The Blue Grotto – Worth the Wait?
In the age of Instagram, overtourism has become a problem in popular tourist destinations across the world. In some instances, it’s genuinely problematic (sometimes deadly), and in others, it’s mostly just a nuisance. In the case of the Blue Grotto, it’s more of the latter. We usually try to avoid the overwhelming crowds by visiting popular destinations in the offseason, but unfortunately our one-day visit to the Italian island of Capri coincided with the peak summer vacation season. We booked a full-day, 12-person boat tour of Capri that left from Sorrento in the early morning, and the first stop was the famous Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra). Upon arrival, the entrance to the grotto was already surrounded by a swarm of boats. The captain of our boat told us that the wait would be at least an hour…it ended up being closer to two hours. So the question is, is it really worth the wait? The answer: maybe.
The Good
First of all, the Blue Grotto itself is objectively amazing. It’s popular for a reason. The water is impossibly blue, to the point where it looks almost unnatural. This video should give a sense for what it’s like inside.
And if you visit close to high tide, the process of getting in and out of the Blue Grotto is a wild experience. The entrance is always mostly underwater with the exception of a small opening that row boats are able to pass through. As the tide gets higher, the above-water portion of this opening gets smaller. We were one of the last groups to be allowed inside before access to the grotto was shut down for the morning…as you can imagine, the entrance was extremely small.
The row boat picked five of us up from our much larger tour boat and rowed us over to the opening in the rock face. There are chains attached to the rock that allow the guides to quickly pull their boats through the opening in between waves, because when a wave rolled in, the opening was 100% submerged. We also had to lay completely flat in the cramped, wodden boat to avoid hitting our heads on the way in. This video captures the entry.
The exit was equally exhilarating…
The history surrounding the grotto is also fascinating. The grotto was the personal swimming hole of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, and he decorated his personal sea cave with statues and had sitting areas carved into the stone walls. Some of these statues were discovered on the floor of the grotto as recently as the 1960’s.
The Not So Good
Unfortunately it’s not all good. With so many people clamoring to get inside the grotto, the boats that carry visitors in and out aren’t able to linger inside for too long. We paid 15 Euro each for access to the grotto and we were only inside for about five minutes. The brevity makes the otherwise incredible experience feel underwhelming. So basically (if you visit in the summer), you could end up waiting up to three hours for an experience that lasts less than ten minutes.
Unless you have a private boat, you’ll likely have to make up your mind in advance by booking a tour that either does or does not include a stop at the grotto. If you decide to visit the grotto and wait it out, you’ll lose a good chunk of your morning or afternoon, but you’ll have your mind (briefly) blown. If you’d rather skip it, there are several other less popular grottos around the island that make suitable replacements. All that to say, there’s no right answer, but it certainly helps to know what you’re getting yourself into so that you can make an educated decision ahead of time.