I just returned from a three day trip to Austria on which we did some very awesome dives! We dived at lake "Samaranger See" (1000m / 3300ft altitude) which is famous for its great viz but also for its low temperatures (8C / 46F). I never did any mountain lake diving before and I was seriously impressed about it.
The scenery is extremely idyllic with mountains surrounding the lake and cows right next to the divers
Below the surface, the visability was stunning for lake diving. The operator doesn't allow for more than 4 divers to be in the lake at the same time as well as requires at least 100 logged dives for a permit. I really like this approach as it helps to prevent crowding deep down and preserves the beauty of the lake. Anyways, the water is so clear that you can see the above surface area from below. Sometimes the surface mirrors parts of the bottoms (pic 02, for example) which gives surreal looking pictures IMO.
In all great fun! I used a Panasonic Lumix LX3 in a 10bar housing (no strobes, no ports, no wet lenses) for all u/w pictures.
Hope you enjoyed this little report
The scenery is extremely idyllic with mountains surrounding the lake and cows right next to the divers
Below the surface, the visability was stunning for lake diving. The operator doesn't allow for more than 4 divers to be in the lake at the same time as well as requires at least 100 logged dives for a permit. I really like this approach as it helps to prevent crowding deep down and preserves the beauty of the lake. Anyways, the water is so clear that you can see the above surface area from below. Sometimes the surface mirrors parts of the bottoms (pic 02, for example) which gives surreal looking pictures IMO.
In all great fun! I used a Panasonic Lumix LX3 in a 10bar housing (no strobes, no ports, no wet lenses) for all u/w pictures.
Hope you enjoyed this little report