Il Sommergibile (Submarine Canyon, Tunnel & Sifone)

Il Sommergibile sits on the open western cliff face of the Capo Caccia promontory, which is its exposed side. The bulk of the cape rises 150 m directly to the north and east and shields the whole N-through-E-to-SE arc, while the small island of Isola Foradada offshore to the NNW-NW takes the edge off the north-westerly Maestrale (Mistral). The wide-open window is to the west and south-west: the WSW-SW-W sector faces the Sea of Sardinia with no shelter, so Libeccio (SW) winds and any westerly wind-sea drive straight onto the wall, with the southern exposure staying largely open as well. Because there is no true ocean swell in the western Mediterranean, conditions are driven by local wind fetch, but a sustained westerly or south-westerly blow quickly builds surge along this wall and forces the dive to be cancelled — the reason it is essentially a settled-weather, summer site.