Parks do not necessarily have to be based on land. A trip to Austria means you can visit an underwater park. The Underwater Park Gruner See can be found in the town of Tragoess. During the winter months, the park looks like a relatively normal park, where people can walk and sit on the benches and enjoy the views of the lake. However, things start to change in Spring.
During spring, the water from the mountain streams heads down to the lake. This is the melted snow from the nearby mountains. The lake massively swells in size and its volume increases
dramatically. The park is then flooded and is usually accessed by diving enthusiasts. The depth of the lake is around 12 meters in the summer. Everything including the paths, benches and trees are now under the water, which is icy cold even in the summer.
The name of the lake – Gruner See – translates as ‘Green Lake’ in English and the waters are very green, simply because at the bottom of the lake in summer is the grass, trees and bushes. However, if you do not want to get your feet wet then you do not have to. There are some recreation areas which do not flood and from where you can enjoy the views. As the colder months return, the volume of the lake gradually decreases, taking it down to a depth of just 1-2 meters in winter and bringing the paths, trees and benches back up to the surface where they can be enjoyed without diving gear!
It is important that you do not go diving here without the proper gear, thanks to the low temperatures of the water. You can hire diving gear nearby and there are plenty of towns and villages where you can find accommodation.