Grotta Azzurra, the Blue Grotto, Capri…

It was wonderful to go off the beaten path in Capri with Zia Lucy as I hiked the Amalfi Coast with Mountain Trek. But before I take you up Mt. Tiberio, the highest peak of Capri, I thought I’d share a couple of past points on this glamorous little rock. We’ll start from the sea and work our way up.

We only had a day to “do” Capri, it was a stopping point on our way to cruise the Aeolian Islands, an Archipelago north of Sicily. I first came to Capri when I was my daughters age, and I was so excited to now be able to share with her an experience I have always remembered from that famous island, The Blue Grotto.

On our first night we anchored just off the Faraglioni, these amazing formations that rise out of the sea. The “stack” to the left is called Scopolo and the one with the hole, which a small boat can motor through, is Mezzo.

Grotta Azzurra is a major attraction you can get to by land or by sea. At the port of Capri there are plenty of boats available for hire.

The larger boats pull up and wait for smaller rowboats to pick up visitors to bring them through the small opening you can see between these 2 boats, you can also see part of the line of people coming down from the street waiting for rowboats.

The grotto experience was just as I recalled, once you get into the rowboat you have to lie down on the floor. The rower has to time the entry perfectly with the waves. As the wave drops the driver grabs the chain that goes under the opening and pulls the boat through into the giant cavern.

As with many things that you go back to, the grotto looked a little smaller than I remember. But the brilliant blue glow and the echo of the rowers singing every Italian song an American might know as they circled around the cave was absolutely familiar.

But then this visit took a delightfully different turn….  our rower asked if anyone wanted to go for a swim….

 um, #dreamcometru, yes!

There was a bit of a back up so they pulled over to the side and let me jump out of the boat to swim. I didn’t care that I got a jelly fish sting when I first jumped in, or that when I heaved myself back into the boat they said they had caught a tuna instead of a Serena, I was was just beyond elated to be freely swimming around in the astoundingly beautiful blue waters that I have been dreaming about for decades.