Our three-month campervan trip to Sardinia was, in fact, a bit of a coincidence.In early spring 2025, when the last snow was melting in Poland, Dominika from Sirena Sardinia posted an ad on Facebook looking for a Divemaster to work in southern Sardinia, more precisely on the island of Sant’Antioco. I replied, we talked, and that’s how I became a part-time employee at a dive center in one of the most beautiful corners of the Mediterranean.
O tym przeczytasz
First dives in the Mediterranean Sea
Well, not exactly my very first ones, but the first since I started diving with more awareness. One day I’ll explain what I mean by that. Karolina, on the other hand, was discovering the Mediterranean completely from scratch. We knew that diving in southern Sardinia would be different from diving in Thailand – no coral reefs, cooler water, and a completely different ecosystem.
If not coral reefs, then what?
The first thing that strikes you is the color of the water – a deep, almost unreal shade of blue – and the incredible clarity. Every dive around Sant’Antioco offered excellent visibility, which, combined with underwater rock formations, created truly unique impressions.
Rocks instead of reefs
So, no coral reefs – what’s there instead? The answer is simple: rocks, which means caves, caverns, tunnels (breathtaking ones), arches, and chimneys. For anyone who loves landscapes, combined with great visibility, it’s surprisingly enjoyable. You can even find a bas-relief sunk at 15 meters (I’ll get to that in a moment).
And where there are rocks, there’s life between them. You just have to look a bit closer – usually smaller than in Asia, but still fascinating. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any big fish. Groupers and tunas are fairly common, and you can easily spot schools of hunting barracudas. But perhaps the most sought-after creatures here are octopuses. There are plenty of them!
During the day, they stay hidden in rocky cracks, camouflaged. At night, they come out to hunt. We experienced this with Karo during a night shore dive, where these brilliant animals (do watch My Octopus Teacher) swam freely along the seabed, accompanied by funny red hermit crabs with anemones and shells on their heads. Unforgettable!
Diving in Southern Sardinia – Our TOP 3
What surprised us about diving in Sant’Antioco was how every day could bring new, unknown dive spots – there are so many around the island (maybe by the time you’re reading this, someone has already found the WWII bomber wreck said to lie off the coast). Even a single nearby island (Vacca, meaning “cow”) offers a dozen different dive sites for all levels. Honestly, I was sometimes amazed how much fun a dive at just 7 meters could be – especially when entering caves full of bright red Fire Worms crawling along the walls.
Still, there are sites that leave the strongest impression. Our top 3 are:
Secca Salidu – the mermaid among caves
Secca Salidu lies near the small, uninhabited island of Vacca. What makes this site unique is a bas-relief of a mermaid placed at the entrance to one of the many caves in this area.
In the 1990s, Gianni Salidu, an artist and sculptor from Sant’Antioco, created a series of works inspired by the sea and its mythology. One of them was a relief of a mermaid embracing a dolphin. About 1.2 meters high, carved from a massive block of trachyte (a material used since antiquity in Sardinia), the work wasn’t meant as an advertisement or tourist attraction, but as the artist’s gift to the sea and a tribute to local traditions of mermaids and dolphins. The sculpture itself is a curiosity, but the real magic comes from the caves and rocky canyons. Plenty to explore within 18 meters, making it suitable for all divers.
Banco Pomata – deep emotions
Banco Pomata is a lonely underwater plateau west of Sant’Antioco. It’s a deep dive – I went down to about 38 meters. To really “explore” it, you should dive on nitrox. Not for everyone, but absolutely worth it. The site, thanks to its depth, looks almost like a coral reef embryo, with plenty of sponges, starfish, and my favorite critters. To me, it felt like the most colorful and life-rich dive spot in southern Sardinia.
Pan di Zucchero – the sugar cube
And finally, our sweetest spot – Pan di Zucchero, literally “sugar cube” in Italian. The name refers to the rock just off Sardinia’s coast, shaped like a sugar cube. Even from the surface, the views are breathtaking, attracting many visitors. Underwater, though, it’s mostly Sirena Sardinia divers exploring here.
This spot is hands down the leader of our ranking. Huge canyons, tunnels stretching for dozens of meters, shafts of crystal-blue light. All that spiced up with large lobsters hiding in cracks. Peek under the rocks and you might even spot a torpedo ray – a fish that looks like a stingray but isn’t, capable of producing electric shocks when hunting.
Diving in Sardinia with passion
Once again, we discovered that diving is a sport for those truly passionate about the underwater world. That passion shines through Piotr – co-owner of Sirena Sardinia dive center. Incredible how a man with thousands of dives, a technical diver who goes beyond 100 meters deep, can talk about groupers with such enthusiasm that you feel you’re about to meet the most beautiful fish of your life.
For me, it was a refreshing shock. In Thailand, where we dived the most, you’re so spoiled by the sheer abundance of fish that you barely notice the “ordinary” ones – just another thing swimming by.
I must admit that diving in Sardinia taught me mindfulness. By the end of our Sardinian adventure, I think I even understood Piotr’s joy and admiration for the underwater world around him. Diving there is simply a different level of experience.
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