Scuba Diver Ocean Planet Issue 04/2016 | Page 60

A DIVE INTO HISTORY DIVE SITES 1 VILLA PISONI Villa Pisoni is an extraordinary Roman villa identified by inscriptions on a main pipe, six metres deep. Located close to volcanic tuff rocks (compacted lava), it features a 45-minute itinerary marked by a rope and numbered panels. Divers can explore the villa’s structures and rows of restored niches and half-columns delineating the former atrium garden. Guides temporarily remove protective sandbags so divers can view white square mosaics. 2 VILLA PROTIRO Located close to the seasonal floating wharfs of modern Baian Marina, Villa Protiro features “gardens” of spirograph worms and schools of sargos. Its white marble threshold welcomes divers who can glide through fascinating geometric white and black square mosaics, a series of residential rooms and a thermal complex filled with architectural features. 06 3 NINFEO SUBMERGED Many consider Ninfeo the most impressive underwater site with its wonderful Punta Epitaffio nymphaeum. Here, divers can cruise among copies of statues now protected in the museum of the Campi Flegrei. Ulysses and his helmsman Baios giving a cup of wine to Cyclops are here, as well as members of the Emperor’s family. One can also swim between ancient road paving stones as tiny octopuses and fish peer out. Under the supervision of dive guides, one can also explore nearby baths. SDOP 05 58 4 SECCA FUMOSA Huge piers, reaching 12 metres to the surface, characterise Secca Fumosa on the external border of Portus Julius. Passing rich sea life of sea bream, octopuses, moray eels and brown snappers, divers reach an astounding concentration of volcanic fumaroles. The fumaroles, which heat the seabed sand with a continuous emission of hot bubbles, create a unique environment for the proliferation of sulfobacteria, which form a white layer on everything.