Palško Lake (Pivka intermittent lakes)
Palško is the largest of the 18 intermittent lakes of the Pivka basin: about 1 km² of water, up to 2 km² at the highest level with the Ždinki and Njivce bays, filled by the Matijeva jama estavelle and springs on its eastern side. Water stays on average three months a year; the rest of the time it is a mown meadow, so underwater you find drowned grass, shrubs and whole trees, field tracks on the bottom, earthworms and tiny crustaceans – the Matijeva jama spring occasionally even washes out olms. Near Matijeva jama, the deepest part (about 10 m), there is a whole submerged forest. It is a large, cold, long dive for when rivers and the sea are unpleasant after autumn or spring rain.
Facts
- Region: Slovenia – Lakes, Rivers & Caves
- Area: Notranjska & Brkini (Cerknica, Postojna, Pivka)
- Depth: 0–10 m
- Level: beginner
- Current: low
- Type: bay, night
- Coordinates: 45.68759, 14.24889
- Highlights: largest of the Pivka intermittent lakes (1–2 km²), flooded meadows, shrubs and whole trees, submerged forest near Matijeva jama, field tracks on the lake bed, small crustaceans with a one-month life cycle, olm occasionally washed out of Matijeva jama, ice diving in winter
- Tips: Legal status: the lake is in the lake protection zone of the Pivka Intermittent Lakes Landscape Park (Odlok o Krajinskem parku Pivška presihajoča jezera, Uradni list RS 43/2014; manager: Občina Pivka since the 2023 amendment). The 2014 decree does not mention diving or swimming; in the lake zone it bans motor boats, model boats, camping, fires, picnic sites and mass events, and organised events need the manager's consent. The 2018 and 2019 amendments (Uradni list 48/18, 70/19) were not reviewed, so check with the Municipality of Pivka before diving, especially with a group. From Pivka take the Knežak road; at the end of town follow signs to Klenik and continue east on a gravel road to the western shore at the Njivce bay (park at the track junction), or go via Parje and Palčje to the southern shore. When the lake is full, the northern and eastern shores cannot be reached by land. Navigation over the uniform bed is hard: use a compass and follow the field tracks; the full length takes 1.5 hours one way. The submerged forest near Matijeva jama is an entanglement risk. Wear a semi-dry or dry suit (up to 10 °C), check your BCD including oral inflation for a long surface swim back. Check lake levels on pivka.si; cave diving in Matijeva jama is a separate, cave-certified activity. The SPZ sheet dates from 2012; river gravel, banks and access roads may have changed since.