Germany – Lakes & Quarries (North, West & East)

Outside the Alps and the coast, German divers train and dive mainly in flooded quarries, gravel pits and former lignite mines. The best known is the Kreidesee at Hemmoor, a 60 m deep chalk pit with a sunken aircraft, trucks and caravans. In Thuringia the Sundhäuser See has an underwater replica of old Nordhausen, while Lusatia and central Germany offer clear granite quarries such as Horka and Steina and huge mining lakes like the Geiseltalsee with drowned forests. In the west, deep quarries such as See im Berg and Hunsfels attract experienced and technical divers. Almost every lake is private or regulated: you dive only through the base or with a day card, show your certification and often a medical certificate, and many bases require two independent first stages. Below the summer thermocline the water stays cold all year, so a drysuit is common.

Facts

• Water temperature & thermocline: Lakes stratify in summer: warm surface water sits over a cold deep layer. Examples from base reports: Hausteinsee (Steina) 20 °C at 5 m on 1 Aug 2026; Gräbendorfer See deep water often 5–7 °C; diver reports from Hemmoor give 4–9 °C and from Pretzien about 5 °C at 13 m. Plan cold-water regulators and thermal protection even in summer. Check current status.
• Season & opening: Many bases open fully only from spring to autumn and at weekends, e.g. See im Berg April–November Sat/Sun; Tauchsee Horka April–October Thu–Mon; Senftenberg (Dino) May–October Sat/Sun. Others run all year: Hemmoor (shorter winter hours), Möhnesee except when icing, Blausteinsee (diving is the only water sport allowed in the winter closure), HTSV-See Schönbach. Ice diving is explicitly banned at Möhnesee and Sorpesee. Check current status.
• Entry fees (examples): Day fees published by operators: Fühlinger See €7.50 (city card), Blausteinsee €9, Gräbendorfer See €10–15, Tauchsee Horka €15, Steina/Prelle €15 (2023 list), Hunsfels €20, See im Berg €30. Check current terms.
• Typical base rules: Expect to register, sign the lake rules and show your certification card; many bases also require a valid diving medical (Horka, Hunsfels, ProDive, Senftenberg) and may check your logbook (Sundhäuser See, Hunsfels). Two separately closable first stages are compulsory at Hemmoor, See im Berg and Hunsfels, and at Möhnesee when the air is 8 °C or colder. Some sites set experience thresholds, e.g. See im Berg: advanced card + 100 logged dives; Hunsfels: buddy team of '3 stars', night dives max 20 m. Check current terms.
• Official restrictions: Fühlinger See (Cologne): diving only in lakes 4–6 with a valid city dive card – diving without one is an administrative offence. Geiseltalsee: diving only through the two authorised bases, checked by the public order office and rangers. Möhnesee (Ruhrverband): only inside the buoyed area; bridge piers excluded. Kulkwitzer See: only at approved entry points under a general order, with fines for other entries. Gräbendorfer See: the bird-protection island is closed by the authorities. Check current status.
• Closed: Helenesee (Frankfurt/Oder): The Helenesee, once a popular deep mining lake for divers, has been closed since bank slides in 2021; only a section of the east shore has been released by the mining authority (LBGR), and a federal document of April 2026 says reopening is not yet foreseeable. It is listed as closed. Check current status.
• Emergency: Call 112 first. Diving emergency hotlines listed by GTÜM: DAN Germany/Austria 00800 326 668 783 (00800 DAN NOTRUF), DAN international +39 06 4211 8685 or +39 06 4211 5685; Navy Maritime Medical Institute (Kiel) +49 431 5409 1441; VDST hotline +49 69 800 88 616; aqua med +49 421 240 110 10.
• Hyperbaric chambers: GTÜM list 1 (emergency centres for diving accidents, as of 1 Jan 2025) includes Halle (University Hospital), Berlin (Vivantes Friedrichshain), Düsseldorf (University Hospital), Gelsenkirchen (Knappschaft), Aachen (HBO-Zentrum Euregio) and Wiesbaden (Druckkammerzentren Rhein Main Taunus). Chambers with guaranteed 24-hour readiness: Kronshagen/Kiel (Navy, +49 431 5409 1441), Ulm and Regensburg. Always phone ahead before transporting a patient. Check current status.

Season

• Best months: Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct, Nov
• Acceptable: Jul, Aug
• Poor: Dec, Jan, Feb
• Water temperature: 4–22 °C

Kreidesee Hemmoor is divable year-round; visibility is 10–15 m and up to 25 m in good weather, but can drop to 1 m on busy summer weekends. Cold water: 4–9 C in cold months, 7–13 C at end of October. Spring and autumn are best, weekdays are quieter.

Dive sites (23)

North Rhine-Westphalia

• Blausteinsee (Eschweiler) – 0–46 m, advanced
• Fühlinger See (Köln) – 0–18 m, beginner
• Möhnesee – Steinbruch Delecke – 0–28 m, intermediate
• See im Berg (Messinghausen) – 0–45 m, advanced

Saxony-Anhalt

• Geiseltalsee – Hausriff (Frankleben) – 0–10 m, beginner
• Geiseltalsee – Unterwasserwald (boat dives) – 3–25 m, intermediate
• Gröberner See – intermediate
• Steinbruchsee Pretzien – 0–23 m, beginner
• Süplinger Canyon – 0–15 m, beginner

Brandenburg (Lusatia)

• Gräbendorfer See (Laasow) – 0–37 m, intermediate
• Helenesee (LEZÁRVA / closed) – advanced
• Senftenberger See – Südsee – beginner

Saxony

• Hausteinsee (Steina) – 0–33.5 m, beginner
• Kulkwitzer See (Leipzig) – 0–32 m, beginner
• Prellesee (Steina) – 0–46.5 m, advanced
• Steinbruch Riesenstein (Meißen) – 0–18 m, beginner
• Steinbruch Wildschütz – 0–40 m, advanced
• Tauchsee Horka (Steinbruch Horka) – 0–36 m, intermediate

Hesse & Rhineland-Palatinate

• HTSV-See Schönbach (Steinbruch Winkel) – 0–30 m, beginner
• Kalkbruchsee Hunsfels (Stromberg) – 0–54 m, intermediate

Lower Saxony & North

• Kreidesee Hemmoor – 0–60 m, intermediate

Thuringia

• Möwensee (Nordhausen) – 0–46 m, intermediate
• Sundhäuser See (Nordhausen) – 0–31 m, beginner

Operators (15)

• Tauchbasis Kreidesee (Kreideseetaucher) – dive centre, Cuxhavener Str. 1, 21745 Hemmoor
• Action Sport Nordhausen (Tauchsportzentrum Sundhäuser See) – dive centre, Uthleber Weg 27, 99734 Nordhausen
• Tauchsee Horka – dive centre, Am Steinbruch 9, 01920 Crostwitz
• Tauchsport Delphin Leipzig – dive centre, Angerstr. 53–55, Leipzig (base at Kulkwitzer See, Lausen)
• See im Berg (Tauchcenter Bielefeld) – dive centre, Diemelseestraße, 59929 Brilon-Messinghausen
• ProDive – Der Tauchplatz im Möhnesee – dive centre, Delecke, Möhnesee (Arnsberger Straße / Delecker Brücke)
• Tauchaixperte (Blausteinsee) – dive centre, Blausteinsee, Eschweiler
• Hunsfels-Tauchen – dive centre, Kalkbruch Hunsfels, Stromberg (Hunsrück)
• Hessischer Tauchsportverband (HTSV) – Ausbildungssee Schönbach – dive centre, Schönbach near Herborn (A45 Herborn-West)
• Tauchbasis Geiseltalsee – dive centre, Naundorfer Str. 17, 06259 Frankleben
• Tauchsportcenter Wassermann (Pretzien) – dive centre, Tauchbasis Pretzien, Steinbruchsee, 39217 Pretzien
• Tauchcenter Steina – dive centre, Zum Haustein 6, 01920 Steina
• Flossenfreunde Laasow – Tauchbasis Gräbendorfer See – dive centre, Am IBA-Steg 1, 03226 Vetschau/OT Laasow
• Tauchsportverein „Dino” e.V. Senftenberg – dive centre, An der Südsee / K6602, 01968 Senftenberg (OT Niemtsch)
• Tauchschule Buder (Wildschütz) – dive centre, Kobershainer Str. 2, 04862 Mockrehna OT Wildschütz

Routes (4)

• Geiseltalsee boat dives to the drowned forests
• Guided day trip to See im Berg
• Guided dive at Gräbendorfer See
• Try dive in the Sundhäuser See

Quarry and mining lakes are private or regulated waters: dive only through the operating base or with the required card, and diving elsewhere can be an offence. Day fees, opening hours and access rules change often – check them with the base before you travel. Deep layers stay cold all year. Positions are for orientation only.