A beautiful bay overlooking Sicily, a multitude of tunnels, caves and canyons to explore. Scuba diving at Sutta a'zza Lisa will show you the more playful side of Ustica!
Located on the southern side of the island of Ustica, about a 10-minute boat ride from the harbour, Sutta a'zza Lisa is a small cove suitable for both scuba diving and interesting snorkelling tours. At the top of the bay, a small stone ruin can be seen, which was originally a military post and later the home of 'zza Lisa and from which the bay takes its name.
There are several areas that can be explored. Beginning on the east side of the bay, we encounter a huge canyon, which begins inside the bay at a depth of about 3 metres and extends towards the open sea over 18 metres. Inside the canyon we find several passages where it is possible to find slipper lobster and pencil sea urchins, urchins that generally live at a depth of more than 40 metres, and a small, picturesque cave with a very sedimentary seabed, making it an ideal habitat for mullet, nudibranchs and cerianti.
On the west side of the bay stand three large rock formations surrounded by posidonia, beyond which lies the cave of ''zza Lisa'', which is very special thanks to the huge opening that allows lots of light to enter and favours the great biodiversity inside the cave. The vault is very colourful thanks to the presence of the orange madrepore, and you often come across filaments of sponge, indicators of the unique asexual reproduction process of this particular sponge. On the seafloor there is another peculiar sponge, the petrosia, immediately recognisable by its double colouring, white on the side not exposed to the sun and dark mauve on the exposed side, just as if it were tanned. It is also common to observe dotted sea slug, as petrosia is their favourite food. Beyond the cave is a large sloping wall, populated by seabreams and brown groupers, where numerous points of interest stand out, including several tunnels, some very articulated and all between 13 and 26 metres deep, and a unique cave where it is possible to observe several slipper lobsters! Finally, in the deepest part of the wall, there is a large stretch of white gorgonian (Eunicella singularis) populated by curious moray eels!
Sutta a'zza Lisa is one of Ustica's most unique dives, particularly appealing to those who love passages and caves, as well as offering numerous opportunities for all macro and landscape photographers.