Austria – Salzkammergut lakes

The Salzkammergut, shared by Upper Austria, Salzburg and Styria, is Austria's classic lake-diving region. The Attersee, the country's largest inland lake, is lined with signposted shore entries, training platforms, sunken boats and cars, and deep walls that attract technical divers. The Traunsee, Austria's deepest lake at 191 m, offers dramatic walls such as the Madonna near Traunkirchen alongside easy training sites, while the Wolfgangsee and Mondsee add overhanging walls and plankton-dark water. In the inner Salzkammergut the Hallstätter See, Grundlsee, Vorderer Gosausee, Altausseer See and the nearby Langbathsee sit between about 500 and 920 m and are known for clear, cold water. Below the surface layer these lakes stay at about 4 °C all year. The big lakes are public waters where diving is part of general use, while the inner lakes belong to the Österreichische Bundesforste and can only be dived with the ARGE Tauchen Dive Card, within fixed zones and hours. Spawning closures and bathing-day limits are covered in the facts; the banned Toplitzsee and the repeatedly closed Attersee Ofen are listed among the sites, clearly marked.

Facts

• Public lakes vs. Bundesforste lakes: Attersee, Traunsee, Wolfgangsee and Mondsee count as public waters: diving is part of general public use and allowed wherever no special ban zone (pile dwellings, monuments, spawning protection) applies and private shore land is not entered. Grundlsee, Hallstätter See, Vorderer Langbathsee, Vorderer Gosausee and Altausseer See belong to the Österreichische Bundesforste (ÖBf); ARGE Tauchen leases the diving rights, so these lakes may only be dived with a Dive Card – diving without one counts as trespass and often as a nature-protection offence. (check current terms)
• Dive Card prices: Digital Dive Card €18 (calendar year, valid 1 Dec of the previous year to 31 Jan of the following year); plastic card from partner dive shops €20 (365 days); plastic card ordered online €23 incl. postage (365 days). On public lakes it is not legally required but ARGE asks divers to buy it to keep access open. (check current terms)
• Bundesforste contract: night, ice and compressors: Under the ÖBf diving contract, Dive Card holders may dive the listed lakes only in the marked zones and times. Night and ice diving are allowed only where expressly listed (e.g. at the Grundlsee only through the local base). Running compressors on ÖBf land is not allowed, and leased shore plots may only be crossed with the tenant's consent. (check current terms)
• Dive times on Bundesforste lakes: Hallstätter See and Grundlsee: 08:00–17:00, in summer time 09:00–18:00. Vorderer Gosausee: 15 May–15 Nov, 09:00–16:00 (summer time 09:00–19:00), no diving in the dam area. Vorderer Langbathsee: 1 May–31 Aug 10:00–20:00, 1 Sept–31 Oct 10:00–18:00, east-shore entry only and disinfected gear. (check current terms)
• Spawning closures: Wolfgangsee: no diving from 15 Sept to 15 April between Lueg (St. Gilgen) and about Gasthaus Gamsjaga; since Sept 2023 Dive Card holders and active TSVÖ members are exempt at Panzerwand and Franzosenschanze. Grundlsee: Dalkhe 15 Sept–31 Jan, Zimitzbach and Rostiger Anker 15 Sept–31 Dec. Altausseer See: around Haus Danner and the Wieder Holzplatz 15 Sept–31 Dec. (check current terms)
• Traunsee no-dive zones: No permit is needed on the Traunsee, but a dive magazine report lists no-dive zones: the Gmunden bay (cultural zone), the area around Traunkirchen monastery south to the end of the village, and the surroundings of the passenger-ship piers. The report is older – confirm locally. (check current terms)
• Water temperature and visibility: ARGE Tauchen notes that the deep lakes are always only about 4 °C at depth and the shallower zones are not much warmer, so drysuits, cold-water regulators and two independent first stages are advised. On the Attersee visibility reaches up to 25 m but is often only 5–10 m in high summer; on the Hallstätter See it drops for several days after heavy rain. (check current terms)
• Altitude diving: Lake levels: Traunsee 422 m, Attersee 469 m, Mondsee 481 m, Hallstätter See 508 m, Wolfgangsee 538 m, Vorderer Langbathsee 664 m, Grundlsee 708 m, Altausseer See 712 m, Vorderer Gosausee about 920 m (full level). ARGE Tauchen stresses that mountain-lake diving needs extra knowledge: set your computer correctly for altitude and avoid rapid ascents to higher ground after the dive – driving over a pass, hiking up or taking a cable car. (check current terms)
• Toplitzsee – closed: The Toplitzsee near Gössl (Grundlsee) belongs to the Österreichische Bundesforste and has been a nature reserve since 1991. Diving is prohibited, and apart from one traditional boat ('Plätte') to the east shore, boats and other water-sports craft are not allowed. It is not a Dive Card lake; it is listed among the sites, marked as banned. (check current terms)
• Parking and access fees: Parking is paid at the Traunkirchen hotel site; at the Wolfgangsee Fürberg bay the landowner charges a parking fee per car and a small land-use fee per person in bathing season; at the Altausseer See there is a short-term zone and parking fee up to the Hotel am See; at the Hallstätter See about half the entries have free parking. The St. Gilgen public beach may not be used on bathing days. (check current terms)
• Accidents and temporary bans: Serious accidents happen every year on the Attersee and Traunsee, often at deep walls (e.g. Schwarze Brücke, Madonna). At the Attersee 'Ofen' site the authority ordered a diving ban after a diver went missing in 2018, and after another accident in June 2025 it temporarily closed the site and nearby entries; the site is listed and marked as closed. (check current terms)

Season

• Best months: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
• Acceptable: Apr, Nov
• Poor: Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar
• Water temperature: 4–23 °C

PADI gives May to October as best (15–20 C, visibility up to 25 m on Attersee); the tourism board describes year-round diving. In winter the water is colder but clearer with fewer divers. Deep inner Salzkammergut lakes stay cooler.

Dive sites (33)

Inner Salzkammergut (Hallstatt, Grundlsee, Gosau, Altaussee)

• Altausseer See – Kahlseneck – beginner
• Grundlsee – Canyons – intermediate
• Grundlsee – Gössler Bucht – 0–19 m, beginner
• Grundlsee – Rostiger Anker – beginner
• Hallstätter See – Hirschbrunn (karsztforrás / karst spring) – advanced
• Hallstätter See – Kessel (karsztforrás-barlang / karst spring cave) – 0–64 m, advanced
• Hallstätter See – Pfaffenpfühl – advanced
• Hallstätter See – Zauner (Hallstatt-Lahn) – beginner
• Hallstätter See – Öfen – 0–30 m, intermediate
• Koppenbrüllerhöhle – szifonok / sumps (Obertraun) – advanced
• Toplitzsee (TILOS / no diving) – advanced
• Vorderer Gosausee – Taucherwiese Klacklboden – intermediate

Attersee

• Attersee – Föttinger (Seefeld) – 0–60 m, beginner
• Attersee – Kohlbauernaufsatz – 0–35 m, intermediate
• Attersee – Ofen (többször lezárva / repeatedly closed) – advanced
• Attersee – s'Wandl – 0–20 m, beginner
• Attersee – Schlierwand – 0–40 m, intermediate
• Attersee – Schwarze Brücke – 0–90 m, advanced
• Attersee – Segelboot Dixi – 0–30 m, beginner
• Attersee – Unterwasserwald – 0–18 m, beginner

Salzburg – Saalach valley (Lofer)

• Lamprechtsofen – szifonok / sumps (Lofer) – advanced

Wolfgangsee & Mondsee

• Mondsee – Harnischwand – advanced
• Mondsee – Kienbergwand – 0–30 m, intermediate
• Wolfgangsee – Franzosenschanze – beginner
• Wolfgangsee – Fürbergbucht / Falkensteinwand – advanced
• Wolfgangsee – Panzerwand – advanced

Pyhrn-Priel (Upper Austria)

• Pießling-Ursprung (TILOS / no diving) – 0–40 m, advanced

Traunsee & Langbathsee

• Traunsee – Höbarthwand – 0–40 m, intermediate
• Traunsee – Madonna – advanced
• Traunsee – Traunkirchen Hotel (das Traunsee) – 0–45 m, beginner
• Traunsee – Unterm Stein – 0–30 m, beginner
• Traunsee – Zigeunerfeuchte – 0–12 m, beginner
• Vorderer Langbathsee – Ostufer – beginner

Operators (8)

• Under Pressure Divecenter – dive centre, Landeroith 1, A-4852 Weyregg am Attersee
• NAUTILUS Tauchschule am Attersee – dive centre, Atterseestraße 86, A-4866 Unterach am Attersee
• Attersee Tauchsport Service (ATS) – dive centre, Haslach 4, 4853 Steinbach am Attersee
• Scuba Consult – club, Europabad, Franz-von-Schönthan-Allee, 4854 Weißenbach am Attersee
• Tauchschule Koralle am Mondsee – dive centre, Achort 60, 5310 St. Lorenz (Austria Camp)
• Tauchcenter Dachstein-Salzkammergut – dive centre, Gamsjaga 2a, A-5342 Abersee (Wolfgangsee)
• Tauchsport Traunsee – shop, Traunsteinstraße 2, 4810 Gmunden
• Scuba Academy – Tauchschule Grundlsee – dive centre, Gößl 231, A-8993 Grundlsee

Dive zones, times, spawning closures, Dive Card prices and parking terms in the Salzkammergut change and are partly based on secondary or older sources. Several sites have seen fatal accidents. Check current rules with ARGE Tauchen Österreich, the municipality or a local dive base before every dive, and dive within your training and depth limits.