Salento · about 6 km from Otranto
Grotta la Macchia
- Max depth35 m
- CertificationCavern
- Water temperature≈ 14–26 °C, varies with the seasonestimated, no reports yet
Diving and fills
Dive here with
Fills nearby
- Scuba Diving OtrantoAir; ask about nitrox and trimix
- Costa del Sud Diving ServiceAir, nitrox, trimix, oxygen, argon
The dive
A single gallery of just over 25 m, floored with cobbles and rock blocks, leads you to an oval chamber that surfaces above water.
Profile and sections
A single gallery of just over 25 m, floored with cobbles and rock blocks, leads you to an oval chamber that surfaces above water. There a layer of fresh water more than 3 m thick sits on the salt water and fills almost the whole inner chamber, so little grows on the walls. Outside you follow a wall from -8 m, with crustaceans and various fish.
The name comes from the colour patch on the rock above the entrance, caused by sulphur seeping from the cave. The ceiling of the air chamber holds a bone breccia with remains of the aurochs (Bos primigenius). Biologists of the University of Salento surveyed the cave (2006) and describe it as much visited by dive tourists.
Practical: Scuba Diving Otranto takes only divers who are comfortable in the water, because the cave ends in an air bell; there is no strong current.
- Depth and profile
- Entrance -5/-6 m · one gallery of just over 25 m to a chamber above water (air bell), ~34 m development · outside, the wall from -8 m to max -35 m
- Configuration
- Passage sizes not published; the cave is much visited by recreational divers.
- DPV: Not DPV-suitable (estimate)
- Short cave (~34 m); no gain
Who can dive where
- At least Cavern
- Configurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR / Small cylinders / no-mount (speleo sumps)
- Goes down to 35 m (trimix or deco may be needed)
This is how the planner decides who in your team may dive this cave. Rules your own trip adds (organizer, a mail, the AI) show with your trip.
How to get there
Near Sant'Emiliano, ~1 nautical mile south of Punta Palascìa (Capo d'Otranto); with a dive centre from Otranto (Scuba Diving Otranto dives here).
Around Grotta la Macchia
Fills2 fill stations · nearest 6 km
Scuba Diving Otranto
Via del Porto 1, 73028 Otranto (LE)
Air; ask about nitrox and trimix
Open all year according to a listing; ask
SSI centre at the harbour with daily day and night dives from three RIBs (2× 7.4 m, 1× 10 m); technical training incl. trimix and rebreather. Lists caves among its dive sites — ask which.
Costa del Sud Diving Service
Lungomare Santa Caterina 6, 73050 Santa Caterina di Nardò (LE)
Air, nitrox, trimix, oxygen, argon
Daily 7:30–20:30 according to its SSI listing; ask outside the summer season
SSI Instructor Training Center with rebreather and XR training; rents drysuits and scooters among other gear; boat and shore dives. Dives the Porto Selvaggio and Santa Caterina caves and reports being authorised for the AMP Porto Cesareo and the Porto Selvaggio park. Fills for visitors and sofnolime: ask.
The links to Booking.com are affiliate links: if you book through one, DiveTripPlanner earns a small commission. You pay the same.
Going to Salento with your team?
Marcel finds the sites that match your team's certifications.
Plan a trip