This time I decided I had to try out something different. As the title suggests, I did a lake dive. This was my first lake dive yet.
In that region, you have Lake Bled nearby which is a more popular location. But this location was more interesting to me.
The lake itself is an artificial lake that was made by damming the Javornik Stream and others. It was made quite a while ago for purposes of the ironworks in the valley.
By the lake is house Trilobit which got its name from the Trilobite fossil found in that area.
The lake is quite shallow, reaching about four meters in depth. As it is filled from various streams almost directly from the source, the water is crystal clear. This also means that the water is cold. The current temperature was about 5-6°C and it rarely gets over 10°C in the summer. So this dive really isn’t for everyone.
In the lake, you can see some vegetation and different trout species.
There is a good write-up with lots of information available but unfortunately, it is only in Slovenian: http://antena.fe.uni-lj.si/literatura/SPZ-PAS/pdf/075_Javornik.pdf
I did one dive that lasted 30 minutes. As I don’t own a drysuit, this was done in a 7 mm wetsuit. With proper gloves or without the camera, I think I would last a few minutes more.
Due to shallow depth and silt on the bottom, proper buoyancy control and finning technique is paramount. But as the water flow is quite good everything dissipates quite quickly.
As I had my camera with me it was the perfect chance to improve my video skills. Unfortunately, the sky got a bit cloudy just when I was going into the water.
Overall I had a really great time. While the water was extremely cold it didn’t really bother me for the first 20 – 25 minutes and then I slowly ended my dive.
There were lots of fish everywhere and the crystal clear water was great. Another great thing was that there was really no need to clean the equipment. I am quite sure the water was about as clean as from the tap.
I circled one half of the lake a few times and left the other half for the next time. I am sure I will be back when the weather will be good enough.