Baikal liveboard :: Diving and rest at Baikal

Lake Baikal is often called a sea, and since it is considered a sea and there is diving activity in the area, it is meant to be to hold diving safaris. Club “BaikalTek” speacilizes in organizaing diving safary. Nobody knows Baikal’s dive-sites better than us. We also know all the peculiarities pertaining to diving at Baikal, because we have been diving here methodically and for a long time (the first diving safari was held in 1988). Moreover we offer lots of choices.

The Fleet: Safari Ships

1. Valery

Length – 27 m
Width – 7m
8 rooms to fit up to 16 people, each room has a sink
2 Toilets
2 Showers
Sauna
Common room
Sun-deck
Motor boat “Progress with “Mercury 30”
Generators for 50 kW and 25 kW
Full navigation package (echolot, GPS, radar)
Motor 250 l/s
Compressor “Poseidon” 200 l/min
Double-manifold tanks for 12 l and 15 l

2. Myth

Length – 21 m
Width – 4 m
5 rooms to fit up to 10 people
2 Toilets
2 Showers
Common room
Sun-deck
2 rubber boats with “Mercury 10”
Generators for 25 kW
Full navigation package (echolot, GPS, radar)
Motor 250 l/s
Compressor “Poseidon” 200 l/min
Double-manifold tanks for 12 l and 15 l

3. Mars

Length – 15 m
Width – 4.5 m
1 rooms for 4 people, 1 room for 2 people
2 Toilets
2 Showers
Generators for 20 kW
Full navigation package
Motor 150 l/s
Compressor “Poseidon” 200 l/min
Double-manifold tanks for 12 l and 15 l

The most popular safari duration is one week – below is the sample schedule of a very popular route around Olkhon Isle.

Safari ‘Olkhon’

Day 1

We will greet you once you arrive in Irkutsk and take you to our dive-center to lease equipment, if necessary, and then head straight to village Listvjanka (about 60km away from dive-center), where the ship is. Once we board the ship, we’ll have breakfast and start of our journey!
1pm – first dive of the day is at “Chernaja Rechka” where there is a series of canyons, an underwater wall and sponge
2:30pm – lunch
5pm – second dive of the day is at “Sennaja” – underwater wall, canyon, tunnel, sponge
7pm – dinner
7pm-10pm – night shift to Olkhon

Day 2

8am – breakfast
10am – first dive of the day at the left-end of “Uhan-Zjun-Kugun” – ledged slope, sponge, grayling (kharius)
1pm – lunch
4pm - second dive of the day at the right-end of “Uhan-Zjun-Kugun” – ledged slope, ‘Finger Rock” ( large detached reef), grayling (kharius)
7pm – dive at “Otstojnyj Beach” – sand-stone slope, sponge
8:30pm – dinner
The night stay is at Otstojnyj Beach with a Bonfire.

Day 3

8am – breakfast
10am - first dive at the left-end of “Burun-Bude” – canyon, grotto, underwater wall, sponge, grayling
1pm – lunch
4pm - second dive at the right-end of “Burun-Bude” – canyon, ledged slope, sponge, grayling
7pm – another dive, location TBD
The night stay is at Otstojnyj Beach with a Bonfire and barbecue (“grilled” grayling, shashlyki).

Day 4

8am – breakfast
10am – first five at cape “Izhimej” (which is located near the highest mountain on Olkhon and deepest point of Baikal) – canyon, tremendous underwater wall, sponge
12pm – lunch
3pm – dive at cape “Khoboj” (northern point of the island – safari turns around here and we head south through Maloe More) – this is Didier Nuaro’s (former Cousteau team’s cameraman) favorite diving spot – canyon, sponge, large rocks, caves.
6pm – dive at “Shamanka” – a rock where god of Baikal’s, Burkhan, is believed to live - sandy bottom, large boulders, sponge
7pm – 8 pm - tour of the village Khuzhir and to the rock Burkhan - the symbol of the Baikal
8:30pm – dinner
8pm -10pm – night shift to Bolshie Koty

Day 5

8am – breakfast
10 am – dive at “Tchajachij (Devil’s Bridge)” – underwater wall, unusual geological structure of the shelf and walll, a grotto, sponge.
11am -1pm – tour of the village Bolshie Koty, visit to the museum of biology.
1pm – lunch
4pm – dive at “Skripper” – ledged wall, canyon crack, detached rock towers, grotto, sponge
7pm – dive “Sennaja” – underwater wall, canyon, tunnel, sponge
8:30pm – dinner
Night stay north of Bolshie Koty village.

Day 6

8am – breakfast
10am – dive at “Sennaja” – underwater wall and caves, sunken anchor, sponge
1pm – lunch
5pm – dive at “Tolstyj Canyon”
5:30pm – 6:30pm – a tour around old railway
7pm – dive at “Baranchiki” – wall and grotto
8:30 pm – dinner
Stay at Baranchiki, Banya (Russian Sauna)

Day 7

8am – breakfast
10am – dive at “Wall Katorzhanka” – wall, remains of a train car, grayling
11am – 1pm – tour around old railway
1pm – lunch
3pm – 5pm – tour to limnological museum and around Listvjanka
5:30pm – dive at “Krestovka” – canyons, grottos, wrecked docks, gun, gammarus and pike fish.
8pm – “Good-bye” supper
Night stay is aboard the ship or for extra charge in the hotel in Listvjanka or Irkutsk. Next morning we provide shuttle to the airport.

Safari Seasons

Spring

This season totally depends on the time of ice melting (May, 15 - May, 25 or May, 20 - May, 30).

Only one safari, "Chasing the ice", can be held in this period. Once the spring thaw has melted the ice enough, you can take a ship into Lake Baikal. Often you can see the Lake Baikal seal, called the "Nerpa". During this time the Nerpa becomes calm and will let people to come very close. Video and photos of Nerpa above the surface is guaranteed, also there is an opportunity to meet Nerpa underwater. This safari will last at lease 10 days.
Diving off of a ship along the western shore of Baikal are offered.
During the safari you can watch floating ice, snow in taiga, patches of land without snow, and White Mountains.
Water temperature is about +1°C ... +2°C.
Air temperature is from -5°C ... +20°C.
Larger, warmer ships of the PTS type are recommended.

First half of summer

It's summer, but water is still pretty cold; it's about +1°C ... +3°C in June and +4°C ... +7°C in July. The water is clear and visibility is great. Visibility can reach up to 40-50 meters. Actually Baikal's clear water can be compared with the Sargasso Sea - the clearest sea of the world. This time is perfect for deepwater diving; you won't need lantern up to the 100 m depth, or even more. Night diving is not practical because darkness fall around midnight, when it's time to sleep.
There is a variety of Baikal nature - bright green grass of taiga, plenty of field flowers, and in bright sunlight you can see marvelous snow covered mountains. Winds are usually calm at this time, and there is very little chance that bad weather that could change your safaris route.
Air temperature is about +10°C ... +35°C.

Second half of summer

That is real summer with warm nights. You can sleep outside without a sleeping bag. Warm north-western air from the shore will keep you warm. The water is also warmer, surface temperature is about +18°C, and about +24°C in the gulfs.
Diving conditions are more comfortable than in the beginning of a summer - it's much warmer. If you do one diving a day, you can use wet suits, but it's tough to make a series of dives in wet suit. The water temperature is +8°C ... +12°C. The warm water layer can reach down to about 50 m, but usually it's about 20 m. In this layer visibility falls down to 10 m, and in exception cases, when water is very-very warm, visibility could be 1-2 meters. In the deeper warm water layer, visibility increases, but the water becomes darker. This dark water will be at about +4°C. On dives deeper than 45 m you probably will need a lantern, and you will certainly need a powerful lantern for Trimix dives.
Air temperature is +15°C ... +35°C.

Beginning of the fall

Diving conditions are the same as in the beginning of the summer, but it's getting cooler outside cause of the fall.
Night dives are getting available. It's already dark at 8 p.m... Baikal underwater life is different at night. The animals which are invisible during the day time are getting out. Often you can catch a fish called Harius will only your hands. Some times the lake's bottom is filled with a unique Baikal fish called Bulls.
The Taiga is abundant with evergreen pines, spruce trees, with their leaves changing to a beautiful orange and yellow. It is beautiful time! It's a great time to go into the woods to pick up berries and mushrooms. It's also a very good time to fish. There are plenty of cedars on the north shore of Lake Baikal, you can try cedar nuts. Travel prices, as usual, are going down and with conditions close to summer; you can enjoy a safari for less money.
Air temperature is about +5°C ... +25°C.

Fall

It's a gorgeous time! Brightest colors of the changing season: orange, red, yellow and white spots of first snow and totally white tops of the mountains. Dark-blue, almost black Lake Baikal and lead colored sky. It's a favorite time for photographers.
Diving conditions are almost the same as in the previous season, but with a hard north-western wind, which picks up the cold water from the bottom, visibility is getting much better, again 40-50 m. When the weather is calm water becomes warmer and visibility decreases up to 15 m. This decrease happens due to the thermal action of water layers.
At the end of October it's better to choose larger ships for your trip. They are warmer and more comfortable.
Air temperature is -5°C ... +15°C.
Water temperature is +5°C ... +10°C.

Winter

Yes! Diving safaris aboard ship are available even in winter, but only for extreme divers. If your willing you can even celebrate New Year aboard the ship. As a rule, Baikal freezes at the beginning of January. In December, perhaps, it's the best visibility. Water, ship, and a winter all around you!
It's a good time for techno diving. It's better to do only one dive a day. The visibility is also great on 100 m depth. The travel prices are also low. This is quite important for rather expensive techno dives.
In this season you can travel on PTS type ships and several "Yaroslavec" type. But it is impossible to make a cruise on "Yaroslavec" as there is no place to dry equipment and the ship is not warm enough itself.
Air temperature is -10°C ... -35°C.
Water temperature is +1°C ... +4°C.