5 springs · down to 79.5 m
Cave diving in Burgundy
- Springs5
- Max depth79.5 m
- Water temperature11–12 °C
- Dive centres1
Diving and fills
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Fills nearby
- Fill stationAquasub (Ahuy, Dijon)Fills dive cylinders; which gases (nitrox, trimix, O₂) and up to what pressure is not published — ask.Route ↗
Why come here
Northern Burgundy has small karst springs with short, shallow sumps: the Douix in the middle of Châtillon-sur-Seine, the sumps of the Bèze, the blue Creux Bleu and the Trou de Jalleu just across the border in the Haute-Saône. Every cave calls for full cave certification, the water is 11–12 °C and Dijon is the usual base. Access differs per spring: the Douix and the Bèze go through the commune, the Trou de Jalleu is on private land, and diving in the famous Fosse Dionne in Tonnerre has been banned since 1996. The springs react strongly to rain, so plan after a dry spell.
Don't miss
- Source de la Douix: a Vauclusian spring in the middle of the town, with usually clear water at 11–12 °C up to a boulder choke after 180–200 m.
- Source de la Bèze (Grottes de Bèze): one of the major karst springs of France, where a diving team documented a fossil plesiosaur flipper of ~150 million years in 2024.
- Creux Bleu: a blue spring with water at 12 °C, the outlet of what the tourist board calls the largest underground network in Burgundy.
On a rest day
- Fosse Dionne: See the spring in Tonnerre where diving is banned from the edge, with the 1758 wash house built around it.
- Fontenay Abbey: A 12th-century Cistercian abbey near Montbard, on UNESCO's World Heritage list.
- Hospices de Beaune: The medieval Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Beaune, known for its roofs of coloured glazed tiles.
All 5 springs
1 closed not shown ·
| Site | Max depth | Type | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creux BleuPermission neededSmall cylinders / no-mount · Full cave | 10 m | Small cylinders / no-mount | Full cave |
| Source de la Bèze (Grottes de Bèze)Permission neededNot known yet · Full cave | 17 m | Not known yet | Full cave |
| Source de la DouixPermission neededSidemount · Full cave | 17.3 m | Sidemount | Full cave |
| Trou de JalleuPermission neededSidemount · Full cave | 41 m | Sidemount | Full cave |
Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training.
Map
Dive centres and fill stations
1 dive centres, fill stations and instructors
Fill station
Aquasub (Ahuy, Dijon)
7 rue de l'Aqueduc Darcy, 21121 Ahuy
- Fills dive cylinders
- Dive equipment
Order: partners first, clearly marked as partner; then dive centres by distance from Dijon and independent instructors by name. Not a recommendation: check what they offer yourself.
On this list, or should you be? Get a free partner card →Where to stay
Find a place near Dijon, Châtillon-sur-Seine, Langres, Champlitte, Vesoul
Villages that work well as a base for the caves in this region. Find a place for your team:
- DijonBooking.com ↗
- Châtillon-sur-SeineBooking.com ↗
- LangresBooking.com ↗
- ChamplitteBooking.com ↗
- VesoulBooking.com ↗
The links to Booking.com are affiliate links: if you book through one, DiveTripPlanner earns a small commission. You pay the same.
Practical info: rules, fills and emergency numbers
Emergencies
- 112 (or 15 SAMU, 18 fire brigade); say it is a cave-diving accident. DAN Europe: +39 06 4211 5685.
- Hyperbaric chambers: CHRU Jean Minjoz, Service d'Oxygénothérapie Hyperbare, 3 boulevard Fleming, 25000 Besançon (~1 h from Dijon, ~50 min from Vesoul): tel. +33 3 81 66 89 13 or +33 3 81 66 81 66 (ext. 68913); Mon–Fri 8:30–16:30, 24/7 on-call outside those hours; one chamber for one recumbent patient (as of December 2023). Hôpital Édouard Herriot, Centre de Médecine Hyperbare, pavillon N, 5 place d'Arsonval, 69003 Lyon (~2 h from Dijon): tel. +33 4 72 11 00 31, 24/7 on-call. Hôpital Raymond-Poincaré, 104 boulevard Raymond-Poincaré, 92380 Garches (near Paris, ~2.5 h from Tonnerre): emergencies 24/7 +33 7 76 54 29 71. The CHU of Reims (Hôpital Maison Blanche) treats only on working days 8:30–18:00.
Access and rules
- Access: there is no central scheme; it differs per spring. Douix (Châtillon-sur-Seine): through the mairie (in 2009 registration on a waiting list). Grottes de Bèze: managed by the commune of Bèze, diving only with a permit from the mairie (limited because of the drinking-water intake, only at a discharge between 1 and 4 m³/s). Trou de Jalleu (Champlitte): private land, owner's permission. Creux Bleu (Villecomte): no ban known. Fosse Dionne (Tonnerre): diving banned since 1996. Beyond these, no published municipal diving rules are known: ask beforehand.
- Federations and clubs: in France cave diving falls under the FFS (École Française de Plongée Souterraine, with regional correspondents and a course calendar) and the FFESSM (Commission nationale plongée souterraine). Active locally: CDS 21 (Côte-d'Or caving committee), the Spéléo-Club de Dijon and, in the Yonne, the Spéléo-Club de Chablis.
Gas and fills
- Gas: Aquasub in Ahuy (northern edge of Dijon) fills cylinders; which gases and up to what pressure: ask. Trimix, O₂ and helium: bring your own or arrange in advance.
Water and season
- Water and season: 11–12 °C (Douix, Creux Bleu): drysuit. The springs react strongly to rain: Bèze up to 20–25 m³/s, Fosse Dionne up to 3 m³/s. At the Douix the entrance restriction is hard to pass at high water; at the Trou de Jalleu you do not go beyond the entrance shaft in flood, and at low water the visibility there is poor. Plan after a dry spell.
Rest day
- Non-diving day: the Bèze show cave (April–October, on foot and by boat), the Fosse Dionne in Tonnerre (free to visit), the Cirque de la Coquille near Étalante and the 9.5 km walk from the Creux Bleu.
News
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