Diving Central German Quarries & Lakes | Hemmoor, Sundhäuser See & Edersee

About Central German Quarries & Lakes

Central Germany is the flooded-quarry capital of European diving, where disused chalk and gravel pits have become crystal-clear training meccas with visibility that rivals the tropics. The crown jewel is the Kreidesee Hemmoor, a flooded chalk quarry with visibility of 20-40 m, a sunken forest, cars, a Cessna airplane and even a motorcycle, all in layered, temperature-stable water ideal for every level. The Sundhäuser See in Thuringia and the Messinghauser See in NRW offer similar clarity with submerged cars, buses and technical platforms, while the Edersee hides a "sunken village" revealed only when water levels drop. These are controlled, enclosed, year-round dive sites with no tides, perfect for courses, photography, ice-diving and technical training, and they form the backbone of Germany’s recreational dive education.

Highlights

• ✓Kreidesee Hemmoor: world-famous chalk quarry with 20-40 m visibility and a sunken airplane
• ✓Sundhäuser See: a clear flooded pit with a submerged bus and airplane
• ✓Edersee-Atlantis: a sunken village and bridge exposed when levels drop
• ✓Messinghauser See: a clear quarry with platforms and small wrecks
• ✓Rohrdommelsee: a deep former open-cast mine lake for technical dives

Getting There

Fly into Hamburg, Hannover or Frankfurt and drive the A7/A1/A44; the quarries are scattered from Hemmoor (Lower Saxony) to Sundhausen (Thuringia) and Krefeld (NRW). Most sites sit just off the Autobahn and have on-site parking and dive centres.