Diving Achensee

Site Overview

Achensee is a alpine lake dive site in Tyrol, Austria, set among the country’s varied freshwater landscapes. Achensee is Tyrol’s largest lake at 929 m altitude, a deep, clear fjord-like basin ringed by steep mountains. The Dampferwiese site holds the wreck of a small steamer resting in the clear deep water, a signature Tyrolean dive. A submerged forest and the Scholastika wall add vertical drama and ghostly timber to explore. Char and trout use the colder depths, and the clarity can exceed twenty-five metres in good conditions. Altitude and depth mean a drysuit, lights and conservative planning are essential. It is a technical and advanced diver’s lake with some of the best walls in the eastern Alps. Conditions are typical of Austrian inland water: visibility generally runs from 10 to 28 metres, the current is low and the water temperature ranges between 4 and 19 degrees Celsius depending on season and depth. The marine life is freshwater and centred on arctic char, lake trout (brown trout), grayling, with the full community described below for those planning a dive. Because of its advanced rating and the need for Advanced Open Water certification, Achensee is best approached with the right thermal protection and, where relevant, altitude or overhead training. It is a representative example of why Austrian lake diving, with its cold clarity, submerged forests and wrecks, attracts divers who want something different from tropical reefs.