How to Visit Capri’s Blue Grotto With or Without a Boat Tour
You can visit the Blue Grotto of Capri with or without a boat tour.
But to enter the Blue Grotto itself, you’ll need to hop into one of those little row boats to get inside!
There are three options for visiting the Blue Grotto:
- Designated Tourist Boats
- Private Boat Tour
- Land Access: You can also reach the Blue Grotto by land and then take one of the row boats from the shore.
1. Visiting the Grotto with the Tourist Boat:
One of the cheapest ways to visit the Blue Grotto is by hopping on one of the regular tourist boats.
These bigger boats bring tourists for a round trip around the island of Capri and stop at the Blue Grotto.
The price is 20 euros per person for the journey, and the Blue Grotto ticket is not included.
The boats are easy to spot in the Marina Grande in Capri.
2. Book a private boat tour. The Blue Grotto can be included in the itinerary.
You can book a private boat tour. Or join a smaller group and share the boat with others.
Waiting for entry to the Blue Grotto can take a long time. In extreme cases, even up to 2 hours. Keep this in mind when deciding the length of the boat tour you are booking.
A good length for a boat trip, with stops for swimming in various places and the Blue Grotto included, would be a minimum of 3 to 4 hours. Of course, it depends on how much you wish to swim and snorkel in the sea, but the best spots for swimming in Capri are only accessible by boat.
Swimming in the little bays, is an experience worth taking a boat trip. Public beaches of Capri, like Marina Piccola, are very crowded during peak season. You will enjoy the island way more from a private boat.
3.How to visit the Blue Grotto without a boat tour:
You can independently visit the Blue Grotto without joining a boat tour.
To reach the Blue Grotto from land:
- First, go to Anacapri.
- From Anacapri Center, continue towards the Blue Grotto by bus or taxi.
- Once there, take one of the small rowboats directly from the shore.
You may need to stand in line to access the Blue Grotto.
The Blue Grotto is on the Anacapri side of Capri, so first, you have to get to the center of the village of Anacapri.
How to reach Anacapri and the Blue Grotto?
From Marina Grande: board a bus towards Anacapri. Stay on the bus until the stop after the center of Anacapri, to get to the little autobus station at the Piazza Della Pace.
From the Center of Capri: buses regularly depart toward Anacapri from the bus terminal just under the Piazetta (Main Square).
Once you are in Anacapri, you will see a smaller bus terminal. This buses are operated by a different company, so you will need a different bus tickets. In this terminal, the company operates two bus lines:
- Faro (lighthouse)
- Grotta Azzura (Blue Grotto)
Buy the tickets at the ticket office on the side of the bus terminal.
The bus lines from Anacapri to the Blue Grotto are operated by the company Staiano Autotrasporti.
You can purchase tickets at the bus station in Anacapri before boarding the bus. They are implementing a tap-and-go card payment system on the buses, which may be functional by the 2024 season.
During high season, buses depart every 20 minutes from Anacapri to the Grotta Azzurra.
The first bus leaves at 6:30 AM, but the rowboats to enter the Grotto only begin operating around 9 AM.
A one-way bus ticket to the Blue Grotto costs 2.40 euros. Make sure to buy your return ticket in advance.
Stay in the line for Grotta Azzura; the buses are small, so you may need to wait for 2 to 3 buses before being able to board. The journey from here to the Blue Grotto takes around 30 minutes.
Arriving to the entrance of the Blue Grotto:
If you are visiting from a boat tour or the shore, the rowboats will come and pick you up. They will take you to the floating ticket office, where you can buy your entry ticket. And then, they will navigate with you inside the Blue Cave.
The visit inside the cave lasts around 5-6 minutes.
Inside the Blue Grotto, Capri – images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
We arrived near the Blue Grotto in the early morning, around 9. Although we haven’t visited the Grotto this time, Others who came on the same bus waited less than 15 minutes on the shore before being picked up.
We came here to start our hike along the coast towards the lighthouse. But it was great fun to sip a coffee in the bar. The bar is almost directly above the Blue Grotto’s entrance. You can observe the little rowboats entering and coming out from the Grotto when sitting on the cafe’s terrace.
