Fehmarn is a German island in the Baltic, reached over the Fehmarnsund bridge, with two kinds of diving: easy shore dives at Katharinenhof, Westermarkelsdorf and Wulfener Hals, and RIB trips to the wrecks that lie around the island, from the Docktor off Katharinenhof to the patrol boat VS 54. Most dives run from 3 to 18 m. Divers come for Baltic wreck diving, the hulls overgrown with plumose anemones, mussels and algae.
About diving in Fehmarn
Shore dives start relaxed: the bases drive divers and kit to the entry points around the island in a dive van. Boat dives go out on RIBs carrying up to 8 divers. The near-shore trips, such as the Docktor wreck and the drift under the Fehmarnsund bridge, run regularly through the season, while the wrecks further offshore, lying at about 20 to 28 m, can be reached on request. Night dives are run now and then on request, usually at the house reef, Katharinenhof or Westermarkelsdorf.
Around the island lie a number of wrecks, from a patrol boat and a sailing schooner to a sunken road excavator. Over the decades they have become overgrown with plumose anemones, mussels and algae, and on the Docktor countless starfish have settled. Inshore the water is shallow and the life is small: crabs, pipefish, gobies and shrimp, with flatfish, sticklebacks, cod and lumpsuckers on luckier dives.
Fehmarn suits newly certified divers and those in training: the shore sites are mostly 3 to 7 m deep with little or no current, and some wrecks between 6 and 18 m are within Open Water limits. The offshore wrecks are a different dive, with a harder descent because a current that should not be underestimated often runs there. As at all war wrecks, live munitions may remain on them. Divers looking for warm water should look elsewhere.
Best time to dive Fehmarn
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair |
The base at Wulfener Hals is closed from October to April, and the sea is coldest in January, averaging about 2 °C (36 °F). The base opens on 1 May for shore dives and boat trips, and its main season runs from 27 June to 20 September. July and August are the peak: wreck trips run almost daily, and the scheduled wreck tours from Meeschendorf start in early July. The water is warmest in August at about 18 °C (65 °F), and the base closes on 20 September.
Dive types & marine life
Cod are the fish most often met on the wrecks: large ones show in the Docktor's interior by torchlight, and they gather in the old cab of the Straßenbagger. The Fehmarnsund drift usually brings countless crabs and many flatfish.
- Wreck
- Drift
- Night
Best dive sites in Fehmarn
- 1
VS 54
A patrol boat at 28 m with plenty of superstructure, among the finest wrecks in the Baltic.
- 2
Docktor
A wreck section about 100 m long and 12 m high off the Katharinenhof coast.
- 3
Fehmarnsund Bridge Drift
A current dive through the channel between the bridge piers at about 9 to 10 m; a buoy is mandatory.
- 4
Lehnskov
A 28 m long three-masted schooner that ran onto a mine in 1944.
- 5
Straßenbagger
A road excavator that slid off a work pontoon in the mid-seventies and lay lost for years.
- 6
Katharinenhof
The shore site at the Fischerweg, probably the best-known dive site on the island.
- 7
Westermarkelsdorf
Shore dive to a sunken mooring tower, nicknamed the Stöpsel, which shows from far off.
Site guides
A 12 m high wreck section grounded off Fehmarn on New Year's Eve 2006
Fehmarn's best-known shore site, with cod and garfish in 7 m
Shallow shore entry beside the naval station at Staberhuk
A house reef a few steps from the base, with 10 m visibility on calm days
Drift
Riding the Fehmarnsund current between the piers of the bridge
How to get to Fehmarn
Hamburg Airport is the nearest airport, 144 km away. By road, the A1 runs from Hamburg and Lübeck to Oldenburg in Holstein, and the route continues over the Fehmarnsund bridge onto the island. The bases sit at Meeschendorf on the south coast and at Wulfener Hals.
Photos from Fehmarn
Peter Wippermann – Pentius · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dive videos
Dive Local Germany: Fehmarn mit SCUBAPRO · Scubapro on YouTube
Wreck Diving off the Island Fehmarn, Germany - june 2019 · Wrackzeichner on YouTube
Questions divers ask
What certification is needed to dive the Fehmarn wrecks?+
Some wrecks between 6 and 18 m suit Open Water divers. The wreck tours usually require an Advanced Open Water diver with at least 50 dives to 30 m, Baltic experience and experience in current.
When is the best time to dive Fehmarn?+
July and August, when wreck trips run almost daily and the sea is at its warmest, about 18 °C (65 °F) in August. Boats run from May to September.
Is Fehmarn diving from the shore or by boat?+
Both. The shore sites are entered from the beach and are mostly shallow and easy, while the wrecks and the Fehmarnsund drift are dived from RIBs.
How do divers get to Fehmarn?+
Hamburg Airport is 144 km away. The drive follows the A1 through Lübeck to Oldenburg in Holstein, then crosses the Fehmarnsund bridge onto the island.
Sources
- Tauchen Südstrand: Bootstauchgänge — Tauchen Südstrand
- Tauchen Südstrand: Landtauchgänge — Tauchen Südstrand
- Tauchen Südstrand: Hausriff — Tauchen Südstrand
- Tauchen Südstrand: Wracktouren — Tauchen Südstrand
- Tauchen Südstrand: Nachttauchgänge — Tauchen Südstrand
- Tauchen Südstrand: Anfahrt — Tauchen Südstrand
- Ostseebasis Fehmarn — Atlantis Ostseebasis Fehmarn
- Ostseebasis Fehmarn: Landtauchgänge — Atlantis Ostseebasis Fehmarn
- Ostseebasis Fehmarn: Tauchen auf Fehmarn — Atlantis Ostseebasis Fehmarn
- Ostseebasis Fehmarn: Sonderausfahrten — Atlantis Ostseebasis Fehmarn
- Heiligenhafen Average Sea Temperatures — SeaTemperature.org
- Fehmarn – Wikivoyage — Wikivoyage
Photo credits
- Low grassy cliff above a narrow stony beach with dark seaweed along a calm blue Baltic shore under a clear sky by Peter Wippermann – Pentius, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Embed
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