hawaiihoneymoon

Question 1: In attempt to avoid the huge crowds, we plan on getting to Capri around 8:00 a.m. First thing planned is the blue grotto. What I am afraid of is - will this be too early in the morning to see the blue colors. Is there a certain time of the day that is better/worse?

2) So the plan is to get on the motor boat from Marina Grande. How much is this ride? Is it standard or is each boat different?

3) So once we see the grotto and leave - where do they drop you off? Do the motor boats bring you all the way back to Marina Grande? Or can you just go up to Anacapri from there?

4) What other alternatives are there to get to the Grotto - I read somewhere you can skip the motor boat and go straight into Anacapri and take the bus down to the row boats. Which way is easiest?

nytraveler

First, please note that the grotto is not always accessible - it depends on how high the seas are. In spring and summer it usually is - as you get further into the fall it becomes more problamatic. Also, please note that at the best of times the opening into the grotto is quite small. Entry involves everyone sort of lying down in the bottom of the boat - you definitely can;t sit up until you're through the entrance.

If you take the motor launch out from Marina Grande you transfer to a row boat (my term - there may be a more correct one) that holds four people and the oarsman. He will row you in and around the grotto and then take you back to the motor launch. After everyone on your launch has toured you will be taken back to the Marina.

The other option is to take a bus to Anacapri and then climb down a fairly extensive (several stories) flight of stairs cut into the side of the cliff. At the bottom you get into a row boat for the tour and are then returned to the platofrm to climb back up the stairs.

I imagine the second method is less costly - but don;t know the details - we did the motor launch and it was a couple of years ago so I don;t remember the price - but it was modest.

skatterfly

The previoius poster gives good info. I don't recall it being very expensive to do the tour right from the Marina. This is the part you'd skip if you chose to walk the steps.... and they do look quite steep.

So, you take a tour from the Marina... there are numerous options. We just went to the closest one from the ferry drop off because we wanted to get that out of the way. We ended up getting on one that was mostly Italians which was very entertaining when we got to the grotto, because the boats kind of line up for the smaller boats to come get you to go in... and they started to get impatient and yell at the driver in Italian.

Be warned, lots of boats will be there... there will probably be a wait. Just sit back, enjoy the salty air, and enjoy watching these buffed, Italian men in tight t-shirts rowing people back and forth, sometimes singing "O Sole Mio" and sometimes grabbing their cell phones, "Pronto?"

We got a tour that actually did more than the Blue Grotto... we saw the Green Grotto as well as a longer ride around the water... which was nice for us.

I don't know how long you'e going to be on Capri, but I probably wouldn't take the extra time to do the walk down (then back up) unless money is tight or you want to do the walk. We got there later... and had a reservation back to Positano around 3... so we didn't have enough time. I would have loved to have time to hop in the water at this swimming hole we found only after walking all around town.

How do you expect to get to Capri so early, BTW? I was in Positano and the first hydrofoil got us there around 10 am?

Have a great time. Can't wait to get back to that part of Italy again!

~kat

Grinisa

You can skip the big boat/change to rowboat option and take a private rowboat right from Marina Grande. We did this several years ago and the cost was very reasonable. After going into the Grotto, our "captain" left us at the steps up to Anacapri, at our request, but he would have brought us back to Marina Grande if we wished. The best time to see the color of the Grotto is in the late morning in the summer.

Huitres

1) 8:00 am heading out to the Blue Grotto is too early - even for summer. I was there at the height of August last summer and went to the Grotto around 10:30 am/11:00 am and it was just fine. Going too early will not allow the light to come into the cavern either so I think mid-morning is best.

2)There are boats at the Marina Grande that cost 7 euros (RT) to take you to the Blue Grotto AND bring you back to the exact same place.

3) Once at the Blue Grotto, you transfer to smaller row boats (4 person per boat) and that costs 8 euros. The rowboats take you into the Blue Grotto and then row you back out to the waiting, larger boat that returns you to the Marina Grande. Dependent on where you catch the boat to the Blue Grotto, is where you will be returned. If you catch it in Anacapri, you would be returned there, etc. Unless, of course, you take a guided boat tour that goes around the entire circumfrence of the island, including both the Blue Grotto and the Emerald Grotto (cost=~11 euros).

IMO, it is easiest to see the Blue Grotto from Marina Grande, you can do that when you are in the middle of town seeing things at that end of the island, then split your time in Anacapri and the other side of the island.

hawaiihoneymoon

Thanks for the responses.

well, we plan on being there at 8:00 a.m. because the first hydrofoil from Sorrento is 7:20 a.m. And so, that is what I was worried about - going to the Grotto to early and not being able to see the colors as well.

So now that is all cleared up - the question is - what do we do with our time until around 10-11 a.m. I am trying to figure out the itinerary for the day. Once we get to the island - if we take the funicular up into Anacapri and spend time there for a couple hours - I guess we can come back down to the harbor. That is why I was asking about alternatives routes to the Marina Grande. Or is there enough to see in the Marina Grande region? What is a typical itinerary?

Saving money on the boat is not a factor in all this - we want the easiest, most reliable method so we can spend time seeing other things on the island. I wasn't sure if it would get too crowded if we wait later in the day because I have read posts about how crowded the island can get later in the day as more and more tourists arrive on the island.

Patrick

I just want to point out one thing. The Blue Grotto is listed in every guide book on Capri ever printed. But nowhere in any of them can you find a tenth of the information that is listed above. That's why I love this site!!! And that's why I get annoyed when someone asks a question and someone else says "look in a guidebook" or "look at the website --".

Grinisa

The funicular doesn't go to Anacapri it goes to Capri Town, where the Piazzetta is, the shops and most hotels. You could stroll around there for a couple of hours, enjoy coffee in the Piazzetta, or wander down to the other side of the island, Marina Piccola and see the famous Faraglioni. You could walk or take a bus from the Piazzetta. In the late morning, I'd go back to Marina Grande and get a boat for the Blue Grotto. After seeing the Grotto, I'd climb the steps up to Anacapri and have lunch there. Take the chairlift up Monte Solaro for a spectacular view of the entire island and Gulf of Salerno.

GeoffHamer

These are the web sites for the two motor boat services:
www.motoscafisticapri.com
www.lasercaprisrl.com.
Entry into the grotto is very dependent on the weather: it's only possible if the sea is very calm, and there are many days when the grotto is closed.