Gaiola Park

Description: The submerged park of Gaiola is the fulcrum of the Posillipo coast, between the high cliffs of the Trentaremi bay and the gently sloping slopes of Marechiaro.
Here the underwater landscape is made up of an extraordinary mix of archaeological remains and biological populations very rich in colorful animal and plant forms, which find hospitality and shelter among the intricate wall fabric of the Roman era.
The environment that is encountered changes from the coast towards the open sea through a variety of underwater landscapes that alternate banks of tuff eroded by the waves and carved by the hand of man since Roman times, to the typical rocky environment of the Mediterranean coasts, rich in white and yellow gorgonians.
Around the island and the villa della Gaiola lie, on tufaceous platforms interspersed with small shaded valleys, the remains of buildings which, with their square shapes, the cracks between the stone blocks, the cavities and the different exposures to light , create a kind of living encyclopedia of the Mediterranean coastal environment.
While the tops of the blocks and pillars, in fact, exposed to full sunlight, present a typically photophilic (light-loving) biological community characterized by brown and red tufts of laminar leaf and tufted algae (Dictyota dichotoma and Asparagopsis taxiformis) the more shaded and hidden areas suddenly change to a community of sciaphilous algae (shade lovers), especially of the species Amphiroa rigida, with bluish tufts.
This imaginary trip between the fish ponds and the pillars of the villa that two thousand years ago stood on the Posillipo coast is accompanied by clouds of brown damselfish ("o'Guarracino" of the famous Neapolitan song), damsels, sea thrushes, golden mullets and small bream . The common octopus nestles in the ravines among the stone blocks full of sea urchins, populated by mussels and limpets.
Following a submerged promontory that slopes towards the open sea from the villa, you can reach Banco della Cavallara at a depth of 20-30 meters.
The bench allows the fascinating experience of an immersion in the heart of the Mediterranean facing the unique landscape of the Gulf of Naples, with the view of Vesuvius, Capo Posillipo, Capri; and is characterized by populations of gorgonians Eunicella singularis (White Gorgonia) and Eunicella cavolini (Gorgonia Gialla), and bioconstructive animals such as the madrepores Cladocora caespitosa and Parazoanthus axinellae which produce the same rocks on which multicolored populations settle and among which bream, serrani graze , king of mullets, moray eels and a rich fauna of deep reef reached by the filtered rays of the sun invade.
Location: Posillipo
Depth: maximum -21 mt. ; average -16 mt.
Difficulty: low
Cost: € 35 including park entrance fee
Services included: cylinder, ballast, boat passage, guide, changing room, showers