Pirate's Grotto

Pirate's Grotto is the fourth major dungeon in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It is a long area which Mario and his team must go through to find the Pirate King Cortez and receive the Sapphire Star. Before Mario and his teammates can reach Cortez, they have to rescue a bunch of stranded Toads, along with Francesca and Frankie.

The Pirate's Grotto is a huge series of caverns and streams on the edge of Keelhaul Key. In some areas waves roll by, and debris from ships can be seen in the background. Every area shows sign that pirates have been there; bottles, wood planks, crates, barrels, etc. Cortez's ship, the Black Skull is docked here. The Boat Mario transformation is learned here.

The in-game map description reads, "A cave where pirates once hid out. It's quite spacious inside, and even has sea-water flowing into it. It's filled with the ruined shells of wrecked ships and other flotsam."

Enemies
For enemy formations in Pirate's Grotto, see here.
 * Bulky Bob-omb
 * Bullet Bill
 * Bill Blaster
 * Buzzy Beetle
 * Cortez (Chapter 5 Boss)
 * Ember
 * Lava Bubble
 * Parabuzzy

Characters found

 * Shipwrecked Toads
 * Francesca
 * Frankie
 * Goom Goom (appears in the storage room during his trouble)
 * Cortez (on the Black Skull)
 * A Black Chest Demon who gives Mario the Boat ability.

Area Tattles

 * ''This is the entrance to Pirate's Grotto. There's gotta be something good in there. Considering how hard it is to get in, there sure as heck BETTER be!
 * ''We're inside Pirate's Grotto. Looks like we can go down from here... Aside from jump pads, there's not much else here.
 * ''Yikes! Talk about unsteady footing! You could totally wipe out easily here. Oh, and watch out for those spikes that pop out, OK? They...would probably hurt. At least they pop out with predictable timing. He can figure out a way across.
 * ''There's a Bill Blaster at the end of this corridor. Someone really wants to keep us out! You know what? Who cares! CAN'T STOP US, SUCKERS! Let's get going, Mario.
 * ''We're inside Pirate's Grotto. Pirates must have built the bridges and sluice gate here. There's also a waterfall flowing from above. Careful not to lose your footing.
 * ''It's totally weird to walk around down here... I mean, PIRATES lived here... The scourge of the seas... I wonder where their souls are wandering now...
 * ''This is a storage area... Looks like the pirates left tons of stuff here. The switch in front there lifts and lowers cargo. Maybe Bobbery could alter the timing of when the switch gets activated.
 * ''We're inside Pirate's Grotto. Uh... You can probably tell, but this room looks empty.
 * ''Watch out for those spikes! Yeah, the thing about spikes is...they really hurt. Forget using an ally's power here... Trust yourself and let's roll! You know what I mean!
 * ''Jumping around on barrels and sinking ship fragments... This is pretty gnarly. So let's take it easy and not get too careless, OK?
 * ''We're inside Pirate's Grotto. This is a looooong corridor. There's a Bill Blaster at the end of this corridor, too. They don't want us here!
 * ''We're inside Pirate's Grotto. There's a sunken ship here. Something good inside? 'Cause that's how it always is in video games...right?
 * ''We're inside Pirate's Grotto. Lots of sunken ships floating around here, huh? Hey, by the way, Mario, you can cancel Boat Mode or Plane Mode by pressing B. I'm like, the tip MASTER! That's a super-convenient one,too, so don't forget!
 * ''This is the deepest part of Pirate's Grotto. One part of this area's covered in fog. Seems like maybe all of the ships that capsized near here ended up in this cavern. I wonder if Cortez's ship was the first to end up down in these caverns...

Names in other languages
Piratenhöhle