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Cigliata di Punta Papa
Italy · wall · advanced
5–40 madvancedDeepboat entry
Cigliata di Punta Papa
The drop-off outside Punta Papa on Ponza's north-west corner: a wall worked from 40 m, with a 5 m plateau for the long stop.
Max depth5–40 m
Required leveladvanced
Entry typeboat
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Punta Papa is the north-west corner of Ponza, and there is more than one dive on it. A few hundred metres off the point, Ponza Diving runs a wall it lists as the Parete di Punta Papa, a separate entry in its programme from the Secca di Punta Papa. The wall dive begins at 40 m and is worked as a multilevel profile of 45 to 60 minutes: colour on the rock, crevices and dens holding moray and conger, lobsters in the deeper part, and pelagic fish passing off the drop. What makes the profile comfortable is the wide plateau at 5 m where the safety or decompression stop is done, and where the dive usually ends looking for needlefish, octopus and small groupers.
The rest of the corner fills in around it. The Secca di Punta Papa, 130 m from this pin in the catalogue, is a different dive: a bank with its top at 33 m dropping to 55-58 m, found in 1994, run westward along a wall at about 45 m past a crevice holding part of a Roman lead anchor, and long enough that the operator uses scooters and finishes the decompression on the LST 349. That wreck, an Allied landing ship lost in February 1944 and broken into two sections about 100 m apart at 20-26 m, is the third dive on the same headland and sits 130 to 210 m from this pin.
One honest caveat about the name. No published source we could find uses the exact name Cigliata di Punta Papa; on Ponza the operators call the two dives here Parete di Punta Papa and Secca di Punta Papa, and cigliata is the local word for the lip of a drop-off. This pin, 130 m from the separate Secca di Punta Papa pin, matches the wall rather than the bank, and that is what is described above. If your operator uses the name for something else on this headland, believe them over this page.
- Coloured wall worked from 40 m, a few hundred metres off Punta Papa
- Crevices and dens holding moray and conger, lobsters in the deeper part
- Pelagic fish passing off the drop
- A wide 5 m plateau for the stop, with needlefish, octopus and small groupers
- Two other named dives on the same headland: the Secca di Punta Papa and the LST 349 wreck
Please note before you go
- The dive starts at 40 m, at the edge of the recreational limit, with narcosis and gas planning to match
- Wall dive on an exposed headland: the descent and the deep part are done off a drop-off, not over a bottom
- Crevices and dens on the wall are an easy place to lose a buddy in poor visibility
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Boat dive from Ponza, a few hundred metres off Punta Papa on the island's north-west corner, near Cala Feola and Cala dell'Acqua. Ponza Diving lists it as Parete Punta Papa in its programme. The same short boat ride also reaches the Secca di Punta Papa and the two halves of the LST 349 wreck, so operators commonly combine them across a day.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Restrictions
None specific to diving that we could source. The waters around Ponza fall inside Natura 2000 Special Protection Area IT6040019, which covers the Pontine islands and incorporates the marine sites of community importance around them.
Rules and permits
Ponza and its seabed lie inside ZPS IT6040019 and the associated marine SIC. We found no marine protected area charging dive fees or issuing dive quotas in the Pontine islands, so the practical rules are the operator's.
Season
No source gives a season for this dive. Ponza's dive centres run from spring into autumn and the constraint on an exposed north-west headland is the sea state on the day rather than the month.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentnot sourced
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range5–40 m
Environmentwall
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsnot sourced
An exposed wall on the north-west corner of Ponza, dived from a boat. The operator's profile runs 45 to 60 minutes multilevel from 40 m up to a wide plateau at 5 m. No source publishes visibility or temperature figures for this dive, so we give none.
On current: No source we read gives current figures for this wall. What the operator does describe is a profile built around a long shallow stop, which is the shape you would expect on an exposed headland where the deep part is short and the shallow plateau does the work. Punta Papa faces the open sea on Ponza's north-west corner, so treat it as a site where the sea state and the drop-off decide the plan.
Questions & answers
Is Cigliata di Punta Papa the same dive as the Secca di Punta Papa?
No, although the two pins sit only about 130 m apart. Ponza Diving lists two separate dives on this headland: the Parete di Punta Papa, a wall a few hundred metres off the point that starts at 40 m, and the Secca di Punta Papa, a bank whose top is at 33 m and whose base is at 55-58 m. This pin matches the wall. No published source actually uses the name Cigliata di Punta Papa, so confirm with your operator which of the two you are booking.
How deep is the wall at Punta Papa?
The operator's dive starts at 40 m and is then worked shallower as a multilevel profile of 45 to 60 minutes, finishing on a wide plateau at 5 m where the stop is done. That means the deep part sits right at the recreational limit, while most of the bottom time is spent well above it. The neighbouring Secca di Punta Papa is the deeper option, reaching 55-58 m.
Is this dive suitable for beginners?
No. The dive begins at 40 m on a wall several hundred metres off an exposed headland, which puts it at the edge of recreational depth limits and calls for deep training and good gas management. The 5 m plateau at the end makes the stop comfortable, but it does not change what the first part of the profile is.
What will I see at Punta Papa?
On the wall itself, crevices and dens holding moray and conger eels, with lobsters in the deeper part, and pelagic fish passing off the drop-off. The shallow plateau where the dive ends is a different scene: needlefish, octopus and small groupers over 5 m of rock, which is also where the wide-angle photography is easiest.
How do I get to Punta Papa and can I dive it from shore?
It is a boat dive from Ponza, on the island's north-west corner near Cala Feola and Cala dell'Acqua, and shore access is not an option. The same short boat ride reaches the Secca di Punta Papa and both halves of the LST 349 wreck, so most operators plan the headland as a day rather than a single dive.
What else is worth diving on this headland?
Two things. The Secca di Punta Papa, found in 1994, is a bank running from 33 m down to 55-58 m, with a wall around 45 m and a crevice holding part of a Roman lead anchor. The LST 349, an Allied landing ship lost in February 1944, lies broken into two sections about 100 m apart in 20-26 m, shallow enough that it is often used to finish the decompression from the deeper dives.
Life recorded at Cigliata di Punta Papa
7 species within 1.5 km · OBISEriphia verrucosarare · 1 records
Pachygrapsus transversusrare · 1 records
Holothuria (Platyperona) sanctorirare · 1 records
Aidablennius sphynxrare · 1 records
Parablennius pilicornisrare · 1 records
Gobius geniporusrare · 1 records
All 7 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Eriphia verrucosa | rare | 1 |
| Pachygrapsus transversus | rare | 1 |
| Holothuria (Platyperona) sanctori | rare | 1 |
| Aidablennius sphynx | rare | 1 |
| Parablennius pilicornis | rare | 1 |
| Gobius geniporus | rare | 1 |
| Pelagia noctiluca | rare | 1 |
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