Scoglio del Cammello

Off Marettimo’s northern shore, Scoglio del Cammello rises above the water. The protected marine area’s dive-site map marks it near Grotta del Cammello and Secca del Cammello. Beneath the surface, the site includes a wall, a passage through the rock and a small cave.

Why it matters

On the reserve’s official dive-site map, Scoglio del Cammello is site 32, near Grotta del Cammello and Secca del Cammello. The rock lies within the Area Marina Protetta Isole Egadi. Its underwater slopes include hard-bottom marine communities.

What to notice

The site’s underwater wall descends to about eighteen metres, and a Posidonia oceanica meadow lies near its upper edge. A passage cuts through the rock at about twelve metres; a cave opens toward the shore at roughly seventeen metres. The walls support marine organisms including sponges, bryozoans and coral.

Context and history

The names of Scoglio del Cammello, Grotta del Cammello and Secca del Cammello share camel imagery associated with rock formations on the coast. The Aegadian Islands were known to the Greeks as Hierà Nèsos, or “sacred island”; the naval battle of March 241 BC, which ended the First Punic War, took place in the archipelago’s waters. The scoglio lies within the marine protected area’s zoning system.