L'Isola

L'Isola is a detached secca offshore of a roughly N-S cliff coast, with the land bulk to the east-northeast through southeast (Castel Boccale sits NE, the Calafuria tower ESE) and the open Ligurian Sea to the west and south. The landward E-SE sectors are shadowed by the cliff, while the W-SW-WSW window is fully exposed to the dominant Libeccio (SW) wind-sea and Ponente (W), and the NW-WNW to the Maestrale/Mistral - these are the swells that build surge and chop over the cap and force cancellations. Scirocco (SE) blows offshore off the land here and tends to flatten the surface, improving visibility, whereas a fresh Maestrale stirs the inshore water and drops it. Being an exposed offshore rock rather than a tucked-in cove, its northern and southern flanks are more open to sea than the neighbouring shore dives. Microtidal Mediterranean conditions mean tide plays no role.