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Roussillon and Aude · about 20 km from Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet

Barrenc de la Mousque d'Aze

  • Max depth52 m
  • CertificationFull cave
  • SpecialSidemount
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Diving and fills

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Fills nearby

  • Fill stationCAP Port-Vendres (Centre d'Activité Plongée)~73 min drive (estimate)Air, nitrox 32/40/50, oxygen, trimix; up to 300 bar (surcharge above 230 bar); CCR fill packageRoute ↗
  • Fill stationCAP Port-Vendres (Centre d'Activité Plongée)~73 min drive (estimate)Air, nitrox 32/40/50, oxygen, trimix and CCR fills up to 300 bar (surcharge above 230 bar); custom blends too (O₂ and helium per m³)Route ↗
  • Fill stationPlongée Bleue (Banyuls-sur-Mer)~79 min drive (estimate)Air, nitrox (membrane) and oxygen (B50 cylinders, booster for CCR) up to 300 bar; trimix not listed — askRoute ↗
All fill stations and places to stay ↓

The dive

An underground stream with five sumps in the Corbières. Between S1 and S2 runs a 3 x 3 m round gallery with a large lake and a waterfall. There is strong current in the deep gallery of S3.

Bad air: the dry passages between S3 and S4 are slightly 'gassed' and caused breathing trouble. Breathe your own gas there.
Source: plongeesout (FFS), Barrenc de la Mousque d'Aze ↗
S5 is permanently turbid: you dive blind to -15 m.
Source: plongeesout (FFS), Barrenc de la Mousque d'Aze ↗
The deep side gallery of S3 goes to -52 m, with a squeeze at -30 m: plan your gas and your turn point for that, or skip it.
Source: plongeesout (FFS), Barrenc de la Mousque d'Aze ↗
Profile and sections

An underground stream with five sumps in the Corbières. Between S1 and S2 runs a 3 x 3 m round gallery with a large lake and a waterfall. There is strong current in the deep gallery of S3. After S4 come a 4 x 5 m gallery and 235 m of rough going with cascades. Water temperature is not published.

The first dive was in 1971; the stream was systematically explored in 1980–1995 (last survey 1995).

Depth and profile
S1 260 m / -19 · S2 70 m / -17 · S3 62 m / -15 (deep side gallery to -48/-52 m, squeeze at -30) · S4 106 m / -11 · S5 58 m / -41 (turbid); 945 m of passage, 74 m vertical range (-49/+25)
Configuration
Sidemount with small cylinders; the squeeze at -30 in the deep gallery only goes with cylinders unclipped or side-slung. Between the sumps: climbs, a 12 m rope pitch and a 12 m descent into S5.
DPV: Not DPV-suitable (estimate)
Sumps separated by climbs and pitches: no scooter (estimate).
Who can dive where
  • CaveAt least Full cave
  • Whole caveConfigurations: Sidemount / CCR / Small cylinders / no-mount (speleo sumps)
  • Whole caveGoes down to 52 m (trimix or deco may be needed) · doesn't decide who may dive
  • Whole caveRopework (SRT) needed
  • Whole caveExperienced divers only · doesn't decide who may dive
RopeworkDry sections / haulingExperienced diversDepends on water level or swellPermission needed

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.

Cave map

How to get there

From Paziols follow vineyard tracks east, cross the Tarrassac stream and take a path down to the right to a ruined farm (parking). Walk to a cliff and down into a gully. Inside, a 10 m boulder slope leads to the small pool of S1; beyond S4 you need rope. Private land within hunting grounds: ask permission and respect the hunting season.

Plan your route ↗

Around Barrenc de la Mousque d'Aze

Fills3 fill stations · nearest 48 km

  • CAP Port-Vendres (Centre d'Activité Plongée)

    ~73 min drive (estimate)

    Anse Gerbal (ancienne criée), 66660 Port-Vendres

    Air, nitrox 32/40/50, oxygen, trimix; up to 300 bar (surcharge above 230 bar); CCR fill package

    Not listed — ask

    Dive centre at Port-Vendres harbour (Côte Vermeille); also fills walk-in customers' cylinders. Far from Ganges (~2 h 45, estimate). Sofnolime: ask.

    Website ↗Navigate ↗

  • CAP Port-Vendres (Centre d'Activité Plongée)

    ~73 min drive (estimate)

    Anse Gerbal (ancienne criée), 66660 Port-Vendres

    Air, nitrox 32/40/50, oxygen, trimix and CCR fills up to 300 bar (surcharge above 230 bar); custom blends too (O₂ and helium per m³)

    Not listed — ask

    Dive centre at Port-Vendres harbour (Côte Vermeille). Also fills cylinders for visitors who do not dive with the centre; CCR fill package for 1.5–3 l cylinders. Website prices include helium €90/m³ and O₂ €40/m³. ~1 h 20 from Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet and ~35 min from Perpignan (estimates). Sorb (sofnolime): ask.

    Website ↗Navigate ↗

  • Plongée Bleue (Banyuls-sur-Mer)

    ~79 min drive (estimate)

    Port de plaisance, 10 quai George Petit, 66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer

    Air, nitrox (membrane) and oxygen (B50 cylinders, booster for CCR) up to 300 bar; trimix not listed — ask

    Not listed — ask

    Dive centre with two compressors (58 m³/h) and eight 80 l buffer tanks; runs rebreather courses. Whether walk-in fills for visitors are possible is not stated on the site — ask. ~1 h 30 from Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet (estimate).

    Website ↗Navigate ↗
Where to sleepAround Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet on Booking.com ↗

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Caves nearby6 within 42 km

News

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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 13 Nov 2026.

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Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training. Compiled from web research (the FFS plongeesout.ffspeleo.fr site pages per département and accident list, FFESSM Occitanie Pyrénées Méditerranée reports 2011–2026, Wikipedia, Grottomap, Made in Perpignan, Francis Le Guen's blog, club reports by the Entente Spéléologique du Roussillon and Les Trogloxènes, Agence de l'eau Rhône-Méditerranée, Côte Indigo, Spéléo Secours Français, Medsubhyp, sante.fr and dive-centre websites; Sept 2026). Pins from plongeesout (GPS, checked against converted Lambert coordinates) and Grottomap; ~ = estimate (drive times too). Most site data are old (1970–2008). Rules change — check locally.