A protected Marine Park, Portofino is renowned for offering the best diving in Italy for all levels of experience

As either a recreational or technical diver, you will have an abundance of choice !! These dive sites differ in topography and depths (there are plateaus, pinnacles, steep walls and overheads) as well as they have the greatest biodiversity in the whole Mediterranean Sea.

Reefs, walls and shipwrecks are surrounded by big groupers,barracudas, snappers, damselfish, sea bass, sea bream and moray eels. In certain locations you will find lobster, tuna, sun fish, octopus, coral fans and rare black coral branches. Due to the abundance of marine life, it’s not uncommon to see both whales and dolphins in the park.
Another favorite site in Portofino Marine Park is Christ of the Abyss, the original of the famous sculpture which can be found in the small bay of San Fruttuoso.

We also provide service diving by car. Our pick up is ideal and designed for scuba diving equipment safe transportation. That give us the flexibility to have always a near by entry-exit option in case of bad weather, if number of divers do not make affordable a long transfer by boat or simply to explore areas not accessible by boat.

In the area there are many interesting Wrecks, full of history, where you could dive in Tech Configuration!!!
Those are many different wrecks from the 1st and 2nd World war which have now turned in an amazing nurse for many species of fish, anemones and corals.
The Haven, the biggest wreck in the Mediterranean Sea, takes about 45 minutes navigation from “Il Grande Blu”.
Most of those wrecks are in perfect navigation trim and in really good conditions. Good number of them are OK for a nitrox use as bottom gas so ideal for advanced recreational or entry technical training dives or either to get familiar with this area.

We also offer to dive our House Reef ideal as a logistic support for refills, gear rent, showers and changing rooms. This is the ultimate place for your training or your check dives at the start of your holiday.

Before you start your preparation we highly recommend to have a proper orientation of the dive site even though it is really an easy and safe environment where you can have training or non-guided exploration. An underwater map of this area is available by the reception or below.

This shore dive is ideal for confined water or limited open water training sessions, as it is directly accessable from our base (a few meters away from the classroom and so from the facility). That is what makes of Il Grande Blu the ultimate spot for training. You will actually take full advantage of your time that you are investing as a student or as a trainer as there is NO time waist due to transfers to the dive site or to the bar-restaurant or to the classroom.

Dedicate your morning to your water sessions, lunch to your debriefing and feed backs then finally your afternoon to classroom session without having tiring and long days is reality here at IGB.

Entry – exit is ideal also for CCR, side mount, stage cylinders, DPV courses, or whatever else configurations.

Free divers have the perfect place for shallow training session as the confined open waters area quickly slopes to 18-20 mt on cable or DPV, but also in the shallow part they can easily practice static apnea sessions, breathing techniques, relaxation and yoga.

In the confined open waters area you will find an artificial underwater “gym”, ideal for fundamental and advanced levels to practice buoyancy & propulsion drills, a flat platform for emergency and safety drills and tie off to practice reeling during overhead protocols courses.

A submerged webcam and an Underwater wireless communication system provided by Ocean Reef might also be used from the surface as an observatory, supervision or training tool.
We also provide a wide flat screen TV in the classroom where students can observe themselves during their performance, by only connecting a video or photo camera.