If you’ve stumbled across this post, you’ve probably got a trip to Capri, Italy booked and you’re wondering Is the Blue Grotto worth it?. You’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’re sharing everything you need to know to plan a day trip to the Blue Grotto and spilling the tea on if it’s worth visiting.
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What is the Blue Grotto?
Amanda recently went on a Mediterranean cruise at the end of summer with family and one of the port days was in Naples, Italy. She booked a full day tour with Naples Tour Services where she toured Capri, Sorrento & Pompeii.
She had a few hours to explore Capri and the tour guide offered three options: Going into the Capri city center where you can find luxury shopping stores, going to Anacapri for a more local feel with amazing views, or various boat tour options around the island. Amanda’s family ultimately chose to check out the Blue Grotto, influenced by its fame on social media. After all, the Blue Grotto is the biggest tourist attraction on the island, so it’s hard to resist!
You’ve likely heard of the Blue Grotto from Instagram and Tiktok, but in case you haven’t – the Blue Grotto is a cave located on the Italian island of Capri. It is famous for its sparkling blue water. The iridescent water sparkles due to the reflection of the sunlight coming in from outside of the small cave entrance.
The Blue Grotto is portrayed as being very romantic. The vibes Amanda was expecting was like in The Little Mermaid when Ariel and Eric are floating in a blue lagoon while Sebastian serenades them. But is that the experience Amanda had? Read on to find out.
Heading to Italy? Check out Kayla’s guide to Florence and Amanda’s guide to Rome. If you’re new to planning international trips, check out our Beginner’s Guide to Planning an International Trip for tips and tricks to making the planning process and your trip a seamless experience!
How To Visit The Blue Grotto
Getting from Naples to the island of Capri is easily accessible via a ferry that takes approximately 1 hour and costs roughly €30 per person. The ferry has two levels of seating, a small food and drink station, and a couple of restrooms on board. You can purchase tickets for the ferry either at the marina itself or in advance online.
Once you arrive in Capri, you can get to the Blue Grotto either by boat or by bus.
Via Boat
There is a booth with boat tour options for the Blue Grotto located near the entrance of the marina docks. There are multiple signs advertising tours as well as employees shouting at the crowds trying to entice them to book an adventure. The two most popular tour options are a full tour around the island with a stop at the Blue Grotto or a direct boat ride to the Blue Grotto.
Via Bus
If a boat ride isn’t appealing to you, you can also choose to take a bus ride to the Blue Grotto. You will need to first go to Anacapri (the opposite side of the island). This can easily be done via bus, taxi or a long walk. Once in Anacapri, take the bus to the grotto, a 15 minute(ish) ride.
If choosing this option, you will wait in a line that snakes down a long flight of stairs to the water’s edge. We were envious of everyone waiting their turn on land – more on that below.
Blue Grotto Boat Tour Review & Experience
Amanda’s family opted for the direct boat ride and boarded a small boat with roughly 20 other people. The cost for the Blue Grotto is a little complex – You will pay one fee for the boat tour chosen. Then upon arriving at the Blue Grotto, you will pay an additional entrance fee of €18 per person to enter the grotto itself.
Also, once you get in the rowboat (more on the rowboats below), the skipper will attempt to convince you / demand that a €10 tip per person is also required. So in all, it cost roughly €50 per person to complete the boat tour & enter the Blue Grotto.
If taking the direct route, it is a quick & beautiful boat ride from the marina to the Blue Grotto. Things become a little dicey though once you arrive at the Blue Grotto.
Enter the rowboats.
The entrance to the Blue Grotto has a tiny opening just large enough to squeeze a rowboat in and out. There are a dozen rowboats with skippers ready to pick you up from your boat as well as filter in the line of people waiting on the stairs.
The wooden rowboats hold a maximum of four people at a time, with three of the passengers laying on top of one another like sardines in the back of the rowboat and one lucky person sitting opposite them at the front. The skipper stays in the center of the rowboat.
Once you transfer from your boat to the rowboat (which is basically a graceful fall), they row you over to the floating ticket booth where you pay the entrance fee. The skipper then guides your rowboat over towards the small entrance and waits your turn to squeeze into the cave.
When it is your turn to enter, your skipper tells you to lay down flat and keep all hands and feet inside the rowboat. They grab hold of a metal chain and pull the rowboat into the narrow opening of the cave. Once in the cave, you spend around 5-7 minutes being paddled around in a small circle while being sung traditional Neapolitan songs. You then line up to exit the cave out of the same entry point. After exiting the cave, you are taken back to your boat to hoist yourself (as gracefully as possible) back into your boat.
Now, that might not sound too awful. But let’s dive in a little deeper.
There are multiple tour companies that bring tourists to the Blue Grotto throughout the day as well as individual boaters who come as well (Amanda saw 3 different super yachts come and drop guests off for their visit while she was waiting her turn!). With so many visitors and the cave having such a narrow opening to maneuver through, the line can get very long.
Amanda’s group waited roughly 1.5 hours for their turn to get into a row boat. During this time, you sit on your boat and simply wait with all the patience you can muster. Rocking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth – endlessly in choppy waters. On top of that, you are directly in the hot sun, which doesn’t necessarily make for happy tourists.
Multiple people during Amanda’s tour became seasick and very upset at the wait. One person finagled her way into getting a ride over to the stairs and didn’t return. The captain told Amanda’s group that the day prior, his boat had to wait 3 hours for their turn and that the wait is different everyday based on both crowd size and the size of the ocean currents. At times, the water is too high and the rowboats can’t fit into the cave, so the tours cannot be offered.
So, Is The Blue Grotto Worth It?
You’ll have to decide for yourself, but in Amanda’s opinion – touring the Blue Grotto is a scam and not at all worth it. However, the family she was traveling with had mixed feelings and none of them felt as strongly against it as she did.
Amanda really dislikes highly popular tourist attractions and would very much say that the Blue Grotto is a tourist trap. If the wait to enter was both shorter and less turbulent, and the duration of time inside the grotto was lengthened, maybe her opinion would be a tad less harsh.
If you do decide to visit The Blue Grotto, the best time to visit the Blue Grotto is between noon – early afternoon when the sun is at it’s peak in the sky. If you visit on a cloudy day, the sun won’t illuminate the water as well and it won’t be as sparkly inside the cave. To check if the cave is open or closed as well as seasonal hours visit capri.com.
Amanda also recommends bringing Dramamine even if you don’t usually get seasick. Amanda has never gotten seasick, but this excursion was the closest she has ever come. Ironically, she brought Dramamine with her on the trip but left it on the cruise ship – she would have passed it out like candy to her fellow boaters if she had thought to bring it with her.
What do you think? Is the Blue Grotto worth it? Let us know in the comments below!
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The long wait to get inside the grotto sounds awful! And the grotto itself is so SMALL. The water outside is beautiful, so it’s a no go for me. Thanks for all of this information.
This post is making me happy I skipped this when I was in Capri! The lines and dealing with all the logistics would definitely have me a little bit stressed! Thanks for the detailed breakdown.
Oh my, you have to lie down in the boat to enter the Blue Grotto. That’s interesting. Would love to visit Capri and do this.
This reminds me of the crowds to get in to the Bengali Caves in the Algarve. Though it looks beautiful, I am not sure I could do this unless it is truly off season and devoid of tourists. Great tips on only visiting when sunny!