutes of fin swimming we’ll reach the entrance to the cave in front of which there are scattered stones with sponges, some sea fans and dens for grouper and sargos. The cave has a very wide entrance that allows many divers in. Carrying on with the descent we’ll admire the enclave of a deep ambience with depigmented sponges and shrimps. The cave’s walls show many splits that are dens for morays and lobsters. On the top right hand side there is a crack acting as a den to a family of corvines. Surely, the chimney at the bottom of the cave that connects the cave itself to a superficial pool, also visible to whoever lands on the island, is a very suggestive one: very special light effects form in that very spot. Coming out of the cave, right on top of the arch, we’ll meet the “moon’s eyes”, two holes through which we can get out at about 13 metres. Once outside the cave the dive continues until the famous Paramuricea clavata wall that reaches onto the outer side of the island characterized instead by the presence of Leptogorgia sarmentosa and Pentapora fascialis colonies. The dive then comes to a close when we head back to our dinghy: in shallow waters it’s easy to bump into small benthic fish and nudibranchs too.

The Tinetto’s dry bank

Situated on the south western side of the Tinetto island, this dry bank is like a rock outcrop collapsing into a vertical wall that gradually lowers heading south. The Tinetto’s dry bank, as well as the cave, is famous for its coralline display: the wall is populated by Paramuricea clavata (red horny coral) that bears more superficial colonies at only 15 metres of depth. While skimming over the wall, we’ll also encounter the Leptogorgia sarmentosa and, in the deepest part of the dry bank, many Eunicella verrucosa fans. Moreover the site is characterized by the presence of the Pentapora fascialis, bryozoan which builds up stately pillows of a deep orange colour. The Parazoanthus axinellae (sea daisies) and sponges are the finishing touch of this picture. Being often beaten by the current, it’s easy to bump into migratory type of fish.