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Last updated on April 6, 2021
With its white sand and crystalline waters bordered by granite rocks, Passo Cecca di Morto offers spectacular scenery. The area is considered one of the most beautiful places in the entire archipelago of La Maddalena. This lagoon-like location has beautiful turquoise water, and the sun highlights and enhances the contrast. Below the water, you’ll spot many fish and invertebrates above the sandy, grassy and rocky beds.
Passo Cecca di Morto is the name of the shallow pass that separates the islands of Budelli and Santa Maria, two of La Maddalena Archipelago’s uninhabited islands.
To get there, you can rent a license-free inflatable boat (from euro 140 per day, 2020, for a boat for 6 persons); rent a boat with a skipper; or book a boat day tour in the archipelago (from euro 50 per person, 2020).
The main port of departure is Palau, but it is also possible to reach the spot from the island of La Maddalena, the main inhabited island of the archipelago.
Water entrance is from your boat.
You can snorkel the whole area between the islands of Budelli and Santa Maria. With its turquoise and shallow water, this site looks much like a tropical lagoon.
On this spot, you’ll explore large expanses of sand, Posidonia meadows, and rocks. Around the boats and bathers, many saddled seabream gather under the surface, used to being fed by visitors.
It is in the rocks, and around islands and islets, that you’ll find the most fish and invertebrates. Here and there you’ll spot purple sea urchins, hermit crabs, tubular sea cucumbers and sea anemones, while small octopuses hide in the crevices.
Among the fish that can easily be seen in the “lagoon” are Mediterranean rainbow wrasse, damselfish, sargo, saddled seabream and salema, but you could potentially encounter in this protected area many other Mediterranean shore fish.
The islands which surround Passo Cecca di Morto are wild, and there is no restaurant or water point. Most day trips to La Maddalena archipelago include lunch; inquire when you book.
These spots are accessible to anyone with basic snorkeling skills, and feeling comfortable in the water and with his snorkeling gear. You will enter the water from the shore (beach, pontoon, ladder, rocks) or from a boat. The water height in the sea entrance area is reasonable, but you will not necessarily be within your depth. Moderate currents can occur in the area, even when the sea conditions are good. The distance to swim to reach the most interesting snorkeling areas of the spot does not exceed 200 meters. This level only apply when the spot experiences optimal sea and/or weather conditions. It is not applicable if the sea and/or weather conditions deteriorate, in particular in the presence of rough sea, rain, strong wind, unusual current, large tides, waves and/or swell. You can find more details about the definition of our snorkeling levels on our snorkeling safety page.
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Snorkeling spots are part of a wild environment and their aspect can be significantly altered by weather, seasons, sea conditions, human impact and climate events (storms, hurricanes, seawater-warming episodes…). The consequences can be an alteration of the seabed (coral bleaching, coral destruction, and invasive seagrass), a poor underwater visibility, or a decrease of the sea life present in the area. Snorkeling Report makes every effort to ensure that all the information displayed on this website is accurate and up-to-date, but no guarantee is given that the underwater visibility and seabed aspect will be exactly as described on this page the day you will snorkel the spot. If you recently snorkeled this area and noticed some changes compared to the information contained on this page, please contact us.
The data contained in this website is for general information purposes only, and is not legal advice. It is intended to provide snorkelers with the information that will enable them to engage in safe and enjoyable snorkeling, and it is not meant as a substitute for swim level, physical condition, experience, or local knowledge. Remember that all marine activities, including snorkeling, are potentially dangerous, and that you enter the water at your own risk. You must take an individual weather, sea conditions and hazards assessment before entering the water. If snorkeling conditions are degraded, postpone your snorkeling or select an alternate site. Know and obey local laws and regulations, including regulated areas, protected species, wildlife interaction and dive flag laws.
