Grotta del Bue Marino

Location

Cala Gonone
Italy
40° 14' 48.6204" N, 9° 37' 23.0844" E
IT
General info: 

The Bue Marino Grottos are considered some of the most beautiful grottos in all of Italy, with kilometers of galleries, rivers and subterranean lakes, stalactites and stalagmites, fossils and Neolithic graffiti.
The caves are among the biggest in Sardinia with total length of about 5km. On a guided tour only about 900m meters is visited however. The visitors follow the way the sea penetrates into the mountain creating a salt lake of more than 1squarekilometer of surface. The place is very rich of stalactites and stalagmites. Only underwater speleologists may go further from here.
The name of the cave comes from the presence of Monaca seal, the extremely rare Mediterranean seal (that local people call private://sea oxprivate://, Bue Marino), which till to the '80ies came to grow its puppies in this cave.

Getting there: 

In the harbour of Cala Gonone, there are several companies offering boat trips to the destinations along the coastline, including Grotta del Bue Marino (Bue Marine Cave).

Costs: 

There are many companies but here one price example: Bue Marino: round-trip from Cala Gonone €17, ages 6-12 €10. Bue Marino and Cala Luna: €24, ages 6-12 €16. Ferry fees include guided tour.

Interesting places nearby

The large area of Pampeago/Predazzo offers a wide selection of entertainment and cultural events, as well as sports activities.

Panarotta is located above the lakeside village of Levico Terme, down at 507 metres.

BASE: 4980ft
SUMMIT: 6463ft
VERTICAL DROP: 2959ft

NO. OF. LIFTS: 4
Gondolas: 0
Chairs: 4
Surface: 0

BASE: 6748ft
SUMMIT: 8612ft
VERTICAL DROP: 0ft

NO. OF. LIFTS: 0
Gondolas: 1
Chairs: 0
Surface: 0

A small but high-altitude, settlement with a modest local ski area. The height makes it snowsure, especially having 50% snow-making cover back-up, but in any case the full valley's skiing is on the local Valle di Fiemme Pass.

At Passo Rolle (9 km from San Martino - reachable by ski-bus in 20 minutes) you'll find 15 km of tracks from 1900 to 2200 metres in altitude with 5 chair-lifting systems and a ski-lift.

BASE: 9048ft
SUMMIT: 11318ft
VERTICAL DROP: 2270ft

NO. OF. LIFTS: 6
Gondolas: 4
Chairs: 2
Surface: 0