Mine diving in the Sauerland

• Access: all mines are private; you dive only via the operator or club. Nuttlar: day pass at the Bergwerktauchen desk (Apr–Nov, Sat–Sun 09–18 h). Felicitas: day pass (€59) or guidance online, Sat–Sun 09–18 h and other days by arrangement, year-round. Christine and Schwalefeld: application to the Scapehander club (scapehander.de), €50 per day after confirmation, year-round. • Papers: cave card (for CCR also CCR cave), dive medical (Nuttlar max 2 years, Scapehander max 1 year old), insurance and logbook (Nuttlar: ≥100 logged cold-water dives). Without papers no entry and no refund (Nuttlar). • Rules: scooters banned at Nuttlar, Christine and Schwalefeld; no solo diving (Nuttlar); in the club mines no training, don't move lines and take your markers out; no own compressors or generators at the mines. • Water: 7–9 °C year-round → drysuit, 2 separate regulators and 2–3 lights. • General advice in mines: expect loose rock, old cables and sharp metal, rust and silt that stir up quickly, shafts and air pockets with bad air — never breathe them. Stay on the fixed lines. • Gas: Tauchschule Sauerland fills at the Nuttlar mine (Sat–Sun) and at the Sorpesee in Sundern (Wed–Sun): air 200/300 bar, nitrox up to 36 %, O₂. Felicitas fills when booked in advance (air, nitrox, O₂). Helium: TauchCenter Bielefeld at the See im Berg (Brilon-Messinghausen, Apr–Nov Sat–Sun 10–18 h) lists air 200/300 bar, helium and oxygen. Walk-in fills and trimix: ask. • Emergency: call 112. Chambers with emergency service (GTÜM list, Jan 2025): Knappschafts-Kliniken Gelsenkirchen, Schernerweg 4, 45894 Gelsenkirchen, +49 209 5902 7233 (closest, ~1¼ h drive from Bestwig, estimate; call ahead); Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Düsseldorf, +49 172 109 91 12 / +49 173 710 66 00 (30 min advance notice); Druckkammerzentren Rhein Main Taunus, Schiersteiner Straße 42, 65187 Wiesbaden, +49 611 192 22 (30 min advance notice). DAN Europe +39 06 4211 5685. • Rest day: the See im Berg (Messinghausen) is an open diabase quarry lake to ~-45 m without overhead (min AOWD and 100 dives, €30 per day); the Grube Christiane in Diemelsee-Adorf is a dry visitor mine (tour ~90 min, 9 °C). • Bases: Bestwig for Nuttlar, Willingen for Christine and Schwalefeld, Bad Fredeburg for Felicitas; Brilon and Meschede lie in between.