Neptune's Grotto

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Neptune's Grotto (Italian: Grotta di Nettuno) is a stalactite grotto near the town of Alghero on the island of Sardinia. The cave was discovered by local fishermen in the 18th century and has since developed into a popular tourist attraction.^[1] The grotto gets its name from the Roman god of the sea, Neptune.

The entrance to the grotto lies only around a meter above the sea level at the foot of the 110-meter-high Capo Caccia cliffs and the cave can therefore only be visited when the waters below are calm.^[2] A stairway cut into the cliff in 1954, the 654-step escala del cabirol (goat's steps), leads from a car park at the top of the cliff down to the entrance.^[1][3] The grotto is also accessible via a short boat trip from the port of Alghero; these trips are arranged every hour during the summer, but less frequently during spring and autumn.^[1] Two other grottoes lie nearby, the "green grotto", which isn't open for tourists, and the Grotta di Ricami, which is only accessible from the sea.^[2]

The combined length of the cave system is estimated to be around 4 kilometers, but only a few hundred meters are accessible to the public.^[2] Inside are passages of lit stalactite and stalagmite formations, and a 120-meter-long saltwater lake, which is at sea level. The cave was once a habitat for the Mediterranean Monk Seal, which has become extinct in the area.^[4]

Tourists visiting Neptune's Grotto are given guided tours and led single-file through a lit pathway, with tour guides providing information about the cave in Italian and English. The grotto is widely visited, and during the peak tourist season in August, can contain around 200 people at a time.

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