The Blue Grotto, the most famous cave in Capri

The blue grotto (or grotta azurra in Italian) is a small cave that is well known for the intense blue color that can be seen inside and that is reflected up to its walls and ceiling. To be able to visit it, the only way is to enter a boat, which adds charm to the experience. Such as how to live, discover and explore the most beautiful and surprising corners of the world. How for example, to know Étretat and the Costa de Albatre, famous for its wonderful and impressive white cliffs.

Small review about the cave

The island of Capri was already known since Roman times, here important families came to spend the summer and Emperor Tiberius made it the capital of the kingdom. In fact, there is a legend that says that the ghost of Tiberius lived in the blue grotto, so fishermen in the area avoided entering here.

But it was not a tourist claim until, in 1826, a fisherman showed it to a German painter named August Kopisch, making the blue grotto the most famous cave in Capri.

¿Where is the Blue Grotto?

The blue grotto is located on the island of Capri, an island that is located in the Bay of Naples, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. In front of it, there is the famous Vesuvius volcano and the city of Pompeii.

Within the island itself, it is located in the Anacapri area and is in the coastal area, since the blue grotto overlooks the sea. The ships arrive at Capri from the mainland to Marina Grande, so, to visit the blue grotto you have to move, since it is in another area of ​​the island.

¿How to get to the Blue Grotto?

To get to the blue grotto there are several options:

Boat: This is the option we chose. Boats depart from the port of Marina Grande or go directly to the blue grotto and then return, or turn around the island and make a stop at the blue grotto so that whoever wants to can enter the blue grotto.

The price of the blue grotto is never included in the price of the boat. To which it is necessary to include the tip to the boatman, that is not obligatory …… but almost.

Bus: First you have to take the bus from Capri to Anacapri. Once in Anacapri, you have to go to another bus station and take another bus to the blue grotto.

Asking any local will tell you where to go. Once there, you have to go down a lot of stairs until you reach the shore.

Visit to the Blue Grotto

And once you’ve got here, the wait begins. It depends on the number of boats that are there and the people on the stairs waiting, the waiting time can be short, long or very long.

In order to visit the blue grotto you have to get on a boat where only four people and the boatman enter. The boats are picking up the people from the boats and those who arrived by bus.

Once you get on the boat, you are approached to the «ticket office», which is nothing other than another boat, where you pay the ticket, and once the entrance is paid, the boat is approaching the entrance of the cave waiting for your turn to enter.

Inside the cave

The entrance to the cave is only 50 cm high and 1 meter and a half wide, so, to enter you must literally lie on the boat. For this reason, the cave can only be visited on good weather days and the sea is calm.

The boatman asks us to lie down and not get up until he tells us. In the access to the cave there are some ropes with which the boatman helps to enter, tap here and tap there … and we are already inside. Darkness envelops you and suddenly, everything turns blue. There seems to be a light under the sea that makes everything light up.

The phenomenon that occurs inside the blue grotto is a product of light. There is an opening in the ceiling, right at the entrance, where the sunlight that refracts into the sea enters and creates that magical atmosphere of electric blues.

And if we add that you are in a boat, ambient music from the throats of the boatmen and the atmosphere at the entrance with all the fun that is mounted, because the result of the visit to the blue cave, the cave more Capri’s famous, it is an unforgettable experience.