Diving in Germany offers beautiful lakes, inspiring historical and black slate mines, and challenging caves also.
Several karst mountain regions exist. Consequently, some of them offer nice cave diving opportunities as well. These caves typically have access regulations and a need for local permits. Furthermore, the diving conditions are mostly challenging regarding temperature, visibility, and restrictions.
There is a long tradition of mining in Germany. This leeds to the situation of having several beautiful water-filled mines also. Especially the region called Sauerland in central Germany offers nice places to go. The black slate mines Felicitas, Christine, and Nuttlar are diving hotspots. Accordingly, divers can discover huge halls, rustic corridors, and the remains from the mining era. Some of them having excellent diving infrastructure. A registration upfront is always required. Crystal clear cold water and good visibility are mostly the situation.
Slate mine Felicitas, diving in central Germany
In 1850, the mining of slate began at Felicitas and continued until the early 2000s. Due to industrialization, mining methods changed over time. Therefore, diving into a wonderful hidden underwater world is possible. Consequently, huge halls, rustic corridors, many remains, and machines from the mining era are available. Diving depth is around 30 m, and visibility is best during summertime.
Slate mine Christine, central Germany
At Mine Christine, the black slate was mined for over 100 years. Four mighty slate banks from 2 – 20 m thickness emerged 350 to 400 million years ago. In 1971, operations ceased, and thereafter, the mine opened for visitors. Divers can discover more than 1200 m of the system on different floors. Clothes, shoes, bottles, tools, pipes, rails, and mining trolleys are to be explored. In other words, a fascinating and inspiring underwater world with mostly crystal-clear cold water.
Lake Constance (Bodensee), diving in southwest Germany
Lake Constance is located in southwest Germany, where Germany, Switzerland, and Austria meet. It is the third-largest freshwater lake by surface area in Central and Western Europe. The total size is more than 530 square kilometres, the shore length is about 273 kilometres, and the maximum depth is 251 m. In English and the Romance languages, the lake is named after the city of Constance. The German name “Bodensee” derives from the village of Bodman.
The lake has two parts. Firstly the main east section, called Obersee or “Upper Lake”, covers about 473 square kilometres. Secondly the smaller west section, called Untersee or “Lower Lake”, covers about 63 square kilometres. The name of the connection between these two lakes is Seerhein. The outflow of the Lake Constance is the High Rhine with the spectacular Rhine Falls close to the city of Schaffhausen.
The lake itself is an important source of drinking water for the whole region also.
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