5 mines · down to 200 m · 5 suitable for an intro team
Mine diving in Finland
- Mines5
- Max depth200 m
- Water temperature4–20 °C
- Dive centres4
Diving and fills
Dive here with
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Fills nearby
- Fill stationVaruste.net (Helsinki-Konala)Air (single and twin cylinders, max 20 l, no composite cylinders) and nitrox (single cylinder); trimix only as part of their tec courses, not as a walk-in fillRoute ↗
- Fill stationArctic Divers Dive Center (Helsinki)Air to 200 bar (€10–15) and to 300 bar (€10–20); nitrox, O₂ and trimix are not listed — askRoute ↗
- Fill stationDiveTime (Jyväskylä)Air, nitrox, oxygen and trimix (per the SSI listing) — askRoute ↗
Why come here
Finland means flooded limestone and dolomite mines: Ojamo in Lohja, about 60 km from Helsinki, reaches -160 m, and Montola near Pieksämäki has excellent visibility in its drifts all year. You dive both only at events of the local association, never on your own; the Kaatiala and Paakkila quarries with short tunnels are far from Lohja and make separate trips. Deep in the mines the water is about 4 °C all year; the pits above warm to about 20 °C in summer, but algae then cut visibility to a metre or less, and winter brings the clearest water, under the ice. The deeper levels need trimix, and deep dives mean hours of deco in 4 °C water.
Don't miss
- Ojamon kalkkikivikaivos (Ojamo): rails, mine carts, hanging lamps and dynamite boxes, the concrete wall 'Helvetin portti' at -45 m that holds back the lake, and the 13 halls of 'Helmet'.
- Montolan kaivos: pillar halls, rails, ore carts, electrical panels and a large rock crusher along coloured main lines, with excellent visibility all year.
- Kaatialan louhos: a former feldspar and quartz quarry with a small aircraft, a 1960s VW Type 3 and a diving bell underwater.
On a rest day
- Tytyri Mine Museum: The Tytyri Mine Experience in Lohja takes you down to an underground gallery about 100 m below the surface.
- St. Lawrence Church: The medieval church in central Lohja has vivid wall paintings from the 1510s.
- Fiskars: The old ironworks village where a blast furnace and forge started in 1649 and Finland's first cutlery mill opened in 1832.
- Suomenlinna: The sea fortress on eight islands off Helsinki has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991 and is served by ferry all year.
All 5 mines
| Site | Max depth | Type | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haverin kultakaivos (Haveri)Permission neededEntry or dive feeBackmount · Intro to cave | 80 m | Backmount | Intro to cave |
| Kaatialan louhosBackmount · Intro to cave | 39 m | Backmount | Intro to cave |
| Montolan kaivosEntry or dive feeBackmount · Intro to cave | 200 m | Backmount | Intro to cave |
| Ojamon kalkkikivikaivos (Ojamo)Permission neededEntry or dive feeBackmount · Intro to cave | 160 m | Backmount | Intro to cave |
| Paakkilan asbestikaivosPermission neededBackmount · Intro to cave | 30 m | Backmount | Intro to cave |
Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training.
Map
Cave Dive centre
Dive centres and fill stations
4 dive centres, fill stations and instructors
Dive centre
Varuste.net (Helsinki-Konala)
Malminkartanontie 1, 00390 Helsinki
- Air and nitrox
- Trimix · PADI
Fill station
Arctic Divers Dive Center (Helsinki)
Pohjoiskaari 33, 00200 Helsinki
- Air to 200 bar and to 300 bar
Dive centre
DiveTime (Jyväskylä)
Sysmäläntie 1 tila 32, 40530 Jyväskylä
- Air, nitrox, oxygen and trimix — ask
- Cavern, Intro to cave, Full cave, CCR, Trimix · SSI, TDI
- Wings, jackets, single and twin cylinders (2 × 12 l), regulators, computers, torches, wetsuits and drysuits; certified divers only, book ahead
Independent instructor
RebreatherPro Training (Dave Gration)
Works in: United Kingdom, Lot, Malta and Finland (based in Leicestershire)
- Cavern, Intro to cave, Full cave, Sidemount, CCR, Trimix · TDI, IANTD, RAID · Listing at the agency ↗
Order: partners first, clearly marked as partner; then dive centres by distance from Lohja and independent instructors by name. Not a recommendation: check what they offer yourself.
On this list, or should you be? Get a free partner card →Where to stay
Find a place near Lohja, Helsinki, Pieksämäki, Kuortane, Tuusniemi
Villages that work well as a base for the caves in this region. Find a place for your team:
- LohjaBooking.com ↗
- HelsinkiBooking.com ↗
- PieksämäkiBooking.com ↗
- KuortaneBooking.com ↗
- TuusniemiBooking.com ↗
The links to Booking.com are affiliate links: if you book through one, DiveTripPlanner earns a small commission. You pay the same.
Practical info: rules, fills and emergency numbers
Emergencies
- Accident: call 112 and start oxygen; for mild symptoms contact your health service or DAN Europe +39 06 4211 5685 (24/7; also online emergency call via emergencycall.daneurope.org). Finland's national hyperbaric oxygen therapy centre is at Tyks, Turku University Hospital; Tyks emergency department (T-hospital): Savitehtaankatu 1, door 18O, Turku, 24/7; medical advice line 116117. No direct chamber number found — go through 112. At Montola, oxygen and an AED are in the changing room.
Access and rules
- Access: in Finnish mines you dive via the association that holds the rights. Ojamo (Lohja) and Montola (Pieksämäki) only at events of Ojamon Kaivossukeltajat ry and Montolan Kaivossukeltajat ry (membership/registration in their portal; independent diving not allowed). Haveri (Ylöjärvi) only at events of Haverin kaivossukeltajat ry, as a member of a club with a diving permit there or with the board's approval (registration on the association's site). At Ojamo you share the pit with the training institutions Meriturva and Luksia; the city has leased the diving base to a non-commercial association since 1 July 2024, for hobby diving only and not as a business. Per Yle (2026), outsiders are not allowed on the Ojamo site. At Montola, guest events are open to all divers who register in the portal. Kaatiala: no booking needed (everyman's right). Paakkila: private land, notify the owner (via Kuopion Urheilusukeltajat ry or the Paakkila Facebook group); free.
- Rules: Montola (2024 safety document) — open water CMAS P1, mine at least Intro to Cave or equivalent, thirds, CCR bailout ≥1.5×, max END 40 m, max one dive deeper than -40 m per day, no entering the mine without a guideline, under-18s not in the mine. Ojamo (ojamodive.fi) — dive plan to the organiser, dive leader and a safety diver on standby, support team for dives >60 m or >180 min; under ice a surface line and cave or mine certification (Yle 2026). Haveri (association rules) — every dive plan approved by the event organiser, within the organiser's own certifications; familiarisation dives before the -35 and -80 m levels, trimix for cave dives deeper than 35 m (END max 35 m), a support team for dives deeper than 75 m.
Gas and fills
- Gas: no public trimix or O₂ station found near Lohja; Arctic Divers in Helsinki fills air (200/300 bar). Finnish clubs run their own compressors and mix stations for members (e.g. Jyväskylän Delfiinit, a founding club of the Montola association: nitrox, O₂, trimix, argon) — ask your event organiser. Finnish rules (Tukes): O₂-cleaned cylinders are marked 'OXYGEN-SERVICED' with who serviced them and when, mix cylinders are labelled NITROX/TRIMIX/OXYGEN, and the fill station records the last periodic inspection — bring cylinders with a valid test.
Water and season
- Water and season: the mines are ~4 °C at depth all year. The pits reach ~20 °C in summer, but visibility then drops to ≤1 m (algae) and in autumn sometimes to near zero (humus); winter gives the clearest water. In winter Ojamo, Montola and Haveri keep the water at the entry open with pumps; Montola has de-icing on the stairs and habitats at -6 m, Ojamo heated changing huts. Drysuit with dry gloves and heating; Finnish divers inflate their suits with argon.
Safety
- General mine caution: old installations remain (rails, carts, lamps, tools, cables) — entanglement and sharp metal; silt comes down from the ceilings; never breathe the air in an air pocket.
Getting around
- Getting there and distances: Ojamo is ~60 km west of Helsinki; Montola is in Montola village, ~18 km south of Pieksämäki; Kaatiala (Kuortane, South Ostrobothnia), Paakkila (Tuusniemi, ~70 km from Kuopio) and Haveri (Viljakkala, Ylöjärvi, north-west of Tampere) are far from Lohja — plan them as separate trips. At Montola you can stay at the village guesthouse (8 places).
Rest day
- Rest day: Tytyri Mine Experience (mine museum) in Lohja, with an underground gallery ~100 m down (it showed Ojamo mine-diving photos in 2024); the Ojamo iron mine (from 1542, the oldest known in Finland) is on private manor land — visit via Lohja's tourist service or on open days.
News
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