Secca dei Mattoni

An open-water shoal in the channel between Ponza and Palmarola, off the Bay of Lucia Rosa. The east and south-east sectors are blocked by the bulk of Ponza, and Palmarola casts a shadow across the WNW-NW only, so the west itself stays open. The main swell windows are the open Tyrrhenian fetch to the south-west (Libeccio) and due west, plus a clear northerly-to-north-easterly gap that lets the Maestrale and the NNE-NE Grecale run onto the shoal; these exposures feed the strong currents that frequently sweep the secca.