Rothsee

The Rothsee is a reservoir in the Franconian Lake District that divers from Nuremberg reach in about half an hour. The usual entry is the car park at the pre-dam opposite Birkach, where the small upper basin flows into the main basin. Divers report many mussels between about 2 and 6 m, schools of small fish, large pike and zander, eels and occasionally wels catfish. The bottom is very soft, so visibility can drop to under a metre in summer, while autumn and early mornings can bring up to about 12 m. Instructors use the lake for open water and rescue training, and a surface marker buoy is needed because surfers and sailing boats share the water.