Snorkeling in Lampedusa, where and how

Why Lampedusa is made for snorkeling

Lampedusa is a limestone plateau that drops into the sea with no rivers and very little fine sand in suspension. You notice it the moment you put your face in the water: long visibility, light reaching the bottom even at eight or ten metres, sharp outlines. And you do not need a boat to find an interesting seabed, because the rock often starts a few metres from the shoreline.

• Clear water for most of the season, above all with the mistral, which keeps the sea flat on the southern side.
• Rocky bottoms and Posidonia meadows close to shore, so the life is concentrated where you can swim to.
• Part of the sea belongs to the Isole Pelagie Marine Protected Area, and in the protected zones the fish are bigger and far less shy.
• Small sheltered coves: if one side is rough, you will almost always find a calm one on the other side of the island.

The scale of the island matters too: just over twenty square kilometres, a few minutes from town to Cala Creta, a quarter of an hour to Capo Ponente. You decide where to get in the water on the morning itself, looking at where the wind blows, and you can change your mind in the afternoon without losing the day.

The rules of the Isole Pelagie Marine Protected Area

The sea around Lampedusa, Linosa and Lampione is part of the Isole Pelagie Marine Protected Area, managed by the municipality of Lampedusa e Linosa. Protection is not uniform: the perimeter is split into three zones, and knowing which one you are in changes what you may do.

• Zone A, full reserve. The sea north of Capo Grecale, the stretch in front of Rabbit Island and the strip north of Linosa. Maximum protection and no swimming, with one well known exception, Rabbit Beach.
• Zone B, general reserve. Activities are allowed but regulated, and some need authorisation from the managing body. Swimming and snorkeling are among the permitted ones.
• Zone C, partial reserve. The buffer strip towards the open sea, where low impact activities are allowed, snorkeling included.

Wherever you are, three bans apply regardless of the zone.

• Do not touch and do not collect anything, neither living organisms nor shells or pieces of rock.
• Do not anchor on Posidonia: the meadow is a protected habitat and an anchor tears it up in seconds.
• Do not feed the fish, because it changes their behaviour and makes them depend on swimmers.

Detailed rules change over time and can be tightened by seasonal orders. Before you leave, check the official website of the Marine Protected Area and read the signs at the access points, which carry the version in force.

The spots you reach from shore

Here you park, walk down and swim. The table gives the side of the island for each spot, which is the piece of information that can save your day: with the sirocco the southern side turns rough and murky, with the mistral it is the best side of the island.

Two warnings. Cala Pulcino pays you back with one of the finest seabeds on the island, but you get there with about forty minutes of walking among the rocks, on a poorly marked route, with no shade and no facilities: leave early and carry water. Rabbit Beach in season is visited on two shifts, morning and afternoon, with a free but compulsory online booking and a limited number of entries; check slots and rules on the reserve website before you travel. In the water, stay in the marked usable stretch.

The spots you only see from the sea

The northern coast is a wall of cliffs and has no beach reachable by land. To the south west there are coves with no path either. Those are exactly the places with the best water, and the only way to put a mask in them is to arrive floating.

• Tabaccara. South west, only by sea: one of the bluest stretches of the island and a fixed stop of the boat tours, with a pale bottom that reflects the light.
• North coast, caves and cliffs. Sheer walls, arches and sea caves, deep water right under the boat. Usually included in the island tour.
• The open side of the Rabbit islet. You see it from the boat during the stop in front of the reserve. Remember it is zone A and the rules in the water are strict.
• Lampione. An isolated rock to the west, seabeds for experienced divers and a dedicated trip: not a place for improvised snorkeling.

That is why the boat tour is not a tourist extra but the missing piece: in half a day you cover the spots that do not exist from land. Strong wind cancels the trips, so book yours early in your stay and keep a spare day.

What you see underwater

Do not expect a coral reef: what you find is a Mediterranean in good health, which is a different and rarer thing. On the rock, between three and ten metres, these are the most common encounters.

• White seabream and saddled seabream in small groups, often mid water above the rock.
• Dark damselfish, moving like a cloud when there is a current.
• Rainbow wrasse, colourful, curious and very fast, almost everywhere on mixed bottoms.
• Octopus hidden in their dens, given away by the shells piled at the entrance.
• Groupers in the more protected zones, still in the shade of an outcrop.
• Posidonia meadows, which are not algae or dirt but a marine plant, a sign of healthy water.

Caretta caretta turtles are here and they nest on the island, but meeting one while snorkeling from shore is rare: you are far more likely to see one surfacing during a boat trip. If you do find one, do not chase it and do not touch it.

Gear and safety

You need little, but that little has to work.

1. A mask that seals without a tight strap: try it dry, it should stay on your face with a single breath in.
2. A simple snorkel and short fins, more than enough close to shore.
3. A marker buoy if you move away from the shore or the boat: in Italy it is compulsory, you stay within fifty metres of it and boats must keep one hundred metres away.
4. A long sleeved rash guard or a t-shirt: your back stays in the sun for hours and burns without you noticing.
5. Reef shoes for rocky entries, which here are the majority.
6. Water and a hat for afterwards, because there is very little shade on the island.

On safety, three rules count more than the others: never go alone, watch the current along the headlands and at the edges of the coves, and never cross the middle of an anchorage, because on the surface you are nearly invisible to anyone manoeuvring. If you also plan to dive, there is a hyperbaric chamber on the island.

If the wind turns, change the spot

The island rule applies underwater too: the wind decides where you get in. With the mistral from the north west the sea stays flat to the south and south west, so Cala Croce, Guitgia, Cala Francese and Rabbit Beach are at their best. With the sirocco from the south east the southern side picks up and turns murky, and you move east and north east, to Cala Pisana, Cala Creta and Mare Morto.

The full beach by beach breakdown is here: Beaches by wind