12 sites · down to 315 m · 8 suitable for an intro team
Cave diving in Provence
- Sites12
- Max depth315 m
- Water temperature13–24 °C
- Dive centres4
Diving and fills
Dive here with
Fills nearby
- Fill stationCassis Calanques PlongéeNitrox and trimix (tech and CCR courses); which gases visitors can have filled, and to what pressure: askRoute ↗
- Fill stationKraken Plongée (La Ciotat)Air, nitrox, oxygen and helium; fills at 230 and 300 barRoute ↗
- Fill stationPlongée Tek MarseilleFills diluent (air, trimix) and O₂ for its own CCR and trimix students; fills for visitors: askRoute ↗
Why come here
Around Cassis you dive two worlds: the submarine karst rivers of Port-Miou and the Bestouan, and the sea caves of the Calanques, around Riou and Maïre and at La Ciotat. That gives every level something to do, from bright coral caves for open water divers through cavern and intro-to-cave to full cave dives in brackish spring water with a halocline and a clay floor. The sea is ~14 °C early in the season and ~24 °C in midsummer, the spring water 15–16 °C, and the season runs from June to October. Port-Miou is reserved for research and exploration and needs permission in advance, the Bestouan can't be dived in an easterly wind, and the Cosquer cave and the Fontaine de Vaucluse are closed to divers.
Don't miss
- Grotte à Corail (Île Maïre): a bright cave where daylight falls through a collapsed ceiling, with red coral overhead, yellow gorgonians, conger eels and groupers.
- Grotte des 3 Pépés (3PP): a dark cave without current where cold winter water stays trapped in the deepest part, home to rare sponges such as the carnivorous Asbestopluma hypogea.
- Source du Bestouan: a submarine karst river on the west side of Cassis harbour, with a fixed line over at least the first ~150 m.
- Exsurgence de Port-Miou: Cassis's largest submarine spring, with brackish water at ~16 °C and a passage that drops through a shaft beyond the dam to -233 m.
On a rest day
- Calanque d'En-Vau: Hike from Cassis past Port-Pin to the narrow inlet of En-Vau between white limestone cliffs.
- Route des Crêtes: The road over the cliffs of Cap Canaille between Cassis and La Ciotat, with views out to sea.
- Cosquer Méditerranée: A replica in Marseille of the Cosquer cave, with the prehistoric paintings of the cave that lies under the sea and is closed.
All 12 sites
2 closed not shown ·
| Site | Max depth | Type | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grotte à corail (Castel Vieil)Backmount · Open water / no overhead | 24 m | Backmount | Open water / no overhead |
| Grotte à Corail (Île Maïre)Backmount · Open water / no overhead | 25 m | Backmount | Open water / no overhead |
| Grotte à corail de Riou (Impériaux)Not known yet · Cavern | 45 m | Not known yet | Cavern |
| Grotte à PérèsBackmount · Open water / no overhead | 25 m | Backmount | Open water / no overhead |
| Grotte de GaméouNot known yet · Cavern | – | Not known yet | Cavern |
| Grotte des 3 Pépés (3PP)Not known yet · Intro to cave | 28 m | Not known yet | Intro to cave |
| Source du BestouanSidemount · Full cave | 33 m | Sidemount | Full cave |
| Exsurgence de Port-MiouPermission neededBackmount · Full cave | 233 m | Backmount | Full cave |
| Pointe FauconnièreNot known yet · Open water / no overhead | – | Not known yet | Open water / no overhead |
| Trou du Diable (Anse de Gaméou)Not known yet · Open water / no overhead | 6 m | Not known yet | Open water / no overhead |
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
4 dive centres, fill stations and instructors
Dive centre
Cassis Calanques Plongée
Port de Cassis, 13260 Cassis
- Nitrox and trimix
- CCR, Trimix
- Grotte à corail (Castel Vieil)
Fill station
Kraken Plongée (La Ciotat)
Base nautique, Nouveau Port de Plaisance, Av. du Président Wilson, 13600 La Ciotat
- Air, nitrox, oxygen and helium
The premises on rue Piroddi are temporarily closed; come to the base nautique in the Nouveau Port.
Dive centre
Plongée Tek Marseille
Port de la Pointe Rouge, 13008 Marseille
- Fills diluent and O₂ for its own CCR and trimix students
- CCR, Trimix
- CCR and scooters (ask)
Dive centre
Technical Diving Academy (Salins d'Hyères)
15 place des Pêcheurs, 83400 Salins d'Hyères (Hyères)
- Air, nitrox, trimix, pure O₂ and helium
- CCR
- Seacraft Future and GO scooters
Order: partners first, clearly marked as partner; then dive centres by distance from Cassis 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 Cassis, Marseille, La Ciotat
Villages that work well as a base for the caves in this region. Find a place for your team:
- CassisBooking.com ↗
- MarseilleBooking.com ↗
- La CiotatBooking.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; at sea CROSS MED on 196 or VHF channel 16; DAN Europe +39 06 4211 5685.
- Hyperbaric chambers (24/7 on call): Marseille – AP-HM Hôpital Sainte-Marguerite, hyperbaric medicine, 270 Bd Sainte-Marguerite, 13009 Marseille, chamber +33 4 91 74 49 96. Toulon – HIA Sainte-Anne (SMHEP), 2 Bd Sainte-Anne, 83800 Toulon, +33 4 83 16 21 82. Call 112 or the CROSS first, and DAN.
Access and rules
- Port-Miou: the calanque is a municipal mooring zone of Cassis (harbour office +33 4 42 01 96 24, VHF 9); fishing, spearfishing and anchoring have been banned there since 2004. The river, well and dam are reserved for research and exploration — arrange permission in advance. FFESSM Provence holds supervised discovery days at Port-Miou and the Bestouan (FFESSM licence, level 2, 18+).
- Bestouan: shore dive from Bestouan beach, across a bathing zone and the harbour entrance — take a buoy and watch for boats. With an easterly wind there is swell on the entrance; the FFESSM picks mistral days, when this side is calm.
- Parc national des Calanques (since 2012; Frioul, Riou, Planier and 24 km of calanques): diving is allowed almost everywhere. Diving and anchoring are banned in the archaeological zones 'triangle Cousteau' (near Riou and Plane) and Pointe de la Voile at Cap Morgiou (Cosquer, 500 m radius). No-take zones (~10 % of the marine park, including the eastern half of the Riou archipelago): take nothing. Use the white ecological diver buoys; do not anchor on seagrass or coralligenous reef. In caves: do not let bubbles collect on the ceiling, no fin kicks, take nothing. Landing on Riou only by day, between the Fontagne and Monastério coves.
Gas and fills
- Gas: Technical Diving Academy (Salins d'Hyères) fills air, nitrox, trimix, O₂ and helium. Cassis Calanques Plongée and Plongée Tek Marseille (Pointe Rouge) work with trimix and CCR, Kraken Plongée (La Ciotat) with rEvo CCRs — ask about fills for visitors. CCR and scooter rental: ask.
Water and season
- Season: June–October; water ~14 °C early in the season to ~24 °C in midsummer, visibility up to 25 m; a 7 mm suit with hood is recommended. Below the thermocline it stays cold: at La Ciotat in summer ~23 °C above -17 m and ~13 °C between -18 and -28 m. Spring water: Bestouan ~15 °C, Port-Miou ~16 °C.
Getting around
- Sea caves are dived by boat with a centre from Marseille (Pointe Rouge), Cassis or La Ciotat; the ride to Riou's Impériaux takes ~25–30 min or more.
Rest day
- Rest day: the Cosquer Méditerranée replica in Marseille (open since June 2022) or the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse spring (access path partly closed since March 2024 because of rockfall).
Good to know
- Two kinds of diving: the submarine karst rivers of Cassis (Port-Miou, Bestouan) and sea caves in the Calanques, around Riou and Maïre and at La Ciotat. The Cosquer cave and the Fontaine de Vaucluse are closed to divers.
- Var coast (Toulon, Hyères, the islands): only small, well-lit caves, such as the Grotte Sainte-Marguerite off Le Pradet (-5 to -16 m, from level 1).
News
News articles that mention one of the caves in this region, collected automatically and not checked by us.
- The youth municipal council of Le Thor immersed in the Cosquer Cave in Marseille ↗
- Cosquer Cave: Fireworks cause fire to start on roof of museum ↗
- Cyril Montoya: "The archaeological potential of the Cosquer cave in Marseille seems quite enormous!" ↗
- The truth about the Cosquer cave ↗
Access and rules change: check what applies locally right before your trip. Source: GDELT Project and the news feeds of diving magazines.
Searched automatically, last on 13 Nov 2026.
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