Sardinia - Caves & Wrecks

Cave and Wreck Diving on the Island of Sardinia
By Andreas W Matthes


Mediterranean, far away. Sardinia is Italian with great food, wine, Ducati, Lamborghini and Ferrari. When cave diving comes to mind then Sardinia. While flying is certainly an option from many European destinations I choose to take a ferry partially due to the fact that I was travelling large, with full CCR (Closed Circuit Rebreather) expedition kit. The ferry ride from Piombino over to Sardinia gave me some time to clear my mind of busy Europe mainland and get ready for the Sarde experience during the 6-hour crossing.

The Italy was not on my hot list to go and see but that changed recently during a trip to the Italy was not on my hot list to go and see but that changed recently during a trip to the of Island of Sardinia is located off the west coast of Italy and just south of the French Island of Corsica. While driving over the Island from the port city of Olvia toward my chosen destination Cala Gonone I crept over winding serpentine roads through a spectacular Karst landscape. Realizing that the island consist to a large part of limestone gave me my first clue. I had no idea what was in stock for me.

Sardinia is not only a cavers and climbers dream and paradise in the Mediterranean but has been the battleground of the European Theatre during WW II (World War II). A large number of wrecks have been found around the island, many of them from the WW II era.

While relaxing the first days after arrival and driving around on the Island I came to see the extreme beauty of Sardinia. Mountains that fall into the emerald blue sea, white beaches that hug into small coves, again and again dry cave entrances with stalactites guarding the entrances, sheer walls where climbers of all calibre test themselves on these lime stone cliffs. In-between all that gorgeous landscape picturesque towns and villages that speak of a time passing at different speed, history on every corner and trail.

The village of Cala Gonone lies on the east coast of Sardinia and is developing into the hot spot of cave diving on the Island. The large concentrations of wrecks around Sardinia are in the south at Cagliari, the west at Cala Gonone and north towards Palau.

All dives either wreck or cave where done with the help of the ProTec Sardinia dive shop in Cala Gonone and from a very comfortable 7.5 meter / 24 foot RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) with a 140 hp four stroke outboard engine. On all dives during my short visit I was accompanied by the able guides and friends Tody ( German ), Patrick ( Swiss ) and Martijn ( Dutch ) who speak some six languages in-between them. ProTec Sardinia has all the Oxygen and Helium one can wish for, large Bauer compressor, a good array of double tanks, stages, bail out tanks, rental gear and technical dive gear. Sofnalime small grade is available as well.

The wreck of the KT 12 (Kuesten Transporter) a German transport ship with supplies for the German Rommel Troops in the north African theatre in WW II was sunk in 1943 by the British submarine Safari. The ship was torpedoed, the bow shot off clean, which now rest some 500 meter / 1640 feet away from the main wreck, burning furiously before finally sinking to its resting place on the ocean floor. Today she lays upright in 34 meters / 112 feet to the sand with her twin propellers being the deepest part. Some of the cargo consisted of transport trucks that now lay on the starboard side in the sand. The wreck can be penetrated very easily, during the burn out prior to sinking all walls melted and only the struts where left standing. Marine life has been taken hold for many decades now and the wreck is an excellent photo and video opportunity with its openness and large aft deck gun.

Grotto Utopia in an unsuspecting cave system starting with a chimney leading down into a large horizontal passage at 28 meters / 92 feet that is getting larger and larger until the walls are disappearing into the inky darkness at 40 meter / 130 feet with an suspected bottom of the cave system below 100 meters / 330 feet. Inner space at its best, a dark abyss not completely explored yet. Along the cave walls strange looking jellyfish like creatures are attached to the walls. The walls are polished from millennia of fresh water flowing over the lime stone working on the surfaces. The halocline is not very strong but a temperature change can be felt when changing from salt water into the colder freshwater.

Grotto del Fica (Cave of the Fig Tree) since there was always a large Fig tree covering the cave entrance. After a strong storm the Fig tree was gone revealing the cave entrance into a dry cave, which is connected to the underwater cave. When diving the cave from the ocean a canyon is leading into the sheer rock wall. The breaking waves are quite noisy, surge is very minimal. As we penetrate the cavern over a sandy bottom white shrimps show up crawling about in the semi darkness. Before we can enter the cave we have to crawl over some boulders and then through a restriction at 9 meters / 30 feet leading us into a cloud of H2S (Hydrogen Sulphide). The halocline is distinct, so is the change in water temperature as we penetrate the fresh water lens. The lime stone rock is polished by the large quantities of water discharged during winter and spring with strong rains and melting snow. The maximum depth in this cave system is around 23 meters / 76 feet in the further unexplored reaches of the cave.

Grotto Dragon Belly is a small restricted hole in the wall, a cavern at 9 meter / 30 feet is leading into the belly of the rock face. As we ascend into a small dry cavern we ditch our gear, leaving it floating in the water right next to a large stalactite. Crawling on all four we wiggle our way through wet, deep clay penetrating the dry cave. Some small passages need to be negotiated, getting us all muddy. A wonderland is awaiting us, a crystal palace beyond believe that makes us whisper and bow in awe. While our breath is calming we look at mother natures finest, stalactites covered with Aragonite formations very filigrane. I have not done much dry caving and have never seen anything like this before in my life. We are absolutely enchanted. After two hours of exploration we return to our dive gear. While entering the water all the clay dissolves and we are drifting in chocolate milk, with the same visibility characteristics, half of the exit toward open water is done in zero visibility and in touch contact.

Amazing enough all the caves visited where distinctively very different from one another. A very unique character is keeping them apart in beauty, ease of access and difficulty of diving in regards to visibility, restrictions and depth.

As I came prepared to do some diving I was utterly unprepared how much diving actually was to be done, as numerous caves are scattered all over the Island, as well as an array of wrecks along Sardinia’s coast. To my surprise I had to learn that there are still many dry as well as underwater caves to be explored, many uncharted wrecks to be found yet. The many scenic roads and hiking trails that are cramming onto this large Island leave a large potential for Island exploration too.

As I came unsuspecting I have been struck by the Islands awesome beauty. I got hooked on the atmosphere and sheer potential of cave and wreck exploration. The exploration of the underwater caves and wrecks of Sardinia continues. For more info log on to the Rebreather and Tec friendly dive destination Protec Sardinia




Protec Sardinia is a Rebreatherworld Rebreather Friendly Destination