Kategorie: News
ARGE Tauchen obtains special permit for Dive Card holders
Lake Wolfgangsee is a lake in the foothills of the Alps and is situated in the Austrian provinces of Salzburg and Upper Austria. At 13 km², the lake is one of the largest and best known in the Salzkammergut region. The Salzburg municipalities of Sankt Gilgen and Strobl and the Upper Austrian municipality of Sankt Wolfgang im Salzkammergut are located on Lake Wolfgang. The lake offers extremely interesting dive sites with often quite excellent visibility.
Lake Wolfgang is 538 metres above sea level and 114 metres deep. The lake is divided into two basins by so-called alluvial cones. At this point the lake is only a good 200 metres wide and 20 metres deep.
Lake Wolfgang is a public water park where diving is generally allowed everywhere; however, there are time restrictions in some places due to fishing regulations. In addition, in many places there is simply no access. Therefore, it is recommended to use only the diving entrances listed by ARGE Tauchen Österreich.
Special permission for Dive Card holders
Until the mid-1990s there was a general ban on diving by the responsible authorities. At that time, only ARGE Tauchen Österreich made sure that this unjustified ban was lifted. Since then, it has been made clear that diving in public waters is generally permitted. (See also: arge-tauchen.at/eigentumsstrukturen-gewässer)
Thanks to ARGE Tauchen, it has now been possible to obtain an exemption from the existing diving ban for the diving sites Panzerwand and Franzosenschanze, valid from Sept 2023, exclusively for holders of the Dive Card, justified by spawning protection.
Carry-over of the quagga mussel
To prevent the spread of the quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis) and possible other undesirable life forms or pathogens, we divers can contribute with a little caution.
Shell larvae, which can also stick to diving equipment, should not be spread from one body of water to another. A longer drying of the equipment seems to be important and purposeful here and it is an easy measure to carry out.
ARGE Tauchen Österreich therefore requests a procedure for Lake Wolfgang that is already obligatory at Vorderer Langbathsee. Diving in the Wolfgangsee should only be done with:
- With equipment that was last used for diving in the Wolfgangsee.
- Or with equipment that has been completely dried for at least 5 days.
- Or with equipment that has been completely disinfected beforehand.
ARGE Diving and Dive Card
ARGE Tauchen is a non-profit association of more than 60 diving schools/clubs and operates as a non-profit association. ARGE Tauchen has been committed to the sport of diving since its foundation. It represents the interests of us sport divers (e.g. preventing diving bans, creating and maintaining diving entrances, obtaining exemptions for diving in nature reserves, building and maintaining underwater platforms and much more).
You can support ARGE Tauchen by purchasing the Dive Card, which also offers a number of benefits, such as the new exemptions in Lake Wolfgang.
Further information:
https://www.arge-tauchen.at
https://www.arge-tauchen.at/wolfgangsee-neu
https://www.arge-tauchen.at/_files/ugd/13696d_445000f6d8724bb8863c3d155c0c22ad.pdf