Are there any treasures beneath the ocean surface?

There are a lot of areas with water in Skyrim, but is there any reason for me to go skinny dipping in the bone chilling water?

Is there any notable treasure (or any other items) or old shipwrecks that I can only find by diving?

Solution 1:

First off, this is what you should expect to find as a reward for underwater exploration. There aren't many underwater enemies, certainly no dangerous ones. Aside from too much water. I haven't explored enough to post a truly definitive answer, but I can think of a few, none of which are like Goldbrand or Fin Gleam. Hopefully there's something more, because this list (and note, it's impossible to be definitive when so much of Skyrim is water) is not very impressive.

The most significant one I've found is the treasure for Treasure Map X, which is in the pond near the Lady Stone.

For something requiring Waterbreathing, there's the Pilgrim's Trench, a ship graveyard with some decent loot.

There is a minor quest in Ivarstead that requires looking underwater, but it's barely waist deep.

There are three underwater chests in Broken Oar Grotto, memorable to me because the Moon Amulet (a minor Radiant Quest) was locked in a Master Chest on the deck of a sunken ship. The same is true in many caves (although usually fewer chests), but nothing major.

There's a notable false positive at Hela's Folly; the item you need for a quest is actually on dry ground near the shipwreck. The ship has a chest or two, though.

As for places that are below sea level but not filled with water, the Wreck of the Winter War contains a skill book and Ilinalta's Deep is related to a Daedric quest.

Solution 2:

In this Dwemer cave, not sure which 1 but it was one of the first ones (if not the first) you enter along the main storyline, in this room with some pathways above a body of water I found an underwater room filled with treasure. Also with the Dawnguard plugin in the Hidden Vale in this cave full of Falmer (river runs along it), at the bottom of this 1 part theres a deep hole of water with a tunnel inside which leads to a chest full of loot. The ship in the Top Voted guy's picture also has about 1000-1500 worth of gems laying on the floor inside if it's the one I think it is in the far northern waters.