The Blue Eye

Syri i Kalter, the Blue Eye, is a karst spring where water pushes up through a deep vertical shaft into a pool of astonishing colour - a dark blue centre ringed by turquoise, the whole thing so vivid it reads as unnatural. Divers have gone down more than fifty metres without reaching the bottom, and the volume that surfaces here feeds the Bistrice river. The pool sits in shaded plane and oak forest, with a wooden platform above the eye itself, and the water arrives at about ten degrees year round, which is why the swimming is brief and loud.

What you actually see

• The spring eye - the deep blue shaft seen from the viewing platform.
• The pool and river - turquoise water flowing away through the forest.
• The forest walk - the shaded path in from the car park.
• A very cold swim - permitted in the pool below the spring, briefly.

When to go

Spring and early summer bring the strongest flow and most vivid colour. Midday sun lights the pool best. Summer weekends and August bring crowds; going early in the morning gives you the platform to yourself.

Honest expectations

It has become extremely popular, and midday in high season means queues at the platform and a busy car park with vehicle-access restrictions - the walk in from the outer parking is about twenty minutes. Jumping into the eye itself is prohibited and dangerous. The water is genuinely cold enough to shock. It is a short stop, best combined with Gjirokaster or the Riviera rather than made a destination alone.

Nearby

Saranda and Ksamil beaches, Butrint's ruins and Gjirokaster up the valley.