On the south-eastern side of Ustica lies one of the most beautiful and picturesque bays on the island, dominated by a large wall looking straight towards Sicily, Punta San Paolo!
Just a few minutes by boat from the port of Ustica, Punta San Paolo appears as a large bay dominated by a beautiful promontory stretching southwards, split in two by a gorgeous emerged canyon. The dive site offers several starting points, thanks to 4 buoys inside the bay and 2 outer buoys located at the tip of the point.
Generally, one starts from the outer buoys, beginning the dive by leaving Sicily behind to explore the tip area, which is fascinating both at a depth of 20 metres thanks to the passage of fish such as amberjacks, jacks, brown groupers and bream, and at greater depths where there are two rock formations full of red gorgonia, where lobsters and biscuit sea star also find a home. Leaving the tip, we reach the wall, where we find one of Ustica's most striking canyons, known as the 'Spaccazza'. It is a canyon with a base about 20 metres deep that rises well above the surface. The entrance is easy in line and at the end there is a small inlet where you can observe a school of small apogons. Besides the canyon, the wall offers a great variety of groupers, crustaceans and nudibranches, and it is not uncommon to encounter octopuses hiding in their dens. The inside of the bay is dominated by a large posidonia field within which you can observe pipefish camouflaging themselves among the leaves.
In addition, at a depth of about 18 metres, there is an old wreck of a fishing boat of which part of the hull remains. The wreck offers shelter to various marine species, such as moray eels, crustaceans and a surprising population of biscuit sea stars and pencil urchins.
Finally, the inside of the bay, thanks to its shallowness, is an ideal place for beginners' courses. Punta San Paolo is able to please all divers thanks to its various points of interest!