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Charente, France

11 springs · down to 197 m · 1 suitable for an intro team

Cave diving in the Charente

  • Springs11
  • Max depth197 m
  • For intro teams1
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Why come here

Around Angoulême and in the neighbouring départements lie karst springs and underground rivers, from the 700 m sump of the Sources du Cros to the deep Grand Souci (-184 m) in the north of the Dordogne and the flooded limestone mine of Le Paradis Blanc. Everything calls for full cave certification; the small springs and rivers in the Deux-Sèvres are only feasible at low water, and you need a drysuit. The well-known Touvre springs are a drinking-water catchment, and diving there has been banned since March 2022. Several of the other springs need permission from the commune or the water syndicate, and no public fill station for trimix or oxygen was found: bring your own gas.

Don't miss

  • Le Grand Souci: a deep shaft where the flow comes in around -150 m, in a void the explorers describe as larger than a football pitch.
  • Le Paradis Blanc (Saint-Même-les-Carrières): a flooded limestone mine with clear water, visibility of 25 m and more, and cables, winches and a steel gate still lying underwater.
  • Sources du Cros: a sump that was extended by 470 m in 1984, to 700 m from the entrance.

On a rest day

  • Angoulême old town: Walk the ramparts above the Charente, past comic-strip murals and the sculpted façade of Saint-Pierre cathedral.
  • Château de La Rochefoucauld: The castle on the rock above the Tardoire, with a courtyard of Italian-style galleries and a monumental Renaissance staircase.
  • Touvre springs: A trail of about 4 km past the Touvre springs, including the Bouillant and the Dormant, seen from above this time.

All 11 springs

Configuration
My certification
Kind

3 closed not shown ·

SiteMax depth
Fontaine BouillonnantePermission neededSmall cylinders / no-mount · Full cave–
Source captée de Gros RocPermission neededSmall cylinders / no-mount · Full cave5.5 m
Font CreusePermission neededSmall cylinders / no-mount · Full cave–
Résurgence de la GlanePermission neededSidemount · Full cave30 m
Le Grand SouciPermission neededBackmount · Full cave184 m
Le Paradis Blanc (Saint-Même-les-Carrières)Entry or dive feeBackmount · Intro to cave (first section)25 m
Rivière souterraine de Saint-Christophe-sur-RocPermission neededSidemount · Full cave–
Sources du CrosPermission neededBackmount · Full cave8 m

Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training.

Map

Cave Closed

Where to stay

Find a place near Angoulême, La Rochefoucauld-en-Angoumois, Niort, Saint-Maixent-l'École, Périgueux

Villages that work well as a base for the caves in this region. Find a place for your team:

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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 (MedSubHyp, as of January 2023): CHU de Bordeaux, Hôpital Pellegrin, place Amélie Raba-Léon, 33076 Bordeaux (~1 h 30 from Angoulême, ~1 h 45 from Périgueux): tel. +33 5 56 79 49 24, medical secretariat +33 5 56 79 55 17, intensive care +33 5 56 79 49 04; Mon–Fri 7:45–16:00, 24/7 on-call outside those hours; two treatment chambers. CHU d'Angers, 4 rue Larrey, 49933 Angers (~2 h from Niort): +33 2 41 35 45 80 or +33 2 41 35 38 71; Mon–Fri 8:30–18:30, 24/7 emergencies outside those hours via +33 2 41 35 36 54. The SAMU (15/112) decides where you go.

Access and rules

  • Access: the Touvre springs (Font de Lussac, Bouillant, Dormant) are Grand Angoulême's drinking-water catchment. Since a prefectoral order of March 2022 diving there is banned, except for scientific dives and compulsory fire-brigade training (Grand Angoulême, 2026). Saint-Christophe-sur-Roc, Font Creuse and the Fontaine Bouillonnante (Deux-Sèvres) are not freely accessible: diving only with the agreement of the owner (the commune); contact through CDS 79. Gros Roc: permission from the RESE water syndicate through CDS 17. The Glane has been a drinking-water catchment since 1959–1960. For the other springs no rules are published: ask the landowner or the mairie.

Gas and fills

  • Gas: no public fill station with trimix or oxygen found in the Charente, the Deux-Sèvres or the north of the Dordogne. Bring your own gas, booster and CCR absorbent, or ask the local FFESSM clubs. The nearest known cave-diving fill stations are in the Lot (Gramat, Cambes), ~3 h from Angoulême.

Water and season

  • Water and season: the Touvre springs are ~12 °C and discharge ~13 m³/s on average (monthly means from 7 m³/s in September to 17.6 m³/s in February): strong current and 1.5–5 m visibility (2008); in 2006–2008 the Bouillant was too strong to dive. The small springs and underground rivers in the Deux-Sèvres are only feasible at low water. Bring a drysuit.

Rest day

  • Non-diving day: the trail past the four Touvre springs (no motor vehicles on the site); the Fosse Mobile near Agris, a ~8 km dry cave with the largest chamber in the Charente (gated; key from the Le Celtix bar in Pont d'Agris or from the La Rochefoucauld caving club); the Deux-Sèvres underground rivers for FFS members via CDS 79 (Champdeniers closed 1 November to 31 March for the bats).

Good to know

  • Clubs: in France cave diving falls under the FFS (École Française de Plongée Souterraine) and the FFESSM (cave-diving commission). Locally: Speleo Libre Charentais (FFESSM club in Chazelles: cave diving, nitrox, trimix, rebreather), the cave-diving commission of GESMA in Angoulême (Touvre exploration in 2018), and in the Deux-Sèvres the Spit Club Saint-Maixentais and CDS 79.

News

No recent news found about the caves in this region.

Searched automatically, last on 13 Nov 2026.

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Sources, sharing and disclaimer

Current conditions

Visibility, flow and water levels change quickly. Right before your dive, check what other divers report:

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Compiled from public sources: plongeesout (FFS), Wikipedia, the FFS congress page on the Touvre (2009), FFESSM Subaqua (2018), the Spit Club Saint-Maixentais, CDS 79, BRGM (1974), the communes of Touvre and Magnac-sur-Touvre, Rivières de l'Angoumois, ABIMES, GESMA, the La Rochefoucauld caving club (ARSR), the FFESSM Nouvelle-Aquitaine club directory and MedSubHyp (September 2026), and for Le Paradis Blanc Divernet (2016), Aquatek and the Charente prefecture (Oct 2026). Much of the dive data is old (1951–2019) or comes from a single club report. Pins only from published coordinates (Gros Roc); the Touvre springs and the Sources du Cros from OpenStreetMap; the three Deux-Sèvres sites approximately at the centre of their commune (CDS 79, message, Oct 2026); the Glane from Grottocenter; one spring and Le Paradis Blanc have no pin yet. ~ = estimate. Rules change — check locally.