3 sea caves · down to 40 m · 3 suitable for an intro team
Cave diving in Tremiti Islands
- Sea caves3
- Max depth40 m
- For intro teams3
- Dive centres2
Diving and fills
Dive here with
Fills nearby
- Tremiti Diving CenterNot stated on its own site; its Yumping profile mentions two Bauer compressors and 150 cylinders. Ask about nitrox, trimix and O₂
Why come here
The Tremiti Islands lie about 12 miles off the Gargano in a marine protected area since 1989, with short sea caves around San Domino and Caprara: the Grotta del Sale with a siphon up to ~-5 m, the Grotta delle Viole with its violet walls and the L-shaped cave at Cala dei Turchi. These are recreational cave dives to ~-25/-36 m; the Viole is dived only at night, because too many boats come and go by day. Caves are guided only, with an authorised centre, max 4 divers per guide and max 2 dives per day per cave, and there is no diving at all around Pianosa (zone A). You get there by boat from Termoli (~50 min to 2 h) or other ports on the coast; ask in advance whether you may carry full cylinders and don't count on trimix or CCR gases.
Don't miss
- Grotta del Sale: a siphon brings you quickly up from the cave to ~-5 m, where you come out among shoals of damselfish.
- Grotta delle Viole: a single focused beam of light falls through the narrow, slit-shaped entrance, and the walls are covered in violet algae and lichens.
- Cala dei Turchi: a dive that runs partly along a colourful wall and partly into an L-shaped cave with lobsters and dusky groupers.
On a rest day
- Boat trip to the sea caves: Boat tours visit the Grotta del Bue Marino on San Domino, a 70 m long cave reachable only by sea, as well as the Viole, the Rondinelle and the Pagliai rocks.
- Abbey and fortress on San Nicola: San Nicola holds the islands' historic centre, with the abbey of Santa Maria built by Benedictine monks in 1045 and the fortress, the Castello dei Badiali.
- Punta dell'Elefante on San Domino: A rock formation on the coast of San Domino, the island with most of the places to stay; in between lie woods of Aleppo pines.
All 3 sea caves
| Site | Max depth | Type | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cala dei TurchiEntry or dive feeNot known yet · Cavern | 36 m | Not known yet | Cavern |
| Grotta del SaleEntry or dive feeBackmount · Cavern | 40 m | Backmount | Cavern |
| Grotta delle VioleEntry or dive feeBackmount · Open water / no overhead | 30 m | Backmount | Open water / no overhead |
Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training.
Dive centres and fill stations
2 dive centres, fill stations and instructors
Aquodiving Tremiti
San Domino, 71040 Isole Tremiti (FG)
Guided dives: Grotta delle Viole
Rental: Wetsuit, mask, fins and octopus for a fee (CheckYeti); cylinder and weights included with the dive
Dive centre with a base on San Domino. Its own site lists the Grotta delle Viole, the Grotta delle Rondinelle, the Grotta del Blu Marino and Il Grottone, among others; according to Viaggi per Sub it also dives the Grotta del Sale. Its guided night dive needs a Night certification. Ask about fills, nitrox and CCR support.
Tremiti Diving Center
Villaggio San Domino, 71040 Isole Tremiti (FG)
Not stated on its own site; its Yumping profile mentions two Bauer compressors and 150 cylinders. Ask about nitrox, trimix and O₂
Year-round, night dives included, according to its Yumping profile — ask
Guided dives: Grotta del Sale, Grotta delle Viole, Cala dei Turchi
Rental: 20 complete kits (Yumping profile)
Dive centre in the village on San Domino with 25 described dive sites, including the Grotta del Sale, the Grotta delle Viole (night only) and Cala dei Turchi. Courses from OWD to instructor according to its Yumping profile; no training agency is named. Ask about walk-in fills and CCR support.
Order: partners first, clearly marked as partner; then dive centres by distance from San Domino and independent instructors by name. Not a recommendation: check what they offer yourself.
On this list, or should you be? Get a free partner card →Where to stay
Find a place near San Domino
Villages that work well as a base for the caves in this region. Find a place for your team:
- San DominoBooking.com ↗
The links to Booking.com are affiliate links: if you book through one, DiveTripPlanner earns a small commission. You pay the same.
Practical info: rules, fills and emergency numbers
Emergencies
- 112 (ambulance also 118); coast guard 1530; DAN Europe +39 06 4211 5685 (DAN advises the emergency room first, then calling DAN for the nearest suitable chamber). There is no chamber on the islands; we could not check which mainland chamber is nearest and open 24 hours.
Access and rules
- AMP Isole Tremiti (decree of 14 July 1989, run by the Ente Parco Nazionale del Gargano since 1995; ~1,466 ha out to the 70 m depth line). Zone A (around Pianosa): no scuba diving or freediving. Zone B (the west coast of San Domino between the Punta Provvidenza lighthouse and Punta Secca, and the outer coast of Caprara from Cala Sorrentino to Scoglio del Caciocavallo): diving only with the park's authorisation. Zone C (the rest around San Domino and Caprara, and San Nicola): diving freely allowed. Ask your centre which zone a site is in.
- Caves (2026 disciplinare, art. 10 para. 4): in zones B and C guided only, by an authorised dive centre, with a guide of at least Dive Master level; max 4 divers per guide, max 2 guides and 8 divers per group and max 2 dives per day per cave. The park may schedule and limit cave visits based on monitoring. Independent divers may not enter a cave. The AMP confirmed these rules (e-mail, Nov 2026).
Gas and fills
- Gas: no fill station checked. Tremiti Diving Center has two Bauer compressors according to its Yumping profile; ask in advance about nitrox, trimix, pure O₂ and sorb for CCR.
Water and season
- Season and traffic: Viaggi per Sub gives May to October; Tremiti Diving Center dives all year according to its profile. By day many boats sail into the caves: that is why the Grotta delle Viole is dived only at night.
Rest day
- Rest day: a boat trip past the sea caves (Bue Marino, Viole, Rondinelle) and the Pagliai rocks, the abbey of Santa Maria a Mare and the fortress on San Nicola, or the Punta dell'Elefante rock on San Domino.
Good to know
- Getting there: ferries and hydrofoils all year from Termoli (the most departures, ~50 min to 2 h), and also from Pescara, Ortona, Vasto, Manfredonia, Vieste, Peschici and Rodi Garganico; timetables change with the season. A daily helicopter from Foggia's Gino Lisa airport (~20 min). Cars and motorbikes are normally not allowed. Ask the shipping line in advance whether you may carry full dive cylinders.
- Code of conduct (art. 9 para. 4, also in the caves): do not touch the bottom and do not take or damage anything; do not feed animals or leave anything behind; keep your gear as close to your body as possible; report rubbish, hazardous material or abandoned fishing gear to the park or the coast guard; read up beforehand on the rules of the AMP and of your dive site; no scooters (DPV), except for divers with a disability.
- Independent diving: in zone B with authorisation through AUTORIZZO.COM (technical fee €10 per week, €25 per month or €200 per year, plus €10 secretarial fee; residents exempt), in zone C freely. The 2026 disciplinare is provisional and authorisations run until 31 December 2026. In zone B only dive boats may anchor until mooring buoys are laid; dive centres moor on 8 AMP buoys at Caprara and 1 at San Nicola. Max 5 knots in zone B and within 300 m of the coast in zone C. The disciplinare applies per calendar year; the new one appears on parcogargano.it in early 2027.
News
No recent news found about the caves in this region.
Searched automatically, last on 5 Nov 2026.
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