La Isola di Capri conjures up romance and dreams, sunny days and longer nights. It’s an Italian island of magic off the Amalfi coast and a spot to place on your things to do before you die, especially the watery cave known as The Blue Grotto.
For a romantic like myself, traveling to the island is just the start of the adventure. As your ferry speeds away from the dock in Sorrento, it seems like the madness fades into the background while paradise lies dead ahead. The morning fog breaks and there, coming closer and closer, is this magnificent island that holds the promise of a beautiful day and a visit to the Blue Grotto. 
The Grotta Azzurra is not open everyday, depending heavily on the weather for watery access to the cave, and this was the first day it had been open in three months. Brava for me and the hundreds of other people hoping for a ticket to a dream.
If the sun is out and the seas are calm, then the very first thing you must do is visit the famous Blue Grotto (40°33′38″N 14°12′17″E), where legend says sea nymphs serenaded sailors to a watery grave and history says the Emperor Tiberius (42 B.C. – 37 A.D.) used it as his swimming pool. (Capri was actually the capital of the Roman empire during Tiberius’ reign from 27 – 37 A.D.) Tiberius and his decorators presumably lined the walls of the grotto with wonderful statues, some of which have been recovered and can be seen at The Charterhouse of St. Giacomo Museum in Anacapri and more of which have recently been detected by an underwater survey. The Italians plan to begin restricting access to the cave to preserve its natural wonder and in doing so are also going to restore reproductions of the statues to their place inside the grotto. (I personally think a bit of the wild, natural wonder is going to be lost in “jazzing” it up inside)
Photo: Arnaud Gaillard, 2003
As soon as you set foot onto Capri the ticket window for the Blue Grotto is on the dock and clearly marked. You buy a ticket for the first of two boat rides to get you there. The first motorized boat, piloted by a sun-tanned descendant of a Roman god, gets you to the outside of the cave, where you transfer to smaller rowboats, manned by the most agile and dexterous of men (BTW – each of them is more stunningly handsome than the next, and they alone are well worth the price of the ticket). You will also get to know your neighbors quite well as 4 to 6 people pile onto these tiny boats and must lie flat on top of each other in order for the boat to fit through the eye-slit opening of the grotto. I kept hoping to lie next to the boatman (Che molto bello!) but instead was told to lie flat, atop a septugenarian man. Everything about the experience screams “TOURIST” but who cares – you’re in Italy – this is Capri – it’s romantic even if you’re traveling alone.
The rowboats line up like hungry sailors at a seaside bordello. The anticipation builds as your “captain” waits for just the right moment when the sea ebbs and allows him to flow in while holding onto a chain along the wall, so as not to crack open his beautiful cucuzza. Once inside, the light is amazing.
Photo: Gary Cohen
The water is electric blue and is lit from underneath by a complex natural refraction of sunlight that makes it glow an ethereal azure blue, hence Grotta Azzurra. (My cousin joked that it’s probably a man-made tourist attraction with Italian divers lighting it from below with flashlights. In light of the planned “restoration,” he may not be that far off the mark!).
Sadly, your time inside is too short and not long enough for you or your camera to take it all in and capture the moment. The rowboats crowd the grotto like 727s at rush hour at O’Hare. My point and shoot camera wasn’t up to the task and I didn’t want to miss a second by looking through a viewfinder. Some moments are meant to live as memories in your heart, natural wonders that cannot be captured in words or pictures, the Grotta Azzurra is one of them.
TOURIST TIP:
1. Have a few Euros handy because you will have to pay cash to board the smaller rowboats.
2. If the Grotto is closed, you may swim in, if you dare – you can walk down and jump in for secret access.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcJCh-8FDS4]
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I’ve always avoided going to Capri in summer because I hate tourist crowds but the Grotta isn’t open all year round. May need to swim in on a lilo.
Lovely post! Still need to see this with my own two eyes!