Austria – Styria, Lower Austria & Burgenland

Eastern Austria has no big alpine diving lakes, but it has the waters where most Viennese divers learn and train. The Neufelder See in northern Burgenland, a flooded former lignite and gravel pit about 40 minutes from Vienna, has two dive bases, line-linked platforms down to about 20 m and an underwater figure park. The Erlaufsee near Mariazell, on the Styria–Lower Austria border, is the region's real mountain lake: clear in spring and autumn, with drowned trees, a steep wall and pike, but diving is allowed only in a signed zone with the ARGE Tauchen Dive Card because the Austrian Federal Forests own the lake. Near Graz, the Copacabana gravel lake in Kalsdorf is a shallow training site with a sunken Wolfgangsee excursion boat and a small plane. Lunzer See, Ratzersdorfer See, Schwarzlsee and the Soboth reservoir are smaller or less documented options. The famous Grüner See at Tragöß has been closed to divers since 2016; it is listed, marked as banned.

Facts

• Dive Card (ARGE Tauchen): The ARGE Tauchen Österreich Dive Card is the diving permit for the private lakes of the Austrian Federal Forests (ÖBf), including the Erlaufsee, and is also required at the Copacabana near Graz. Digital card EUR 18 (calendar year), plastic card EUR 20 at a dive shop (365 days) or EUR 23 by post. Diving in ÖBf lakes without it counts as trespass and can be prosecuted. (check current terms)
• Public vs private waters: In Austria diving counts as 'large common use' on public waters, so on public lakes it is generally allowed unless a protection zone applies. Lakes owned by the ÖBf (e.g. Erlaufsee) are private waters where ARGE Tauchen leases the diving right; gravel lakes such as the Copacabana or Ratzersdorfer See follow the owner's or the municipality's rules. (check current terms)
• Water temperature: ARGE Tauchen warns that Austrian mountain lakes stay at about 4 °C at depth and are not much warmer higher up; cold-water regulators and two independent first stages are recommended. A diver reported about 8 °C at 10 m in the Erlaufsee on a 32 °C summer day. (check current conditions)
• Altitude diving: Diving in the Erlaufsee already counts as mountain-lake diving: correct no-decompression limits and ascent rate and set your computer for altitude. ARGE Tauchen also warns against driving over mountain passes, hiking up or taking a cable car soon after a mountain-lake dive because of decompression risk. The Soboth reservoir lies at about 1,080 m. (check current terms)
• Night and ice diving at the Erlaufsee: Night and ice diving at the Erlaufsee needed extra permission from the lake owner (ÖBf). Since 1 January 2025 night diving is free for all ARGE Dive Card holders without extra registration; for ice diving check the current arrangement with ARGE Tauchen or a local base. Underwater scooters are banned. (check current terms)
• Parking and entry fees: Erlaufsee: since 2022 the car park at dive entry 1 is reserved for Dive Card holders for the duration of the dive only; overnight parking is banned and can lead to a trespass suit. Copacabana (Kalsdorf): divers pay a daily base fee to the dive centre and must register every dive in advance. Neufelder See: entry is via the dive bases or the lido, which charges admission in season. (check current terms)
• Grüner See (Tragöß) – diving banned: The Grüner See at Tragöß, once one of Austria's best-known 'flooded meadow' dives, has been closed to divers indefinitely since 1 January 2016 to protect the lake bed and its colour; it is listed among the sites, marked as banned. (check current terms)

Season

• Best months: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
• Acceptable: Apr, Oct
• Poor: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar
• Water temperature: 3–29 °C

Neusiedler See and the quarry lakes around Vienna and Wiener Neustadt: PADI gives May to September as main season (18–24 C). Wind stirs up the shallow Neusiedler See, so dive early or in sheltered bays. Summer peaks reach about 29 C.

Dive sites (11)

Styria

• Copacabana Kalsdorf – 0–12.5 m, beginner
• Erlaufsee – Tauchzone – 0–38 m, intermediate
• Erzberg – bányató / mine lagoon (Eisenerz) – advanced
• Grüner See, Tragöß (TILOS / no diving) – 0–12 m, beginner
• Schwarzlsee – beginner
• Soboth-Stausee – intermediate

Lower Austria

• Lunzer See – Seebad – 0–34 m, intermediate
• Ratzersdorfer See – 0–6 m, beginner
• Seegrotte Hinterbrühl (bányató / flooded mine) – advanced

Vienna & Burgenland

• Neufelder See – Strandbad – 0–23 m, beginner
• Neufelder See – Tauch-Sport-Vienna – 0–21.5 m, beginner

Operators (5)

• Neptun Dive Center Erlaufsee – dive centre, Seestraße, Alpenbad, 3224 Mitterbach am Erlaufsee
• TSZ Copacabana / TSC Pazifik – dive centre, Copacabana 1, 8401 Kalsdorf bei Graz
• Tauch-Sport-Vienna – dive centre, Linke Bahngasse 23, 2491 Neufeld an der Leitha
• Tauchsport Lorenc – dive centre, Shop: Triester Straße 167, 1230 Wien; base on the shore of the Neufelder See
• Tauchsport Scubanautic – shop, Wienerstraße 166, 3100 St. Pölten

Dive zones, Dive Card terms, base fees and seasonal closures in eastern Austria change and some lakes are private or managed by a single base; check current terms with the base, the lake owner or ARGE Tauchen before you go. Several smaller sites here are only partly documented and marked as unverified. Positions are approximate and for orientation only.