Our incredible international summer trip saw us fly out to the city of Pozzuoli, just a 20-minute drive from Naples, sitting atop the super volcano Campi Flegrei. Our weeklong dive, organised by the wonderful David Brock, saw us dive with the equally wonderful guides Silvia, Ahmet, Alessandro, Ale and Marcello from Sub Centro Campi Flegrei amongst the 2000-year-old ruins of part of the Roman town of Baia, along with dives near the islands of Ischia and Procida. See more incredible under and overwater pictures of our adventures.

You too could look as happy as this by joining us on our future adventures!

A highlight reel of the sites. Courtesy of Karim.

Day 1: 26th June

With no diving planned, day 1 served as an opportunity for everyone to arrive in Naples and spend the day enjoying the fine food and views. Unfortunately, many of the trip goers suffered some degree of delay, but all bar one unlucky trip report writer (who’s flight was ultimately cancelled) managed to arrive at a reasonable time. For those in Naples, it was a quiet evening of enjoying what would become our local pizzeria, Lucrino’s. For me, a taxi ride from Gatwick to Luton and a pleasant stay at manor house with 30 peacocks on easyJet’s dime.

A view that unfortunately puts British dive sites to shame.

Day 2: 27th June

Dive 1: Secca delle Fumose

The first dive of the trip was described by David as the “best site within the archaeological park”. The site is home to a number of imposing Roman towers and high levels of volcanic activity meaning there was plenty of opportunity to use the thermal vents to heat up. The dive is one of the deepest within the park, however, only sits at a depth of 13m and so served as a nice warm-up dive and for some the first opportunity to enjoy being under the sea without having to use a drysuit. I was fortunate enough to make it over in time to watch the group disembark the RIB, with plenty of smiles and stories abound.

The first trip out, minus one very sad OUUEGer! Courtesy of Roy.

Dive 2: Ninfeo di Claudio

For my first dive we visited perhaps one of the more iconic sites from the park, Ninfeo di Claudio. The building was constructed in around 40 AD by emperor Claudius. Throughout the dive we could see the outline of the ancient buildings and had the unique experience of swimming down a Roman road. In addition to a number of simple mosaics, at the site are 6 reconstructions of statues that have since been moved to land for preservation. It was believed the statues resided in a banquet hall and tell the story of Ulysses and his trickery of the cyclops Polyphemus. These statues include Ulysses giving Polyphemus the drugged wine, Dionysus (god of wine) with a panther, Dionysus with an ivy crown, and a statue of Antonia Minor with a small child.

A particular fierce three way stare off between Jenny, a fish and statue – winner still to be determined. Courtesy of David.

The statue of Dionysus with his grape vines hanging to the side. Courtesy of Karim.

Happy campers at the end of the first day of dives! Courtesy of Roy.

Excursion: Monte Nuovo

After a long but incredibly enjoyable first day, we divided up depending on what we wanted to do most (showering, napping or eating). Myself, Matteo, Jack, Rosie and Yuya ran over for pizza at Lucrino’s and after which someone had the incredible idea to climb one of the youngest mountains, Monte Nuovo, immediately located behind the dive centre. What was initially promised as a 15-minute walk, resulted in us accidentally taking a turn into a garden, finding an outdoor gym and having a pit stop at what I have deemed the best water tap in all of Italy. This took 30 minutes after which we finally reached the start of the trail. The trek itself wasn’t so bad once we reached the shade, with incredible views down into the crater that are not done justice by a camera. The evening was spent eating an excessively large watermelon, eating seafood at Roberta’s and playing with the hotel’s cat, Cesare.

A quick pit stop where we would quickly learn that neither tomato sauce nor cheese is guaranteed in Italy.

The faces of 5 people 2 hours into a 15-minute walk after a long day of travelling and diving.

Day 2: 28th June

Dive 3: Solchiaro Procida

Having managed to get a good night’s sleep the day before we began the day sailing out to Procida island and after a mild bit of current at the surface, got down and had a relaxed swim along the seabed. Unfortunately, there wasn’t too much variety in the sea life, but there was a number of pretty fish, barracudas, sea sponges and (at least for someone not used to diving outside of British waters) great visibility.

Yuya, me, Rosie(’s hand) and OUUegg ready for another day. Courtesy of David.

A snapshot of the life at the bottom of the sea. Courtesy of David.

Dive 4: Terme del Lacus

My second (the group’s third) dive at the archaeological park allowed us to visit a new site home to a large spa facility built within a home. We were able to see beautiful multicoloured mosaics that are kept hidden under the dirt to preserve them, similar building ruins as at Ninfeo di Claudio, alongside a number of column ruins and evidence etched into the stone showing the site of doors and of stands to hold umbrellas. Given the size of some of the mosaics, I felt bad simply waiting for our guide to have to cover them up by herself and so assisted in moving debris back on – I later learnt I was being honoured by being allowed to help as she would go on to shoo a couple of other divers off when they came over to also help.

A snapshot of the much larger mosaic. Courtesy of Karim.

Excursion: Castello Aragonese di Baia

After a short rest, we regrouped and took a short bus ride to visit the Baia castle. The castle as well as boasting easily some of the best views of the coast, is home to a number of wonderful exhibits outlining the history of the area. It is also home to the original statues we had observed at the Claudio Ninfeo. We proceeded to walk into Baia in search of somewhere to eat, eventually settling on the only open restaurant by the port, allowing us to marvel at the classic Italian hot dog and chip pizza, and introducing several members to the joys of the triangle game.

The group reunites at the castle.

Karim, Rosie and Matteo with Vesuvius looming in the background…

One of the original statues found in the 1980s – not quite as worn down as me by the end of the trip.

After waiting an hour for a bus due every 10 minutes, we successfully braved the journey home on foot.

Day 3: 29th June

Dive 5: San Pancrazio Ischia

For the first dive of the day, we split into 2 groups (above 20m and below 20m). Having only a handful of dives under my belt following an 8-year hiatus, I opted to stay below 20m. The rock face is home to a large number of barracuda, breams and “an absolutely massive octopus” for those who were lucky enough to be at the back of the group. The group who went to 30m were lucky enough to see a large number of sea fans, which unfortunately weren’t too prevalent in our location.

Back aboard for one of the longer boat rides of the trip.

The illusive sea fans. Courtesy of Karim.

Dive 6: Villa Protiro

One of two dives to Villa Protiro due to it’s enormous site had us immediately descend on the ruins. Rather amusingly, after only a couple of minutes diving I watched as another diver dropped to the seafloor and began digging with some zeal into the floor below. After a few horrified moments of trying to work out what had possessed a member of OUUEG (and how long we had until they noticed and tried to deport us all), I realised that the rest of my group was accounted for, and we were actually watching an archaeologist at work. We moved across the rest of the site, including being able to view some particularly beautiful and intricate mosaic patterns across the floor. At the end of the dive we attempted to take a group photo of us all with the OUUEG banner however this unfortunately did not go quite according to plan and an already not ideal visibility was made worse by 14 of us all attempting to congregate around the banner whilst avoiding hitting any ruins or crashing onto the mosaic.

One of the more intricate mosaics at the archaeological park. Courtesy of Karim.

An attempt was made.

Excursion: Boating

Ever the boatman, Stefan arranged for an additional boat excursion where most of the group went to enjoy the surroundings of Ischia. Due to a history with seasickness, I declined, however my spot was taken by the infamous OUUegg who given his mucky state at the end of the dive seemed to have had an incredible time.

The glamorous Penny enjoying the rather interesting view.

Day 4: 30th June

Dive 7: Punto Pizzaco Procida

We again returned to Procida, however unlike the previous dives where we had been able to gently follow the sea wall up and down, the wall was like a cliff face descending to around 40m. Demonstrating some incredible situational awareness and buoyancy skills, the group stayed almost perfectly together and at the 20m mark we had agreed as our maximum. We were again greeted with some beautiful sealife, though the highlight of this dive was watching as Karim flicked a clip open and shut in front of an octopus to try and get it’s attention, only for it to ‘run away’ and earn the ire of a rather small fish who proceeded to repeatedly ram itself into the poor octopus with about 6 divers all watching in earnest. Additionally, on this dive we encountered a number of videographers filming the wildlife along the seawall. With better visibility and slightly smaller group, we successfully reattempted to get a group photo with the banner.

A small snippet of the octopus fleeing from us and having to suffer abuse at the fins of an annoyed fish. Courtesy of Matteo.

Success at last (I’m a lot happier than this picture would otherwise suggest)! Courtesy of David.

Dive 8: Villa Protiro

Upon returning to Villa Protiro we perhaps achieved a world first as Stefan successfully created a dive bell for OUUegg to join us as we traversed the villa again – truly there is nothing more surreal than watching a man ferry a fury egg in a water bottle above 2000 year old underwater mosaics as the dive planner attempts to capture photos. This marked one of the more exciting adventures in the archaeological park, as we were able to view a number of mosaics, including dolphins, gladiators fighting, the sun and bird, in addition to watching as our guide used her regulator to illustrate how the thermal vents would circulate air across the complex.

What came first, the chicken or the egg, the myth and the legend? Courtesy of David.

Mosaic of a gladiator fight. Courtesy of Karim.

Dive 9: Secca delle Fumose (night)

Marking my first ever night dive, we visited the first dive site of the trip. Having not seen the site during the day, I admittedly became a little bit navigationally challenged and ultimately ended the dive having thought there was only 2 or 3 towers that we had passed by as opposed to the over dozen actually residing over 10m below the surface. Despite the incredibly overbearing nature of the towers in the darkness, it was one of the most peaceful dives I’ve done, with us able to regularly stop to admire the (night)life growing and living around the buildings.

Ghosts of night dives past. Courtesy of Rosie.

Day 5: 1st July

Dive 10: Ninfeo di Claudio

Unfortunately the site we had originally intended on visiting was not open and so we were offered the choice of where to go, choosing to return back to the Claudio Ninfeo. The site was as beautiful as before, however this time we took the time to slow down, appreciate the view (and take several photos of one another at the site).

A walkthrough of the former banquet hall. Courtesy of Matteo.

Dive 11: Secca della Formica (ant reef)

The final dive of the trip, and perhaps one of the most fun, occurred in the middle of the channel and as we had been informed at the surface, allowed us to experience temperatures alternating between Italian cold and Italian freezing. The dive was a first for nearly all of us as we were offered the opportunity to perform a cavern dive. The start of the dive saw us descended to around 20m where we swam underneath a beautiful archway, getting to see all the beautiful flora and fauna we had become accustomed to on the reef alongside it. When we arrived at the mouth of the cavern, as we had been briefed, we proceeded in single file, having to swim low to enter and ascending upwards towards the exit. I was fortunate to have a fabulous buddy in Matteo who (since I didn’t have a torch) regularly stopped to check that I had enough light to see the route and also to be able to see the fishes that were swimming further into the cave at either side of us. As we left, we were greeted with the most beautiful sight as rays of sunlight passed into the cave. We left one by one, and soon the two groups merged into a final OUUEG shoal. We finished the rest of the dive by following along the walls and ascending under another two archways before returning back to the boat. As the buddy pair at the front of the pack, we would occasionally turn around and be greeted by the rather incredible site of around 15 divers all following along behind us. We finally made it back to the dive centre where we posed for one last group photo and thus ended the diving in Naples.

A trip under an archway. Courtesy of the best buddy of the dive, Matteo.

Excursion: Descent into (Lake) Avernus and final meal.

At the end of the dive, myself, Rosie, Matteo, Jack, David, Penny and later Jenny, all made the trip to the formerly much larger volcanic crater lake Avernus. We successfully avoided falling into Hades and instead go to enjoy a temple of Apollo and a terrifyingly large number of cats as we slowly melted from the heat. We made it back in time for our final group meal, as Roy was leaving a day early, before making a well-earned late-night trip to a bar.

To an Italian it looked like an amphitheatre, to the Brit it looked like a temple – unfortunately for Matteo 1-0 to England.

Truly the best photo to grace our collection.

Day 6: 2nd July

As we were unable to fly home for an additional 24 hours from the end of our final dive, we decided to use the extra day to visit the most famous Roman ruins, Pompeii. After our bus managed to accidentally cause massive levels of road chaos, we set off safely. We were all amazed by the absolute scale of the city, realising almost immediately we didn’t have enough time to see everything. The group I was in managed to visit some of the most famous sites, including the amphitheatre, forum, the odeon, various temples, villas with frescos, and brothel. We returned back for a final outing for pizza and gelato, thus bringing an end to our trip.

Possibly one of the most cultured eggs to grace OUEGG and perhaps Italy. Courtesy of Rosie.

Leo, Matteo, Rosie and I scoffing one final gelato – probably our 5th+ of the trip save from the cone eater David.

Fin.