Diving Innsbruck Quarries (Roßau & Arzl)

Site Overview

Innsbruck Quarries (Roßau & Arzl) is a quarry lake dive site in Tyrol, Austria, set among the country’s varied freshwater landscapes. The Innsbruck quarries at Roßau and Baggersee Arzl are urban training sites close to the city. Sunken platforms, vehicles and other placed objects give divers structured things to navigate and practise on. They are shallow and accessible, making them popular with courses and refresher dives. Perch, pike and roach patrol the structures, and the clear shallows suit macro practice. A wetsuit is usually enough in summer, though the thermocline still brings cold deeper down. They are practical, no-fuss city dives for building skills between alpine trips. Conditions are typical of Austrian inland water: visibility generally runs from 4 to 12 metres, the current is low and the water temperature ranges between 5 and 20 degrees Celsius depending on season and depth. The marine life is freshwater and centred on european perch, northern pike, roach, with the full community described below for those planning a dive. Because of its beginner rating and the need for Open Water certification, Innsbruck Quarries (Roßau & Arzl) 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.