Info Kreidesee Hemmoor

General Information

Location: The Kreidesee lies in Niedersachsen, about 50 km south-east from Cuxhaven. The lake is located in the western part of the city Hemmoor, directly on the B 73.

Depth: 60 meters

Size: 1300m x 500m

Diving season: Year-round, every day

Visibility: During good weather visibility can be up to 25 meters; in bad weather visibility is down to 5 – 10 meters in places. On average visibility is about 10 – 15 meters. Weather influences visibility more than the number of diving guests. Best visibility is to be expected from Tuesday until Thursday, provided the weather was good in the last couple days (no rain or storms).

Requirements: At entrances 1 and 4 even beginners get their costs out, because flat areas are present. Entrances 2, 3 and 5 are reserved for more experienced divers, because the lake-bed drops off very quickly. On the bases of good visibility the diving depth is often underestimated. Entrances 3 and 5 are reserved for expert divers (minimum of 40 dives including 5 cold water dives).

Safety

Safety: On weekends and local public holidays the International Sport Diver e.V. posts life-guards on the lake for safety. The trained life-guards have 5 oxygen tanks, 3 guard boots and other safety equipment and are on duty from around 9:00 until 16:00 (in the summer correspondingly longer) at the guard station. You will recognize a manned guard post by the raised flag. The guards also control maximum diving depth and required diving gear (two separate respirators).

Emergency Telephone: On the lake-side of the guard container (entrance 1) is located an emergency telephone, which can be used outside of the posted guard times free of charge in case of emergency. All important emergency numbers are enabled. More emergency telephones can be located at entrance 5 at the green container, as well as in between entrances 3 and 4.

Immersion Depth: Diving students and Basic diving card holders are only aloud to dive when accompanied by a diving instructor and assistants. Bronze/*, OWD, AOWD aloud max of 25m. Silver/**, Rescue or equivalent aloud max of 40m. 100 logged dives after the last brevet equate the next higher brevet. Deep dives are only to be executed with gold/*** divers. Upon request a depth measuring- and logbook inspection is to be complied with. (Infringements with will be saved with the registry and will lead to a diving ban.)

Regulations: All divers (including students) must use two separate blockable respirators. The greatest permissible decompression depth is 3m. No unaccompanied dives. Between 23:00 and 6:00 diving is prohibited. Diving is only permitted with a valid entry card. The use of compression devises is prohibited on the premises. The instructions of the VIST-guards are to be followed. Camping is only aloud on the campsite. Divers unfamiliar with the area are urged to use the “Buddy line”. Divers medical exams should be done yearly after 40 years of age.

Description

From 1862 until 1976 chalk was mined in the open-cast mine for cement production. After cessation of the mining operations the pumps were shut off, and over the course of 6 years the pit filled with water. The pit’s depth was about 120m in the past, but even during excavations rubble was put back in the mine so that the current depth of the lake is about 60m. Water flows into the lake from underground springs and the water levels are kept at sea-level artificially. Within the lake remnants of the mine can be found (buildings, roads, lanterns, bridges, stairs, lines, forest), as well as newer diving objects (cars, RVs, boat-wrecks, planes, etc.). The front deep part of the lake has many steep slopes; the back part is flatter and goes down in a stair fashion. Many of the diving objects are marked with buoys.

Service: The fill station is in the registry on the camp-grounds. The four compressor units deliver 1950 L/min and fill 24 storage cylinders with 300 bar. (Owners of cylinders with INT-connection should bring a INT-fill adapter.) At the registry one can get various rental equipments, and book guided dives as well as diving classes. On the camp-grounds you will find a washing area for the rental equipment as well as a small kiosk for all of your daily requirements. The kiosk also carries small replacement pieces and fishing cards. Furthermore there is a playground, barbeque area, campfire area, and a sports field to be found. Next to the filling station there is a small food stand. The sanitary facilities are fully accessible by disabled. In addition this location has a small kitchen, as well as washers and driers. There are Scandinavian vacation houses available for 4 – 6 people at the lake, bookings for this will be handled by the company Euro Trend, Tel. 040-724 40 21.