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NORWAY: Home of the best wreck diving in Europe
NORWAY
The beautiful sheltered coastline of Norway, made up of stunning Fjords and dramatic mountain scenery is one of the best places to dive in Europe. The intact wrecks, warm summers and lack of other divers makes Norway the ideal place for a diving holiday. Scuba diving in Norway includes sheer walls, spectacular rock formations, enormous intact shipwrecks, overhangs and excellent night diving. Norway is one of the best places in the world for divers to see killer whales, thanks to the colder water temperature. Killer whales are in season from the beginning of October through until the middle of December. Diving with magnificent killer whales in the midst of stunning fjords is one of the best scuba diving experiences in the world. The diving conditions in Norway can be quite extreme, but the underwater opportunities are fantastic. Divers can expect to see giant kelp forests, squirrelfish, cod, starfish, anemones, jellyfish, spider crabs, vibrant nudibranchs and huge schools of herring. The visibility ranges depending on the time of year, but is usually around 8 to 12 metres. Water temperatures are cold, ranging from 4˚C to 10˚C.
Norway Highlights
Gulen offers divers some of the best WW2 shipwrecks in Norway. The wrecks are largely intact, and are very interesting to explore. The best wreck to dive is Frankenwald, which has been left almost entirely undamaged, including the masts. Divers have the possibility of seeing a staggering 49 species of nudibranchs and 7 species of ophistobranchs species here.
Nærøy is has some of the most beautiful diving in Norway, with large kelp forests, fantastic wall diving, and some of the best shipwrecks to dive in the country. The area is extremely popular with underwater photographers.
Lake Lygnstøylsvatnet, in the Nordangsdalen Valley of Western Norway, is a unique diving experience. The lake is the result of a dam flooding a village in 1908, and as a result, there is still evidence of the settlement under the water. Divers will be able to swim around the remains of 9 farmhouses, stone fences, gates, a bridge and a forest, making this an eerie and unusual dive.
One of the best diving experiences on earth is to dive at Saltstraumen, home to the world’s strongest maelstrom. The strong tides push up through the narrow, shallow straight, bringing rich nutrients from the seabed. These nurture an abundance of diverse marine life, which make this one of the best dive sites in Europe. Divers can expect to see cod, coalfish, anemones, wolfish and halibut. This area is better suited to experienced divers, as the conditions can be quite challenging.
The Lofoten islands are a truly beautiful area of Norway, both above and beneath the water. The water is clear, and harbours a rich kelp forest, a huge quantity of fish and some interesting shipwrecks. This is one of the best places to dive with killer whales in Norway.
Narvik is a diving paradise for wreck divers. There are lots of sunken ships for divers to explore, as well as the wreck of a German fighter plane in Lake Hartvikvannet. No other location in Norway can offer such a wealth of underwater history as Narvik, and this battleship graveyard is considered to be one of the top wreck diving sites in Europe.
The Trondheimfjord has some excellent diving opportunities, with rabbitfish, sharks and rare coldwater corals being commonly spotted by divers. There are also some WW2 plane wrecks hidden beneath the surface of the water. There are many dive centres and dive shops in the city of Trondheim.
Finnmark is the place in Norway to go to dive with the exotic red king crab. Local dive centres organise trips where you can dive to catch these unusual crustaceans to eat.
Møre has some fantastic opportunities for canyon diving and drift diving. There are also lots of wrecks which are popular with divers. The area has a rich kelp forest which is home to an abundance of fish.
The beautiful sheltered coastline of Norway, made up of stunning Fjords and dramatic mountain scenery is one of the best places to dive in Europe. The intact wrecks, warm summers and lack of other divers makes Norway the ideal place for a diving holiday. Scuba diving in Norway includes sheer walls, spectacular rock formations, enormous intact shipwrecks, overhangs and excellent night diving. Norway is one of the best places in the world for divers to see killer whales, thanks to the colder water temperature. Killer whales are in season from the beginning of October through until the middle of December. Diving with magnificent killer whales in the midst of stunning fjords is one of the best scuba diving experiences in the world. The diving conditions in Norway can be quite extreme, but the underwater opportunities are fantastic. Divers can expect to see giant kelp forests, squirrelfish, cod, starfish, anemones, jellyfish, spider crabs, vibrant nudibranchs and huge schools of herring. The visibility ranges depending on the time of year, but is usually around 8 to 12 metres. Water temperatures are cold, ranging from 4˚C to 10˚C.
Norway Highlights
Gulen offers divers some of the best WW2 shipwrecks in Norway. The wrecks are largely intact, and are very interesting to explore. The best wreck to dive is Frankenwald, which has been left almost entirely undamaged, including the masts. Divers have the possibility of seeing a staggering 49 species of nudibranchs and 7 species of ophistobranchs species here.
Nærøy is has some of the most beautiful diving in Norway, with large kelp forests, fantastic wall diving, and some of the best shipwrecks to dive in the country. The area is extremely popular with underwater photographers.
Lake Lygnstøylsvatnet, in the Nordangsdalen Valley of Western Norway, is a unique diving experience. The lake is the result of a dam flooding a village in 1908, and as a result, there is still evidence of the settlement under the water. Divers will be able to swim around the remains of 9 farmhouses, stone fences, gates, a bridge and a forest, making this an eerie and unusual dive.
One of the best diving experiences on earth is to dive at Saltstraumen, home to the world’s strongest maelstrom. The strong tides push up through the narrow, shallow straight, bringing rich nutrients from the seabed. These nurture an abundance of diverse marine life, which make this one of the best dive sites in Europe. Divers can expect to see cod, coalfish, anemones, wolfish and halibut. This area is better suited to experienced divers, as the conditions can be quite challenging.
The Lofoten islands are a truly beautiful area of Norway, both above and beneath the water. The water is clear, and harbours a rich kelp forest, a huge quantity of fish and some interesting shipwrecks. This is one of the best places to dive with killer whales in Norway.
Narvik is a diving paradise for wreck divers. There are lots of sunken ships for divers to explore, as well as the wreck of a German fighter plane in Lake Hartvikvannet. No other location in Norway can offer such a wealth of underwater history as Narvik, and this battleship graveyard is considered to be one of the top wreck diving sites in Europe.
The Trondheimfjord has some excellent diving opportunities, with rabbitfish, sharks and rare coldwater corals being commonly spotted by divers. There are also some WW2 plane wrecks hidden beneath the surface of the water. There are many dive centres and dive shops in the city of Trondheim.
Finnmark is the place in Norway to go to dive with the exotic red king crab. Local dive centres organise trips where you can dive to catch these unusual crustaceans to eat.
Møre has some fantastic opportunities for canyon diving and drift diving. There are also lots of wrecks which are popular with divers. The area has a rich kelp forest which is home to an abundance of fish.
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