The Blue Grotto is a natural cavity about 60 meters long and about 25 meters wide. The entrance is two meters wide and only one meter high. To visit it you have to get on small rowing boats that can hold up to 4 people. The sailor will ask you to lie on the bottom of the boat and enter the cave giving himself the momentum with a chain attached to the rock.
How to get to the entrance of the Blue Grotto?
- With a shared boat: The boat will take you around the island and then stop at the entrance to the cave. On our site you will find a wide range of offers to choose your shared boat ride.
- With private boat: if you are in Capri with your boat and want to visit the Blue Grotto you can moor offshore (there are buoys) and show a boatman to pick you up with his boat. You can also decide to rent a private boat with a sailor on our website by paying directly with PayPal. This type of boat can generally hold up to 7 people (but larger or smaller models are also available) and the cost for 2 hours of tour ranges from 150 euros upwards. For more details continue to browse our site, where you can choose a private tour or a shared one with other groups.
What is the best time to visit the Blue Grotto?
The time when the reflections in the Grotto reach their maximum splendor is between 12 and 14. However, the difference compared to the first morning is really minimal. We advise against planning a visit during very cloudy days (reflections are mild without sun). In the afternoon there is generally less queue but sometimes, after 15, the sea tends to get excited and the service of visits could be suspended.
Can you swim in the Blue Grotto?
Swimming is forbidden and it is impossible to dive while the boats go around. In spite of this, many people wait for the evening after 5.30pm, when the boats and the ticket office leave, to enter by swimming. But as well as being forbidden, it is dangerous because the passage is very low and a wave a little higher is enough to hit the rock.
Can children visit the cave?
There are no age restrictions for entering the Blue Grotto, but the transition to the small rowing boat makes it difficult for children and infants under the age of 3 who can also bear the probable wait under the sun.
How do you know if the cave is open or closed?
In case of wind and rough sea it is not possible to enter the cave. It can often also happen that the Grotto is closed or reopened within the same day. To know the situation at the moment you can call the jetty of the Motoscafisti of Capri on 081 8375646 from nine in the morning onwards. Unfortunately it is not possible to know in advance. In principle, if the forecasts give rough seas it is likely that the cave is closed.
Is the cave open even in winter?
In case of favorable weather conditions the cave is open. However, between November and early March it is much more likely to be closed. If you arrive in winter we advise you to inquire directly at the port of Marina Grande at the box office of Laser Capri (Molo 21) and Motoscafisti (Molo 0) or by calling 081 8375646. If both ticket offices are closed and no one answers the phone it means that also the Grotto is closed.
Why is the Blue Grotto blue?
The blue color of the cave is given by the light of the sun that enters through an underwater window that opens exactly under the entrance gap, thus undergoing a filtration by the water, which absorbs the red and lets the blue pass . A second phenomenon determines the silvery reflections of the immersed objects: the air bubbles that adhere to the external surface of the objects, having index of refraction different from that of water, allow light to exit.
The history of the Blue Grotto of Capri
In Roman times, at the time of Tiberius, the Grotto was used as a marine nymphaeum: the statues found inside it are today kept at the Casa Rossa in Anacapri. For many years the Blue Grotto was no longer visited and, indeed, was feared by local sailors because the popular legends described it as a place haunted by spirits and demons.
One day in 1826, however, the local fisherman Angelo Ferraro accompanied the German writer August Kopisch and the painter Ernst Fries to visit it. The two told of the wonder of the Grotta Azzura and since then it became a fixed stage of every trip to Capri