Some dives have become a legend, one of these is the Blue Cave of Palinuro, so rich in peculiarities to make it unique. The roominess of the main hall, the tunnel shape, the abundant marine Ilfe, sulphureous sprìngs, submerged cave formations and blue water reflections, give us unforgettable moments. Depending on the itinerary we choose, begin­ners and experienced divers, can enjoy this dive. One dive is not enough to see and under­stand the many geological and biological sub­jects. The Blue Cave, 85 metres long and 90 metres wide, cuts Quaìl's Polnt side to slde. The maln entrance (max -20 mt.) is covered by a submerged rocky diaphragm over which boats navigate until the vault slips underwater, to reach the big secondary entrance (max -33 mt). Here the sunlight gives the famous blue colour. Limpidity and current are normally good otherwise let's change destination. Wc swim for 25 metres leaving the atrium for the last part of the dive, with less autonomy in gas and light. We are at the "threshold" where the big hall opens and the depth increases. In front of us the intense blue Ilght and above our heads the walls of the aerial part appear through surface. Going left wc meet the big columns, three metres high, demonstrating that once upon a time the cave was not submer­ged. After the "fitone , a peculiar shaped rock, we arrive at the famous Snow Room.Two sul­phureous warm water springs (24°c) allow sul­phur bacteria to proliferate in a soft and white carpet coverlng the waIIs.These bacteria keep energy for life from sulphide oxidation, inde­pendently from sunlight and chlorophyll. The same they do in the depths of the Oceans... some metres below. The water Is warm and, for the suspended colloidal sulphur, opalescent or whlte in colour. Its an unreal scene. Due to the muddy bottom, the total darkness and our bubbles making sulphur bacteria flocculi falling like snowflakes the snowroom, is reserved by Palinuro Sub Dlvlng Center to real experlen­ced dlvers. Wc can observe the natural phe­nomenon wlthout enterlng the Room because the lighter- warmer waters, fill the dome ano overflow wlth a characterlstlc whlte stream where we can feel the dlfference in tempera­ture. The separation line betweeen sulphu­reous and sea waters Is clear. Here Ilves the big white cave sponge Geodia cidonyum wlth stln­ging spiculae ... don't touch I ]usi under the separation line, the benthic fauna starts again. Imposslble io describe si] the spedes Ilvlng in this natural aquarlum. Fragile bryozoans Ilke the mermaid's veil Sertella septentrionalis, rea­chlng very big size, the staghorn rose coral Smittina cervicornis, the fan bryozoan Hornera frondiculata and the false coral Myriapora trun­cato, are overhanged by yellow sea fans Eunicella cavolinii. A breathtaklng I<ey posltion, among light reflections and black outlines, makes us understand the Blue Cave wideness, staylng in perfect buoyancy far from the wall. We arrlve at the big submerged secondary entrance and we look at a famlly of sharp snout breams Diplodus puntazzo through the heart shaped rocky window on the left. A peculiarlty of cave organlsms Is deplgmenta­tion, very evldent in the hard bread sponge Petrosia fici formís. Its usual colour Is dark plnk or pale brown but Iin the dark is white for the lack of bacterla glving colourThe small trans­parent casks are Ilght-bulb tunlcates Clovelina lepadiformis, the little nets are yellow calca­reous sponges Clathrina clathrus and the long flexible protuberances, are the red horn spon­ge Axinella cannabina. On the mud is very easy te find another "darkness lover", the brown spotted leopard goby Thorogobius ephippiatus. When we see a moving sponge we are in front of a sponge crab Dromia personata. For mimicry, the cru­stacean usually keeps It, by the last pair of legs, on the back. Sharpening our slght we locate the tiny and brittle pinky crystals of the red foramlnlferan Miniocina miniacea, a colonlal protozoa, we can see wlthout microscope Wc are agaln at the "threshold" to look ai the nlce and dlfferently coloured mediterranea- feather stars Antedon mediterranea. If pressure gauge and bottom time are OK, wc stop in the atrlum where a dive Is worth . Sometimes we find the graceful brown meagre Saoer„; umbra and her majesty the grouper EPnnepheius mar­ginatus or Epinephelus alexandr nus hidlng in the clefts. In a side niche, clouds of red cardinal fshes Apogon imberbis swlm. Everywhere the tiny and coloured nudibranch moiluscs like the mìgratlng aeolld Cratena peregr;na. the vlolet aeolld Flabellina affinis and the dari< polnted dorid Discodoris atromacuiata. Also the pink flatworm Prostheceraeus 2iesbrecht^;, lives here. The vault Is orange coloured for the star coral Astroides calycularís masslve presence. This stone coral Ilves only in southern reglons and Is a "darl<ness lover', as wc go toward the Ilght it leaves space te the yellow encrusting ane­mone Parazoanthus axinellae. Its slze Is bigger than In other caves (giantlsm), due to the tun­nel shape facllltating water change and conse­quent food contribution. We go out to reach three sulphureous springs and surprises are not finlshed. Long (untll one metre) and green filaments come out from the rock (more In the night). They are the bipartite proboscises of the green bonellla Bonellía viridis female. The body Inslde the rock has a hen's egg slze.The male Ilves on the female and Is maximum 3 mm long. Before surFaclng, durlng the safety stop, we observe some very big clrcular holes carved by stones moved by waves: the pot­holes or giant pots.The right and the left sides of the cave have each specific peculiarities, so they require minimum two different dives if you don't lil<e speed races and want to appre­ciate everything.