Monte Bulgheria

The Bulgheria massif has the south slope gently sloping towards the sea; the north slope, on the contrary, is very steep and its massive spurs dominate the landscape in this area of Cilento. Surface water resources are limited, in this area, to the sole Mingardo river, which flows into the sea in the cove between Capo Palinuro and Camerota. The secondary water network consists of stream valleys and is only active during heavy rainfall. Some of these valleys, however, are heavily incised, telling us that the regimen of waters in the past was very different from what it is now and that recent tectonic movements have had a heavy impact on the area. Examples of these incisions include, for instance, the Vallone di Marcellino (marking the boundary between Camerota and San Giovanni a Piro), which shows a deep break with cliffs hundreds of metres high. Another example is the Vallone dell'Isca, running down to the town of Camerota toward the locality of Marina.

Baia degli Infreschi

According to existing data, the complex underground water system consists of two main flow lines. One faces North and feeds several water bodies situated between Celle di Bulgheria and Acquaviva, the other faces SE and includes a large number of sea springs, some of which - like the Santa Caterina spring, at the Porto Infreschi, and the springs off the coast of Scario - are very important.

To appreciate the magnitude of the sea spring phenomenon, it is enough to consider that while the North springs are assumed to have an overall flow rate of 25 litres/sec, the springs at Porto Infreschi and Santa Caterina are deemed to have a 50-100 litres/sec flow rate.