Cave Diving in “The Lot” – France

France’s “The Lot” region wasn’t exactly at the top of my bucket list for cave diving, but when the opportunity arose to join the Gozo Technical Diving team, I gave it serious thought—and decided I shouldn’t miss out!

Many cave divers around the world have explored the caves in this region. While I had initially hoped to visit caves in other parts of the world first, I eventually realized this was a rare chance worth taking.

The caves are located in a relatively remote area of France, making access a bit tricky without your own transport. The easiest option is to rent a car from Toulouse Airport and drive about two hours to Gramat—a small town situated near many of the caves. Since I enjoy driving and have done road trips to France before, I decided to take my own car and drive all the way from Gibraltar. Honestly, it was less hassle than flying: I would have had to drive to Málaga, catch a flight to Paris, get a connecting flight to Toulouse, and then rent a car anyway. Driving also allowed me to bring all my own gear, including sidemount cave scuba tanks, without worrying about airline baggage restrictions. I wasn’t the only one who drove either—some came all the way from the UK and Germany!

I’ve always had mixed feelings about the caves in France. They can be hit or miss due to their nature—many are actually underground rivers that feed into major surface rivers in the Lot area. These underground systems are rain-fed, and their conditions can be wildly unpredictable. There are even two dedicated Facebook groups where local and visiting cave divers post regular updates about conditions.

Too much rain can cause strong currents (or "flow") that make entering a cave either extremely challenging or outright impossible. It also wrecks visibility, as the current stirs up sediment from the cave floor.

Just a few days before my trip, I checked those Facebook pages and saw dire reports: torrential rain for weeks and poor diving conditions throughout the region. I debated whether the long drive would be in vain, but in the end, I decided to take the chance.

Day 1

All caves were deemed undiveable upon arrival, so we spent the first day visiting various sites in hopes of finding one diveable location. We began at the furthest site, Trou Madame. The river level was high and the current strong—off the list. Ressel and Marchepied were also no-goes due to excessive flow.

We finally opted to try Landenouse. The water level was high, and while there was some flow, we had no better options for the day. Visibility was terrible—about 1 to 2 metres at best, with a milky appearance. I did manage a few photos, but the conditions made it difficult to capture the beauty of the cave. Most of the time, all I could see were the fins of the diver in front of me!

Day 2

Some divers in our group had previously dived Font del Truffe and reported it as diveable, so we decided to check it out—though it was over an hour’s drive from our base.

The visibility from the outside looked promising. There was a bit of a restriction at the entrance (a tight squeeze), with some mild flow, but overall conditions were decent. Inside, visibility was 6 to 8 metres—a huge improvement from the day before! I was finally able to take some nice photos.

That afternoon, a few of us made a second dive at Marchepied. Looking back, maybe I should have rested, but I didn’t know if we’d get more diveable days, so I pushed through.

This was the toughest cave dive I’ve ever done. The entrance is a tight restriction that lasts for about 30 metres before the cave opens up. The real challenge was the forceful current pushing out of the cave. These caves are not just lake-fed springs but actual sources for rivers. Imagine trying to swim into a jet of water blasting through a small hole—intense!

Once you commit, there’s no turning back. It's impossible to turn around halfway through the restriction. Heart pounding, CO₂ building up, gripping the walls for support with one hand and carrying my camera rig with the other, I pushed through. Once inside, the current is still present but manageable. The best part? Being blasted out like a rocket on the way back—effortless and exhilarating!

Day 3

The group returned to Landenouse, but I opted to skip the dive and go sightseeing. A wise choice, as I later heard that conditions hadn’t improved much.

Day 4

The group split up today—some went back to Font del Truffe, while others, including me, decided to try Trou Madame again. The water level was still high, but the flow had lessened. However, getting to the cave entrance required some rock climbing due to the high river level!

We used caving bags to carry our sidemount tanks and, with great care, hauled our gear up and down the rocks multiple times. It was exhausting, but totally worth it. Inside, there was no flow, and visibility was excellent—6 to 8 metres. A rewarding dive.

Day 5

 I skipped diving again today due to repeated visits to the same caves.

Day 6

To end the trip, we finally managed to dive Emergence du Ressel—one of the most iconic caves in the region!

It’s an underwater river that feeds the River Célé, and because of the recent severe weather, we’d been waiting over a week for conditions to stabilize. By Day 6, the flow had reduced enough to make diving possible.

There was still a moderate current on the way in, but that meant a smooth, effortless glide on the way back out—a perfect way to finish the trip.

Below are a few links to my cave diving videos in "The Lot" - France: