Pacì Cape at Scylla

The beach of Marina Grande of Scylla is closed to the south by a rocky promontory known as “Punta Pacì”. Diving below the tip, the rock falls at a depth of a few meters, reclining on gravel with walls perforated by caves and tunnels. Moving a little offshore, there’s a steep sandy slope that leads to the cliffs located between 35 and 60 m depth. Masses of rock, with stones even big, are colonized by a multitude of invertebrates, with a prevalence of cnidarians, and are inhabited by sedentary fishes.
Within small and beautiful caves, there are widespread colonies of Astroides calycularis, corals characterized by particularly flashy orange, that adhere to the substrate already under the sea level; the orange color of these invertebrates contrasts beautifully with the dark red of the numerous beadlet anemones.
Leaving behind this colorful environment, we follow the plateau that, a few steps from the shore of Scylla, begins to go down very steeply to the depths; at about 30 m depth, there’s a cliff of scattered rocks, that become compact around 40 m, forming impressive ranges of rock and real edges which go to finish on the sandy bottom at over 60 m: this is the kingdom of coelenterates such as the gorgonian Paramuricea clavata, in its typical red-yellow variety, the Eunicella cavolinii, the Alcyonium palmatum, the Parerhitropodium coralloides, Gerardia savaglia and many more… all names that may suggest very little to people non-experts in marine biology, but that hide a world of colors and a variety of forms able to amaze the most indifferent of divers!