Grotta del Cabirol (Cabirol's Cave)

The site sits on the west-to-south-west-facing cliff near the SW tip of the Capo Caccia promontory, with the bulk of the cape rising immediately to the east and south-east and sheltering it completely from the Levante and Scirocco sectors. The exposed window is the open western Mediterranean: the W, WSW and SW (Libeccio) sectors face straight into open water and reach the wall unattenuated, with the NW (Mistral/Tramuntana) partly open before the northern promontory and Isola Foradada begin to shadow it. There is no true ocean swell here — waves are wind-sea over the western fetch — but a sustained Libeccio or Mistral blow builds surge against the cliff and, because the boat must moor against an exposed vertical wall in a cavern setting, it is the main reason dives get called off. The E-SE half of the compass is blocked by land.