Scoglio del Medico

We are on the northwestern side of the island of Ustica, about half a mile out an imposing rock rises from the sea, “lo Scoglio del Medico”. The mooring is near the rock. Below the surface a breathtaking spectacle awaits us. The cave, the arches, the passages along the valleys, the pinnacles, the canyons, and finally the incredible plateau, a resting place for enormous groupers and barracuda. The possibilities and combinations of diving routes at this site are truly numerous!

On the southern side of the Scoglio del Medico is the Grotta della Balena,

its name refers to the large opening of the cave which resembles the mouth of a whale. Here you can admire fantastic plays of light and color. The cave hosts a multitude of colorful sponges, false corals, crustaceans and molluscs, and inside several groupers and some hakes take refuge, hiding in the shadows.

The entrance to the cave is the starting point for various routes rich with passages and arches. Every single passage offers a new surprise and reveals what seems to be a completely new underwater world, from green algae to red ones, to rooms with walls covered in yellow and orange sponges, to tunnels with false red coral.

A perfectly designed natural environment teeming with marine life: various nudibranchs, lobsters, pencil urchins, crustaceans, small scorpionfish. These diving routes are a true wonderland, magical and fun.

All passages lead to the same exit, which opens into a valley where several pinnacles rise. We are on the western side of the Scoglio del Medico. Among these pinnacles enormous specimens of brown groupers find their home. In the blue all around, schools of large amberjacks, clouds of barracuda and large amberjacks swim swirling in the surroundings, as if it were a meeting place for pelagics, occasionally joined by a visiting tuna, a truly special occurrence.

On the opposite side we spot two canyons. These magnificent canyons are characterized by sharp walls that plunge to about 30m. We follow the first one swimming between its walls to reach a small tunnel that will lead us to the plateau, where we can still encounter clouds of barracuda, amberjacks, brown groupers, sea bream. We cross the plateau, crossing the canyons and passing over the whale cave, we reach the top of our dinghy’s anchor where we will do our safety stop.