Lake Plotki - diving like an aquarium!

Did you know that in Poland, in one of the small and clean lakes of Wielkopolska, near Piła, you can see with your own eyes a few, or a dozen or so, large sturgeons? There are always pikes here, from small “puppies” to specimens over a meter long. There are also huge carps, but you need more luck and patience here.

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Getting there is quite simple. Entering Piła, we do not head for the centre but enter the bypass, i.e. the Bydgoszcz-Szczecin route and at a certain point turn to Zelgniewo. After 3 kilometres, there are two entrance gates on the left side. The first one on the left is to the Geovita centre and the second one leads to the car park of our destination – Płotki Tourist and Holiday Centre.

From there, a melex will take the equipment to the base (you have to call ahead). The fee is 30 PLN for the whole diving day, regardless of the number of dives. The price includes transport of the equipment, a place to change, a toilet, racks, hangers, coffee and tea.

The base is fueled, warm and cosy on cold and winter days. Those wishing to do so can make use of the rental service or fill up their bottles. From 1 January 2015 registration will apply. The base is expected to serve a maximum of 30 divers per day.

There is a very lush and dense vegetation. The littoral reaches a depth of 6 metres. The bottom is hard, loamy and sandy with holes where crayfish can be found and eels during night dives. Plotki Lake is situated in a trough and surrounded by mixed forest.

In summer, especially at weekends, there are many people here. The body of water is classified as Class II clean water, which makes you want to dive right in. Very good underwater visibility. In spring, autumn and winter, it can reach up to 10 metres. In summer, it drops to 4, which is still a very good result.

Shoals of minnows, breams and small perches swim among hornworts, Canada pondweed and water moss. Big ones, a few dozen centimetres long, prefer to lie on the bottom or between stones. Pike can be found everywhere. Ropes and carps are timid and keep their distance, but sometimes they can be spotted or surprised.

Most people dive in Lake Plotki for sturgeon. There is a whole bunch of them here, and thanks to the efforts of the diving base Deep Diver They are fed and protected. Fishing is strictly forbidden in the large area from the side of the MOSiR centre and the beach, and the sturgeons know it too. Thanks to this, at feeding time sturgeons sometimes even come between divers, knocking their heads silently calling “move aside, you are lying on my food”.

This is also an opportunity to see the carp up close. Feeding always takes place at the diving platform at a depth of about 5 metres. At this point, it is simply worth spending 20 minutes in one place admiring hundreds of fish from tiny to one and a half metres long and seeing what it is like in a freshwater aquarium. There is also a van wreck nearby, to which a handrail leads. You have to head to the right and swim at a depth of about 7 metres.

There are exercise platforms and, of course, dinosaurs, which are also an attraction.

Wojciech Zgoła
wojtek@dive-adventure.eu

Lake Plocie (Płotki)
Location – the valley of the river Gwda (in the river basin of the rivers: Gwda, Noteć and Warta), eastern outskirts of the town of Piła
Maximum depth – 23,9 m
Length of shoreline – 2960 m
Directions – from the Piła ring road head for Zelgniewo

Base in the area Tourist and Recreation Centre “Płotki”.possibility of accommodation, numerous bars, lifeguards, fenced area with a cycling path