The Blue Grotto - a Unique Experience.

When you travel the experiences you remember the most are those which are just a little out of the ordinary. Something that not everyone may get the chance to do. One such experience is a visit to the Blue Grotto on the Isle of Capri in Italy.

I had heard about the Blue Grotto years ago when it featured in some very old movies, and thought if I ever got the chance I would love to experience it for myself. Many years later I did visit Capri but unfortunately it was at the wrong time of year and the tides and waves were too high, making a visit to the grotto impossible. A few years after that I had another chance to visit the Blue Grotto and this time was successful.

We stayed at Sorrento near the Amalfi Coast and the staff at the camping ground where we were staying arranged the Capri/Blue Grotto trip for us. The boat actually left from the bottom of their property. The trip around Capri is an experience in itself with some spectacular scenery.

Capri is actually quite a barren island largely made up of limestone. Weathering of the limestone has led to the development of some amazing caverns and rock arches.

The tour boats are met by oarsmen in much smaller rowing boats, and for a fee these oarsmen will row you across and into the Blue Grotto. A cable permanently attached to the cavern entrance is used to pull the boats inside. Guests are asked to lie down on the bottom of the boats to avoid hitting their heads on the entrance (it really is quite low).

Inside is a 'tingling on the back of the neck' experience. The water is an unbelievably bright blue and you just sit there gently rocking in your small boats in awe. We were lucky enough to have one of the boatmen burst into song - the acoustics would have made any of the great opera singers envious. The cavern is lit from beneath by light from other caverns further below the surface.

After visiting the Blue Grotto we were taken back to the tour boat and then travelled on to a small harbour where we left the boat and walked up to the township of Anacapri. You can take a bus up to the village but the walk was very pleasant. The view from Anacapri is also spectacular, in fact the whole experience is really one not to be missed if you happen to travel to northern Italy. Two thumbs up!