DiveTripPlanner
Sign in
Gouffre de Poumaysson / Pou-Meyssen

Lot · about 2 km from Rocamadour

Gouffre de Poumaysson / Pou-Meyssen

  • Max depth30 m
  • CertificationIntro to cave (first section)
Add to a trip
Directions

Diving and fills

Dive here with

Do you dive here with guests? Add your centre for free →

Fills nearby

  • The Cave To Be~24 min drive (estimate)Air, nitrox and trimix up to 320 bar (standard 21/35, 18/45, 15/55, 10/50), O₂ up to 220 bar
  • Lot Filling Station (Proteushop)~65 min drive (estimate)Air, nitrox (any %), trimix (incl. 21/35, 18/45, 15/55, 10/70 and custom), O₂ 200/300 bar
All fill stations and places to stay ↓

The dive

According to the FFS sheet there is a 15 m collapse hollow with a funnel; a steep 3 m slope leads to the pool (6×2.5 m, level varies with the season).

Part of Réseau de l'Ouysse. Also in this system: Gouffre de Cabouy, Source de Saint-Sauveur

Profile and sections

According to the FFS sheet there is a 15 m collapse hollow with a funnel; a steep 3 m slope leads to the pool (6×2.5 m, level varies with the season). Underwater a huge boulder chaos fills a chamber of 40–50 × 8–15 m. The passages are 6–8 m wide and 4–8 m high; upstream beyond 650 m they get even bigger (8–14 m wide), with large fallen ceiling blocks. Upstream it is explored to 850 m.

The small entrance pool silts up at once. Visibility in the S1 is usually 2–3 m, good only in summer and early autumn. This is a side entrance to the S1 of the Ouysse, ~800 m from Cabouy: the Pou Meyssen line meets the main line at a T, with arrows to Pou Meyssen and 'Cabouy 800 m'. The line was renewed in 2012–2014. The whole network is ~6.2 km.

Practical: the cave is right next to Cabouy and easy to combine with it.

Source: FFS – Gouffre de Pou Meyssen ↗Source: FFESSM Subaqua – l'Ouysse à neuf ↗Source: Grotto Map – Poumeyssen ↗
Depth and profile
Debris cone to -10 m into a large chamber. Downstream (towards Cabouy): -14 to -20 m, with a 'false air bell' at -5 m at 270–330 m. Upstream: -16 to -20 m, -9 m at 475 m, then -14/-16 m. Closer to Cabouy the S1 drops to ~-30 m
Intro level
Shallow, roomy cave (max ~-21 m): the main line from the entrance, no jumps.
Configuration
All configurations
DPV: DPV possible
Same roomy sump as Cabouy (often scootered), but ~1 km walk-in and a silt-prone entrance shaft
Who can dive where
  • CaveAt least Full cave
  • Cavern zoneCavern zone / easier part: at least Intro to cave
  • Whole caveConfigurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR / Small cylinders / no-mount (speleo sumps)
  • Whole caveGoes down to 30 m (trimix or deco may be needed) · doesn't decide who may dive

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.

Source: FFS – Gouffre de Pou Meyssen ↗Source: FFESSM Subaqua – l'Ouysse à neuf ↗Source: Grotto Map – Poumeyssen ↗
Cave map
⬇ Save
Map: Torsten Schnitter / The Hidden River Project, published with permission. ↗

How to get there

On foot: ~1 km up the path through the dry valley from the Cabouy spring. By car: from Rocamadour take the D32 towards Couzou; 130 m after the Magès junction (2.5 km from Rocamadour) a small, very stony track on the right leads into the dry valley; the shaft is ~1.5 km along, at the foot of the cliff in a recess behind a clump of dogwood.

Plan your route ↗

Around Gouffre de Poumaysson / Pou-Meyssen

Fills2 fill stations · nearest 11 km

  • The Cave To Be

    ~24 min drive (estimate)

    842 rue Émile Zola (D14, Bournazel), 46500 Gramat

    Air, nitrox and trimix up to 320 bar (standard 21/35, 18/45, 15/55, 10/50), O₂ up to 220 bar

    Open year-round (except between the end-of-year holidays), daily 8:30–19:00

    Near Gramat, handy for the sites around Gramat and Padirac. Guided dives in 16 caves of the Lot, at your own certification level (air or nitrox without deco, or one trimix dive with deco). Also courses from cavern to full cave, sidemount, CCR and scooter, rental of overhead gear, a shop and accommodation. Contact: Olivier.

    Website ↗Navigate ↗

  • Lot Filling Station (Proteushop)

    ~65 min drive (estimate)

    180 route de la Tuilerie, 46100 Cambes

    Air, nitrox (any %), trimix (incl. 21/35, 18/45, 15/55, 10/70 and custom), O₂ 200/300 bar

    Daily 9:30–19:30, year-round

    About 20 min from the Ressel. Standard mixes ready to go; order custom blends in advance (WhatsApp). Also a dive shop (Proteushop), rental of scooters, lights and twinsets, and cave training (PSAI/TDI).

    Website ↗Navigate ↗
Where to sleepAround Rocamadour on Booking.com ↗

The links to Booking.com are affiliate links: if you book through one, DiveTripPlanner earns a small commission. You pay the same.

Other sites6 within 8 km

News

All (1)

Nearby

Articles about cave diving that name a place within 25 km of this site, but no cave by name. They're not necessarily about this site.

Access and rules change: check what applies locally right before your trip. Source: GDELT Project and the news feeds of diving magazines. Search for more news ↗ Searched automatically, last on 11 Nov 2026.

More of the latest in Lot (France): conditions, closures and news →

Going to the Lot with your team?

Marcel finds the sites that match your team's certifications.

Plan a trip
Something wrong, or do you know more?Depth, access, parking, the current situation: let us know.
Sources, sharing and disclaimer

Sources

Source: FFS – Gouffre de Pou Meyssen ↗Source: FFESSM Subaqua – l'Ouysse à neuf ↗Source: Grotto Map – Poumeyssen ↗
Cave Diving Guide Lot (Stefan Schiemann), p. 70 ↗

Current conditions

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

Share

Link to this page

Put this cave on your own site

Paste the code into an HTML block on your website. The block stays up to date by itself and sets no cookies.

Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training. Based on personal notes; page numbers refer to Stefan Schiemann's Cave Diving Guide. Certification requirements are estimates — no substitute for local knowledge. Drive times: from Marcilhac taken from the guide, elsewhere calculated by road (OSRM, OpenStreetMap). The Doux de Coly and six springs that are closed to divers come from public sources (plongeesout/FFS, the CDS46 list of springs with access rules, Sept 2026). The pins of 14 of the 16 sites listed by The Cave To Be (Gramat) on its website come from there (Oct 2026); the Pou-Meyssen pin comes from The Hidden River Project, and the Marchepied pin was checked and kept. Access, sumps, history and hazards of many sites were added in November 2026 from public sources: the FFS site sheets (plongeesout), Spelunca, FFESSM magazines, the CDS46 and Grotto Map; the pins of Meyraguet, Goul Naou and the Oeil de la Doue come from the FFS. In November 2026 the CDS du Lot named by e-mail the 16 springs that divers may visit; the other springs in the Lot are marked closed.