Neptune’s Grottoes Tour.
In the summer heat it is so nice to take a break from the heat and escape for half an hour in the cool. You should not neglect the opportunity to visit the amazingly picturesque Neptune’s Grotto. These beautiful caves are only 25 kilometres from Alghero, from the bay of Cala Dragunara. You can get here by boat or yacht.
Legend has it that the grotto was first discovered by fishermen. Their vessel was caught in a storm and they hid in a rock opening to escape, eventually finding themselves in the grotto. As soon as they lit a torch they saw the beauty of the underworld, admired it, went looking for treasure, got lost, did not get out and died. Neptune jealously guards his riches. Clearly, this is just a legend, as the fishermen could hardly tell us about their misadventures “post factum”, i.e. having perished.
But it is known for sure that in 1700 the first visitors came to the grotto and, as they were not looking for treasure, they were able to return with the news that the caves were 2.5 kilometres long. It was only in 1950 that this natural wonder became accessible to tourists. Since 1959, you can descend here on a staircase with a length of 659 steps. The grotto is open to the public every day.
If you do not want to walk down the stairs, you can get to the grotto by sea. There is a fee to enter the grottoes.
The grottoes are 120 metres long, but only two-thirds are accessible to tourists. In 1979 the film “Monster Island” was filmed here, so if you don’t have enough scares to complete the picture, you can watch this picture.
The grottoes have several halls: the Hall of Ruins, where in the XIX century the visitors were so miserable that they had to give such a name, the Pebble Beach, the pebbles from which have already gradually disappeared to the seabed, the Royal Hall with a column right in the centre – the height of 18 metres, the Music Hall and the Organ Hall, as well as the Music Stand, from which it is good to take photos. At the centre of it all is the salt lake of Lamarmora.
The beautiful stalactites and stalagmites of Neptune’s Grotto are illuminated, but breaking off a piece of them (even if you have sufficient physical strength and your fingers don’t slip on the wet stone) is completely unnecessary.
