The Blue Grotto is a small sea cave on Capri’s northern coast that produces an electric, almost unnatural blue light inside, caused by sunlight passing through an underwater opening and filtering through the water before entering the cave. Getting inside involves lying flat in a tiny rowboat while a boatman times the swell and pulls you through a low entrance barely a meter high, which is part of what makes the whole thing memorable.

Best Things to Do

Take the rowboat into the cave itself

Larger boats bring visitors to the cave mouth, where small rowboats take over for the actual entry, timing each pass with the waves so the low opening doesn’t scrape the boat. Once inside, the blue glow off the water is unlike lighting you will see anywhere else on the island.

View Price & Book Tour on Viator

Combine the grotto with a boat tour around Capri

Because access depends on calm seas and tides, many visitors book a full boat circuit of the island that includes the Blue Grotto along with the Faraglioni rock stacks and other sea caves, so a closed grotto doesn’t sink the whole outing.

View Price & Book Tour on Viator

See the Faraglioni rock formations

These three limestone stacks rising out of the sea near Capri’s southern coast are as recognizable as the grotto itself and make for one of the best photo stops on any boat tour around the island.

View Price & Book Tour on Viator

Explore Capri town and the Gardens of Augustus

After a morning on the water, Capri’s hilltop town offers narrow lanes, boutique shopping, and the terraced Gardens of Augustus, which look straight down at the Faraglioni from above, a nice counterpoint to seeing them from sea level.

View Price & Book Tour on Viator

Best Time to Visit

Midday, when the sun is highest, produces the strongest blue effect inside the cave, since the light needs a steep angle to penetrate the underwater opening. The grotto closes entirely when seas are rough or tides run too high for a boat to fit through the entrance, which happens often enough that flexibility matters.

How to Get There

Most visitors reach the grotto by boat from Marina Grande, Capri’s main harbor, either on a dedicated grotto excursion or as part of a round-the-island tour. Ferries to Capri itself run from Naples and Sorrento.

Good to Know

Access can close with no notice due to weather or tide, so it helps to have a backup plan if you’re visiting Capri specifically for the grotto. The rowboat portion is brief, often just a few minutes inside, so temper expectations about duration versus the buildup of getting there.

Because the grotto is so weather dependent, treat it as a wonderful bonus rather than a guarantee, and build a broader day around Capri’s coastline so the trip is worthwhile either way.