Charente · about 7 km from Angoulême
Font de Lussac
Closed to divers
Diving banned since a prefectoral order of March 2022 (Grand Angoulême's drinking-water catchment); only scientific dives and compulsory fire-brigade training are allowed.
- Max depth197 m
- CertificationFull cave
- SpecialExperienced divers
Diving and fills
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Now at Font de Lussac
What it looks like
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Videos and posts
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Other people's footage, not advice: how someone else dives here says nothing about what suits your team. Dive within your training.
The dive
The water here is ~12 °C, and in 2008 visibility was 1.5–5 m. The Font de Lussac is one of the four Touvre springs, described as France's second-largest karst spring (average ~13 m³/s).
Profile and sections
The water here is ~12 °C, and in 2008 visibility was 1.5–5 m. The Font de Lussac is one of the four Touvre springs, described as France's second-largest karst spring (average ~13 m³/s). It is fed by the La Rochefoucauld karst, through the losses of the Bandiat and Tardoire, and opened during the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
The dive history runs from -70 m before 1974 through -180 m (2004/2005) and -185 m (2006) to almost -200 m in 2017, with 3 h of deco on CCR; earlier deep dives took 6–9 h. In 2008–2009 FFESSM teams placed beacons here to locate sites for drinking-water boreholes.
- Depth and profile
- Pool -4.5 m; shafts (incl. the puits Foucart) lead to a horizontal gallery at ~-75 m and on to -120/-130 m; bottom ~-190 m, max -197 m (Oct 2017). Development ~570 m (as of 2009); joined to the Bouillant at depth by a ~700 m gallery (traverse in 2011, from -115 m).
- Configuration
- Roomy shafts and galleries: every configuration fits, but depth and decompression make this CCR-and-trimix territory. The 2008–2017 explorations used CCR, scooters and a decompression bell at -12 m.
- DPV: DPV possible
- Scooters were used in the horizontal gallery at -75 m and on the 2017 exploration; the link to the Bouillant is ~700 m long. Mind the strong current.
Who can dive where
- At least Full cave
- Configurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR / Small cylinders / no-mount (speleo sumps)
- Goes down to 197 m (trimix or deco may be needed)
- Experienced divers only
This is how the planner decides who in your team may dive this cave. Rules your own trip adds (organizer, a mail, the AI) show with your trip.
How to get there
In the village of Touvre, 6 km east of Angoulême, on the springs trail (no motor vehicles on the site). The springs are Grand Angoulême's drinking-water catchment; diving there has been banned since March 2022 (see the notice).
Around Font de Lussac
FillsNo fill station known nearby
Caves nearby3 within 17 km
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