Diving around Switzerland

[milkathecow]

sorry nomoreno, my fault, i only occasionally come over this board... will start doing it more often i think, to get more buddies around.

i'm going to dive with a french buddy i think on witson monday (31st of may), he's coming down from god knows where (met him over another board) so if you want to join us, i'm sure we can either try to find a gear for you, or if you're willing to rent one we can try and go ahead... www.dolphin-shop.com (with or without - not sure) or the shop "vieux plongeur" in vesenaz .. might have full gears.

send me an email or so if you feel like coming, and i'll let you know if we're heading out on monday. It should be Hermance (easy site, lots of weird stuff as i said in previous post)

cheers,
Olivier

 

[vjongene]

I was intrigued with the site - some good descriptions but the frames leave a bit to be desired. The Hirondelle (paddlesteamer in English BTW) looks worth a dive.
What is the visibility like in Leman/Geneva ??

For us it means a drive through the Mont Blanc tunnel at about €30 so is it worth it?

Visibility in the lake is extremely variable. The best time is normally mid-winter. But I have made several excellent dives in the last couple of weeks. "Good" viz is 3 m or better. Currently we have about 5 m if you go below 25 m depth.

The Hirondelle is indeed an excellent dive, but the wreck can be difficult to find if you don't know where to look. Also, keep in mind that the top is at 42 m, and the wreck goes down to about 65 m. Temperature at depth is 6 C year round.

If you are interested, our club is diving there next Sunday (June 6). PM me if ever.

Victor J.

 

[milkathecow]

Victor,

you're in Lausanne are you ? which club is it ? do they do week dives ?

cheers,
Olivier

 

[vjongene]

Victor,

you're in Lausanne are you ? which club is it ? do they do week dives ?

cheers,
Olivier

I am a member of "Plongée libre", which is located in Morges. We have a lakeside club house between Morges and StPrex. We dive every Sunday morning at 9:30, at different sites.

I also dive occasionally with "Les Ploufs" (www.ploufs.ch), an informal group that also tries to organize dives every Sunday, and sometimes during the week. You can register online to receive E-mail notification of the dives.

PM me for more details.

Cheers,

Victor

 

[milkathecow]

hmm, i heard something about the "ploufs" this week-end, was it on tv ? i think so ...

i'm diving monday (14th of june) in the afternoon in Hermance with a friend, if someone would like to join.. send me a PM.. or if someone would like to dive in the morning would be another occasion for a dive

 

[bwilliams]

there are many spots in the geneva lake, see my other reply on the geneva lake diving. Geneva lake is the deepest lake in western europe 372meters deep, and has quite a few things to see, all depends on the season, the depth and the type of dive you want to do... it's full of it.

else you have annecy lake in france, lac du bourget still in france, or the mountain lakes all around. For the med from geneva count 4hrs of train or 5-6 hrs by car... you'll get down to marseille, toulon, hyères, montpellier... many dives in the med and quite a few wrecks... but beware... wrecks are rarely seen above 45-50m...

there are incredible river dives too, not around geneva, but in lake of neuchatel too, you should love it

if you're looking for a buddy to dive, just contact me, i'm in france just across the border, and i'm sure i can get a dive somewhere in hermance (many little things to see, 3 small wrecks, a pedalo, a letterbox, a moped, indoor cycling bike... and a few fish... when we are lucky )

Have you dove Lake Annecy? My boyfriend's parents live on the lake and I'll be visiting this summer for a few months. I've heard there is a good shipwreck. Do you know of anything else worth seeing? Do you have any advice on dive centers, etc.?

Thank you for your help!

 

[milkathecow]

The shipwreck is quite amazing, i hope you're not the chilly type, because water in the summer down there is like 5°C but it's a really nice one. The lake is one of the clearest in europe, although it's cold it's really nice.

You can have a look here : http://www.plongee-passion.ch/
click on "entrer" then go on the Annecy lake (right side of the screen)
you'll have the various dive sites of annecy, and you could push to the various lakes of the region, the "lac leman" (lake geneva ), lac du bourget etc.

Remember that PADI isn't recognized by the law, therefore you'll have to check out the PADI website to see which dive centers are around the area. I lived in geneva all my life before moving out to mallorca, and never had an issue with my Padi Card, except in certain DC's in france. Just check things out.

One other thing, they are very very strict about the Medical certificate, made by a "sport Doctor", you'll need that to go diving anywhere in europe now, it's being pushed everywhere (which i feel is good, i own a DC and won't let ppl dive without it... had too many surprises).

Where abouts around the lake do they live ? (if you don't want to go live on that, go PM) i'll be happy to help you, so don't hesitate.