Page 236 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

BOAT TOURS AND DIVES AROUND PANAREA

The islets and rocks off Panarea make for a great day out. You can either go on a
tour (from around €15 per person) – there’ll be plenty of time for swimming – or
rent your own boat (from around €100 for a half-day excluding fuel). Check out the
seafront kiosks at San Pietro or look for the signs advertising “Noleggio barche”
(boat rental) in nearly every bar, shop and restaurant.

The nearest of the islets to Panarea, Dattilo, points a jagged, pyramidal finger
skyward and has a minuscule beach. There’s better swimming at Lisca Bianca, the
stark setting of Antonioni’s 1960 film L’Avventura, where the tranquil water is
sheltered by Bottaro opposite. Just offshore, submarine fumaroles, created during
the last major eruption of Stromboli in 2002, send columns of bubbles rising to the
surface – a great snorkelling experience – though check before leaving if access is

permitted, as gas emissions can occasionally be dangerous. Nearby Lisca Nera and
Le Formiche (The Ants) are mere wrinkles on the sea surface, albeit a constant
hazard to shipping. The largest islet is Basiluzzo, which retains the remains of a
Roman fort and port (the latter now submerged) but is currently only used for caper
cultivation.

There are some great dives too: take a day out with Amphibia ( 335 613 8529,

amphibia.it) to see what appears to be a submarine snowstorm – the water is full of
blobs of a weird white bacteria that grows on sulphur and has the consistency of
eggwhite – and to dive the remains of a British cargo ship deliberately sunk during
the Depression as an insurance scam – for the past fifteen years it has been inhabited
by a giant fish (about 80kg). Amphibia also offers introductory and PADI diving

courses, plus snorkelling and children’s activities.