Scuba
For people who has dived on blue waters of the Caribbeans or in to ours Alps lake’s cristal waters, Bolsena Lake may doesn’t give the same emotions but it’s a very unique and fascinating experience, perhaps because of that ‘lunar like’ sceneryor the ‘desertic’ one or endeed because happens to bump into ancient underwater hidden ruins of forgotten villages, or maybe just because is possible to taste deeply the millennial history scattered all around.
That’s why diving on the Bolsena lake’s waters is bly recommended to the sub who comes to visit the area; diving here doesn’t present any particular technical restrictions on the basis of the primary safety rules that here below I like to remember to everybody wants to approach this beautiful activity:
> Always plan the diving excursion with care
> Check equipment conditions before and after using it.
> Always have ’signal balloon’
> The supporting boat must always be provided with emergency tools
> Never dive alone
> Always well self-evaluate physical conditions
> Always inform people ashore about your excursion and the expected return time
> Last and not less important thing: Never pick up object of any kind that catch your interest; let’s leave predators of lost arches to the movies!
Visibility depends mainly to the external light, to the lake’s conditions, to the seasonal flowering of the algae, to the orographic shape of the furface and bottom and finally, of course, to the weather conditions.
Usually visibility has a range between 2 and 10 meters except on some very rare occasions when 20 meters are reached.
The colour of the waters, according to the area of the lake and the weather conditions can be from cristal blue to a deeper blue, to the vast range of greens, the lightest to the deepest.
The temperature of the lake’s waters during the year are shown here below:
| Depth in meter | Temperature in °C |
| From december to April | |
| From 0 to -5 | From 12 to 10 |
| From -5 to -45 | 8 |
| From -45 to -130 | 7,5 |
| From May to August | |
| From 0 to -5 | From 27 to 10 |
| From -5 to -20 | From 18 to 12 |
| From -20 to -45 | From 12 to 7,5 |
| From -45 to -130 | 7,5 |
| September | |
| From 0 to -20 | 20 |
| From -20 to -45 | From 20 to 7,5 |
| From -45 to -130 | 7,5 |
| From October to November | |
| From 0 to -30 | From 15 to 12 |
| From -30 to -45 | From 12 to 8 |
| From -45 to -130 | 7,5 |
The best period for diving goes from May to the end of September, on clear, sunny days with flat lake surface, never on shaded spots in order to take full advantage out of the natural light, far ffom villages or crowded areas, possibly avoiding days that follows the North wind (Tramontana).
I don’t have any particular spot to suggest where to dive, as the main rule of this challenging activity is on a personal experimental basis.
The bottom of the lake appears sandy or rocky , white, grey or darker and sometimes with deep green spots of vegetation either flat bush shape or as long sinuous leaves that often reach the surface .
Or else more, it is a magic experience to dive by the shores of the two beautiful islands, so rich in history and legends, along their sidewalls in the water, down deep (take a look on the depht meter!).
Otherwise is possible to have a ‘cultural oriented’ excursion, both on the water or on the shores where are many archeological sites and museums.
While visiting the lake it’s easy to bump into the many kind of fishes that fill it and makes the local cuisine appreciated and famous all over.
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