Lake Constance, or Bodensee in German, is a huge lake on the River Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, which is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Measuring 39 miles long and, at its widest point, nearly nine miles across, it is central Europe’s third-largest body of freshwater and was created by the Rhine Glacier in the Ice Age. Sitting at 1,295 feet above sea-level, it boasts depths in excess of 800 feet in the middle of the eastern portion, making it a prime dive site for everyone from raw novices to seasoned technical divers.

The Uberlingen area of Lake Constance has several dive sites, and one of them, Parkhaus Post, rather uniquely begins in the bottom of a multistory car park! Gearing up into full drysuit and scuba equipment surrounded by shoppers walking too and from their vehicles certainly makes things interesting! From the car park, it is a few hundred feet walk to the entry point into the lake, which thoughtfully is a stone stairway built into the shoreline protection. There is even a handrail for keeping your stability going up and down. It is all very civilized.

Once in the water, you can descend in around six feet and make your way the short distance to the edge of the drop-off — and I do mean drop-off. Whether you turn left or right on entering, the topography is the same - a sheer wall punctuated by the odd mild overhang and crevices. Many of the dives in Constance follow a similar pattern — plenty of parking, good entry/exit points, and then steep walls dropping into the depths. It is safe to say that divers are well catered for around Lake Constance!