Winter is the best time for diving in Norway. Norwegian scuba diving magazine Dykking share their top 10 favourite places to dive.
Saltstraumen
Experience fantastic diving in the world’s strongest maelstrom. There is abundance of fish, including cod, coalfish, wolffish and halibut.
Gulen
Gulen, on the west coast just south of the Sognefjord, has some of the best ship wrecks from World War II in Norway. One of the most famous is Frankenwald – it is the perfect wreck, as 90 percent of it is intact, even the masts.
The Lofoten Islands
The Lofoten is one of Norway’s most beautiful areas both over and under water. Moskeness-traumen is an Eldorado for divers. Here rich forests of kelp, clear water, masses of fish and exciting wrecks wait for you. During the winter months you might be lucky to dive with killer whales.
Narvik
This has to be Norway’s wreck diving capital. Many German, English and Norwegian ship wrecks from 1940 lie in the sea outside Narvik. In the lake Hartvikvannet you can even find a wreck from a German fighter plane.
Southern Norway (Sørlandet)
Go wreck-diving among many well-known wrecks from World War II, the most famous being the freighter MV Seattle that lies just outside Kristiansand. The coastline of Southern Norway also has a lively marine world – why not catch a crab or two for dinner?
Nærøy
Varied and beautiful diving with rich kelp forests, splendid wall diving, several of Norway’s best ship wrecks and loads of opportunities for catching crabs and picking scallops. No wonder this area of Central Norway is so popular with underwater photographers.
Lake Lygnstøylsvatnet
In 1908 a landslide cut off an entire valley and the small village that stood there was slowly flooded. Today Lake Lygnstøylsvatnet is a popular place for divers from all over the world. The lake lies in the beautiful Nordangsdalen Valley in Western Norway, not far from the historic Hotel Union Øye.
The Trondheimfjord
Divers and marine biologists from around the world travel to this very unique area with rare deep-sea life such as rabbitfish, sharks and a coral reef at only 35 metres below sea level. The Trondheimsfjord also contains a number of plane wrecks from World War II. Why not visit the city of Trondheim at the same time?
Finnmark
Along the coast of Finnmark you can go diving together with the exotic red king crab. Some diving centres offer organised trips where you can catch the tasty king crab and later eat it. In Kirkenes there are plane and ship wrecks from World War II.
