Diving Zeller See

Site Overview

Zeller See is a alpine lake dive site in Salzburg, Austria, set among the country’s varied freshwater landscapes. Zeller See is an alpine lake beneath the Schmittenhöhe with a clear, mountain-panorama setting and depths reaching toward seventy metres. Summer dives enjoy the warm surface layer and the dramatic Kitzsteinhorn backdrop, while winter brings a celebrated ice-diving festival. The cold, clear water below the thermocline holds char and trout and gives a real sense of vertical space on the walls. A drysuit is recommended for proper dives, and the altitude-adjacent setting means conservative planning is wise. The lakeside town of Zell am See makes logistics easy, with stays, centres and the glacier all close by. It is a lake that offers both warm-season recreation and serious cold-water ice diving. Conditions are typical of Austrian inland water: visibility generally runs from 10 to 25 metres, the current is low and the water temperature ranges between 4 and 22 degrees Celsius depending on season and depth. The marine life is freshwater and centred on lake trout (brown trout), arctic char, european perch, with the full community described below for those planning a dive. Because of its intermediate rating and the need for Advanced Open Water certification, Zeller See 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.