Over 50,000 tourists visit The Blue Eye every year
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Description
One place you simply have to visit if you head to nowhere else is the Blue Eye, or Syri i Kalter, as it’s known in Albanian. If you’re keen to check out this famous spot for yourself, you’ll need to know plenty of information beforehand. Handily for you, we’ve got everything you need to know in one place.
What Is The Blue Eye?
The Blue Eye, or Syri i Kalter, is a beautiful freshwater spring that is surrounded by lush greenery. From above, the water looks just like a bright blue eye, hence the name. The outer part – the iris – is a stunning bright blue, and the inner dot – the pupil – is a dark cave spanning far down under the water.
The water is so stunningly clear that you can see right to the bottom, although we don’t actually know how deep it is as nobody has ever actually been to the bottom! Officially known as a vertical karst spring, it’s thought to be around 50 meters deep at least, but again, there is no official reading – that’s simply as far down as any diver has actually been able to go. The water is also freezing cold, which is excellent for cooling off during a hot summer’s day.
Put simply, once you see the Blue Eye, you literally won’t be able to take your own eyes off it.
Why Is The Syri i Kalter Special?
Aside from how it looks, the Blue Eye is special for other reasons too. Of course, we get to see the force of Mother Nature at work here. You’ll notice that water bubbles up from the bottom at a super-fast rate – at over 18,000 litres every second. The water then feeds into the Bistrice River which winds its way out into the Ionian Sea.
There is also a legend about The Blue Eye locally that’s interesting to learn before you go. Legend says that a snake that used to feast upon children roamed freely around this part of Albania. But one day, the snake slithered up to a donkey and his owner, an older man. The snake thought the donkey looked like a good snack, but the old man pulled a clever trick just before he decided to consume him.
He set the straw around the donkey and the animal itself on fire, trapping the snake as he ate the donkey. The snake’s eye, crying out in pain as he burned to death, fell down the high mountain and landed on the ground, creating what we know as the Blue Eye today.
Here is some basic information to help you plan and get the most out of your visit.
The Blue Eye is open daily from 7 am until 7 pm
It is located in Muzine village, around a 30-minute drive away from Saranda.
There is a 100 LEK charge for each car that enters
Every person is also charged a 50 LEK admission fee
There is a local restaurant on site that serves delicious traditional food, but if you want regular snacks, you’re better off taking your own – remember to bring your litter with you!
