Vetara Island and Secchetella diving sites
Sailing in Amalfi Coast, Punta Campanella Marine Protected area, just in front of Capri Island we will find Vetara and Secchetella, Amalfi Coast diving sites. This interesting diving site a small desert island amid the Amalfi Coast sea, with a beautiful underwater cliff rich of gorgonias and small fishes. The strong currents from south enrich the area with plankton, allowing an incomparable richness of life. Due to long distance from the shore, it is easy to meet large passing fishes, different kinds of tunas and amberjacks , even also in large groups.
The most fascinating part is the one overlooking Capri island, following the so called “Vetara shoe” ending with a little dry just six feet deep and visible from the surface because of the clarity of the waters. Once under water it seems to be in a tropical sea, due to the variety of species and the brightness of colors ranging from bright yellow to deep red of the paramuricee sponges accompanying the sweet degradation of the wall overlooking Punta Campanella. Around the island are remains from ancient and modern history: greek and roman anchors and amphoras from ancient shipwrecks are close to bombs and naval artillery grenades from the WWII. Unfortunately most of the archaeological items were stolen in the years, but the best dive site is the Scarpa, a sort of underwater mountain raising to 6 m depth, one hundred meters long toward Capri.
Punta Campanella Marine Protected area, Vetara and Secchetella
Secchetella
Secchetella and Vetara diving site
Popular destination for divers in the area due to the surprises that may be under water, is a diving site very difficult to find if you do not know the precise alignments on the ground or you do not have adequate nautical equipment to detect the exact location. On the deepest depths of this secchetella (name given by the regular visitors of the area), can still be found, Roman-greek anchors and amphorae as an evidence of past shipwrecks and unexploded ordnance in memory of air and naval battles that took place in these waters, dating back to the last world War: an immersion in which we relive in a few moments a story that goes between the ancient and the modern.
It ‘also likely to encounter with the rare species in our seas as a pantopode to “walk” on the bottom, a “spider” with the body made up exclusively of eight limbs. We can also come across colonies of wonderful Maasella Edwards with its “flowers” covers all the upper part of the shoal. We still continue our journey by enclosing walls rich in sponges, gorgonians and bryozoans always full of new surprises, admiring the relentless beauty of colors.
Secchetella and Vetara diving site
