Diving the Vinkeveense Plassen

The Vinkeveense Plassen are known for clear water, an unusual underwater landscape and the sand islands. This stretch of water between Amsterdam and Utrecht is popular with people on boats, but it is divers who get the most out of it. Visibility runs to ten metres and there is no shortage of sites.

How the lakes came to be

The Vinkeveense Plassen are the result of peat cutting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Peat was an important fuel, and to dig out the bog the area was systematically flooded. What had been marsh became a system of lakes.

The excavation left deep pools, later dredged further in the twentieth century for sand. That sand went into infrastructure, including the construction of the Bijlmermeer. The deep sand workings produced an unusual underwater environment of steep walls and deep pits, and those are what divers come for.

The sand islands

Artificial islands were laid out to make the area more attractive for recreation. There are twelve, some reachable only by boat.

For divers, islands 4 and 8 are the interesting ones. Both hold a range of sites with wrecks, sunken objects and a varied underwater life.

Diving here

Good visibility and a wide range of depths make these lakes suitable for beginners and experienced divers alike. The water is cold: around 20 °C at the height of summer, and below 5 °C in winter.

The main sites

• Zandeiland 4. The main draw. A sunken bus, cars and boats, plus a training platform.
• Zandeiland 8. Rougher and more natural: steep walls and mussel beds.
• The deep pits. In places the depth runs to fifty metres, which makes this a serious site for technical divers.

Underwater life

Expect pike, perch and eel. There are freshwater crayfish and shoals of roach among the weed. Water quality is good and the biodiversity with it.