Capo Gallo and Isola delle Femmine

Many dive sites can be viewed with authorized diving centers , one of the most famous dive sites is Jk 52 ; a German WWII aircraft lying at -47 meters deep.

Dominated by the typical profile of the Capo Gallo cliff and enclosed in the ideal embrace of the islet of Isola delle females , therefore squeezed between two nature reserves in a context marked by the historical presence of man, the Marine Protected Area of Capo Gallo and Isola delle Femmine was established by the Ministry for the Environment in 2002 to protect its specificity constituted by a marine biodiversity of exceptional scientific level.

The quality of its waters is testified by the presence of a phenomenon already visible from the coast, the sidewalk (or trottoir) with vermeti originating from a mollusk whose calcification gives rise to a solid structure.

The depths rich in cavities and depressions, the submerged and semi-submerged caves give life to an underwater environment rich in ichthyofauna: in the area below the coast, therefore, there are bream, scorpion fish, wrasse. In the rocky bottoms, we find corvine, grouper and moray eels.

Not rare are the snappers and the Mediterranean barracuda , which live undisturbed hunting in Posidonia oceanica meadows . Although it prefers sandy bottoms, to the west of Capo Gallo this alga is also found on the rock. An underwater excursion then reveals the presence of splendid corals such as corallium rubrum ( red coral ), the beautiful red gorgonians , algae with various shapes and colors and numerous species of sponges in particular the axinella cannabina commonly known as column sponge .

The pelagic marine fauna, varying with the currents and the geographical position, includes jellyfish of the Rhizostoma pulmo species, the so-called lung of the sea . For large pelagic vertebrates, the list includes amberjacks, tuna and even some turtles of the Caretta caretta species and some marine mammals.