Diving in and around Austria

This compilation shows all dive sites in Austria and the close vicinity I visited up to now. The list is sorted by date, latest on top. Although I visited some sites more than once (they are all worth more than one visit!), the sites are listed first time only. Sites marked * have never been dived before.

2010

Steirersee, Styria, Austria (altitude 1445m). The lake lies only 100m off a mountain bothy. Vertically. Descending and ascending carrying all your gear ensures you won't forget this dive. Green plants, dead trees and branches and lots of small fish make this lake worth a visit.
Grafenbergsee*, Styria, Austria (altitude 1639m). Located north of the village of Weißenbach, the lake may only be reached by helicopter. A special permit for diving is mandatory. You'll see rock formations, trees and branches and also some fish. We even found jaw bones of a stag and 12 ended antlers buried in the silt.
Grübelsee, Styria, Austria (altitude 1160m). What could you expect from a foil coverd pond that is mainly used as water storage for artificial snow? Fish soup! There are statues, figures and a buoyancy playground, but the main attraction is a school of hand fed trouts. They get so close that you have to shoo them away if you want to see your buddy.
Etrachsee*, Styria, Austria (altitude 1374m). Diving with permit only. The lake may be reached by car on a small but well kept road. Located below teh tree line the lake contans trees, branches and water plants as well. The far end is overgrown by reed. You may find lots of small fish there. The ground is covered by fine silt and is overgrown by plants. The lake is quite shallow (approx. 2.5m) but the sun draws beautiful webs on the ground.
Mittlerer Kaltenbachsee*, Styria, Austria (altitude 1912m). Diving with special permit only. You need a helicopter to get there (as to most of the lakes in that region). The bottom is flat and covered with fine silt. Along the nort west shore you will find large rocks. Maximum depth about 9m, water temperature in summer about 7–8°C.

2009

Großer Scheibelsee, Styria, Austria (altitude 1741m). Diving with permit only. You reach the lake by foot about 30 minutes walk off the mountain boothy "Edelraute-Hütte". Lying below the tree line, the lake is filled with lots of fallen trees and roots. There are plenty of fish in the lake too.
Ahornsee*, Styria, Austria (altitude 2069m). Diving with special permit only. You need a helicopter to get there. The visibility is quite good. Rocks or soft sand along the shore. The bottom is coverd in thick gray silt. Depth about 6–7m . Water temperature up to 7°C.

2008

Riesachsee, Styria, Austria (altitude 1338m). Diving with special permit only. The lake lies in a valley above the village of Schladming. It is fed by icy water and has a maximum depth of 19m. Fallen trees all over the bottom create a fery-tale like scene. The shallow river fedding the lake is very clear (and cold).
Duisitzkarsee, Styria, Austria (altitude 1648m). Diving with special permit only. Located close to a mountain hut, the lake lies in a scenic valley. Lots of fallen trees, small fish and even trouts make it a dive to remember. The "high" water temperature of about 8°C even so.
Weißensee*, Styria, Austria (altitude 2230m). Diving with special permit only. Reachable only by helicopter, this lake excels with clear water and a great scenic view when surfacing. Boulders lying along the shore, the bottom covered with fine silt this lake is a true gem in my dive site's collection. Most of the lake shows an average depth of 9–10m but there's a crater going down to 41m in the NW-corner.

2007

Hohensee*, Styria, Austria (altitude 1560m). Diving with special permit only. Access by helicopter. Fine brown silt covers the bottom. Fallen trees and upright trunks are spread across the lake. Spooky fans of green algae and fine net-like patterns drawn by the sun create the special atmosphere of this lake.
Alte Donau, Vienna, Austria (N48° 14.449’, E16° 25.544’, altitude 156.56m). Marina Hofbauer. This place is historic ground. Hans Hass dis some of his first scaphander dives here. I performed archaeological trainings with "triton".
Wörthersee, Carinthia, Austria (altitude 440m). Prischitzer bay. Archaeological excarvation, salvage of a dugout boat (not dated yet). The boat measures 7m in length and is the largest finding of its kind in Austria. It was brought to Vienna University for research and conservation.

2006

Zugersee, Switzerland (altitude 414m). Two dives with the Uwatec development team. and a couple of dive computer prototypes. Dammed cold, low visibility, lots of high-tech devices.
Oberseitsee*, East-Tyrol, Austria (altitude 2580m). Diving with special permit only. Located above the tree-line this lake has a great panoramic view. Bolders of different sizes cover the bottom. Very good visibility. Accessible only by helicopter.
Geigensee*, East-Tyrol, Austria (altitude 2410m). Diving with special permit only. Fine silt on the bottom requires good buoyancy. lying ybove the tree-line, this lake is also accessible by helicopter only.
Obersee, East-Tyrol, Austria (altitude 2016m). This rarely visited lake is located at the Austrian-Italian border. Lots of trees, roots and trunks cover the bottom. One of the "top" lakes in this country that may be accessed by car on a public road. In 2000 archaeologists found a medieval dugout boat in this lake.

2005

Giglachsee, Styria, Austria (altitude 1980m). Diving with special permit only. The lake lies in a mountain valley adn is about 14m deep. Along the long stretched western shore there are several sites worth a dive. the southern part is pretty shallow.
Moaralmsee*, Styria, Austria (altitude 1800m). Diving with special permit only. You need a helicopter to get there. Very sensitive silt requires perfect buoyancy. Good visibility and a great panoramic view.
Mondsee, Upper Austria, Austria (altitude 481m). The site is close to the jetty*. Normally, diving there is strictly forbidden because of the steam boats appraching the jetty. I was diving there during an archaeological event with a special permit.
Grundlsee, Styria, Austria (altitude 710m). Site: "Glocke" (the bell) (N47° 38,430’ E13° 53,862’), keeping left at about 10m after entering the water, you will reach a huge rock. On top there's a plastic tank fixed with chaines. You may enter the tank and have a sit on a small bench, breathing more or less fresh air. There are also notes written by former visitors.

2004

Weissensee, Carinthia, Austria (altitude 929m). "west part". West of the bridge crossing the lake, the average depth is about 5m (towards the east down to 99m). An up to 10m thick layer of gray silt covers the ground in this area. There are plants with clear patches in between. The ground wobles like a pudding when you approach it with your hand.

2003

Vienna: We finished an archaeological survey in an old well*. I wasn't in there because my job was the backup diver. There wasn't room for two so I had to wait on top (in the bright sun) as hot stand-by. The well is a long and narrow tube (2m diameter at 34m total depth, the water line at 10m below ground). There's no room left for claustrophobia. The well was first referred to in the 13th century but completely renewed in the 19th century. Due to this fact we didn't find anything older than late 19th century but learned a lot about diving wells and working under extreme conditions.
Weissensee, Carinthia, Austria (altitude 929m). Site "Strandbad" (Dive Center EasyDive). A great spot for beginners or for testing new equipment. A maximum of 15m and usually good visibility make this spot a nice and easy dive. This place is also great for a night dive. Other nice spots in the east part of the lake are "Laka Wand" and "Große Steinwand". Both spots are covered with rocks and fallen trees. Lots of fish (even large pikes) hide underneath branches and roots. The east-west orientation of the lake and the narrow valley are causing a special temperature distribution. A top layer of about 8m is stirred up and gets warm during summer. This layer may reach up to 22 or even 24°C in hot periods but at about 8m the temperature drops immediately to 8°C and goes down to 4°C by one degree per meter.

2002

Puckinger See, Upper Austria, Austria (N48° 11.681’, E14° 11.862’, altitude 280m). Lots of fun at a maximum of 6m. Most of the visitors will only make it down to 2 or 3m. Heavily overgrown, rly unreachable. You have to find the secret entrance to the tunnels below the plants to get to the actual bottom. No matter how many buddies you take woth you, you'll loose them immediately. Every now and then, one of them will pass your view, dragging algae and parts of plants behind. You'll get the true "Dr. Livingstone"-feeling within a few minutes. Huges (carp, pike) and small fish move easily beteen the thicken.
Fernsteinsee, Tyrol, Austria (Garten II, N47° 20.857’, E10° 49.518’ altitude 934m). Samerangersee, Tyrol, Austria (N47° 20.985’ E10° 49.551’, altitude 939m). Both lakes are on private owned land. You have to book a room at the hotel or stay at the camp site to get a dive permit. There's no rental equipment available (not even tanks or weight) but a shed with a self service compressor provides fresh mountain air. A minimum of 60 logged dives is required to get a permit..
Plansee, Tyrol, Austria (Hotel Forelle, N47° 29.113’, E10° 50.216’, altitude 976, Plansee Camp, N47° 29.185, E10° 50.580’, altitude 976). Dive permits are issued at the hotel. Great visibility, low temperatures. Although the lake is about 100m deep, you'd better stay above 10m. The ground is nicely overgrown and you find fish and fresh water crabs.
Gallerie, Walchensee, Bavaria, Germany (N47° 36.323’ E11° 20.098’, altitude 800m). Visibility varies from great to horrible, depending on the amount of water coming down through power station pipeines from another lake above.
Klopeinersee, Carinthia, Austria (N46° 36.003’, E14° 34.962’, altitude 446m). There were two findings of dugouts reported in 2001. One of them has been dated about 300 BC. I took part in the survey and excarvation of the boat.

2001

Grüner See, near Tragöß, Styria, Austria (N47° 32.461’ E15° 03.335’, altitude 776m). This lake is seasonal. The water rises in spring and falls during summer. At a mere 3m depth throughout the year, the level may rise up to 12m in late spring. Since the water feeding this lake is recently molten snow, the maximum temperature seldom exceeds 7°C. You may have a rest at a bench, swim over a bridge or follow marked hiking routes.
Weissensee, Carinthia, Austria (altitude 929m). "Kleine Steinwand" (N46° 42.264’ E13° 22.423’), a great drop-off with green algae dangling down. Fallen trees create a great landscape. Lots of fish and even large pikes. You get there by steam boat. Just get off at the jety and jump in after the boat left. Be careful when surfacing and look out for the boat.
Millstättersee, Carinthia, Austria (N46° 46.282’ E13° 38.631’, altitude 588m). Depending on season, visibility may vary. At Döbriach (NE-corner) there's a drop-off along the road. You'll find lots of wreckage and used parts.

2000

Traun: Dive Center Atlantis Qualidive, Upper Austria, Austria (N48° 00.812’ E13° 47.730’). There's a speciality: get washed down by the river with mask, fins and snorkel. See loads of fish as you drift by.
Erlaufsee, Styria, Austria (N47° 47.414’ E15° 16.425’, altitude 835m). Nicely overgrown landscape. Lots of fish.
Hallstättersee, Dive Center Gosauzwang, Upper Austria, Austria (N47° 35.349’ E13° 39.408’, altitude 530m). A nice spot and great staff. The lake reaches a maximum of 18°C in a hot summer.