Vercors · about 7 km from Pont-en-Royans
Grotte de Bournillon
- Max depth85 m
- CertificationFull cave
- Water temperature≈ ~7 °Cestimated, no reports yet
- SpecialSidemount
Diving and fills
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What it looks like
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Videos and posts
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The dive
A big entrance at 418 m. The water is 7 °C; in 2010 visibility was >20 m, but the dark rock swallows the light.
Profile and sections
A big entrance at 418 m. The water is 7 °C; in 2010 visibility was >20 m, but the dark rock swallows the light.
Bournillon is the overflow of the Arbois springs in the Luire–Arbois–Bournillon system: mean 3.8 m³/s, up to 80 m³/s, and it feeds a hydroelectric plant. In 1985 an exceptional drought gave 1,600 m of new passages.
- Depth and profile
- Siphon Beta 500 m / -36 · Siphon Alpha 543 m / -85 (Wikipedia). In 2010: Beta 100 m / -12, 15 m of air, then on to ~380 m and -27 m (restriction 1 × 2 m). Cave length 7,886 m.
- Configuration
- Everything has to be carried through the labyrinth: small cylinders or sidemount. Beta has galleries 15 m high and wide, but also restrictions. CCR: possible with a small, portable unit (estimate).
- DPV: DPV possible (estimate)
- A small scooter could work in Beta's big galleries, but with the carry through the labyrinth and the restrictions the gain is small.
Who can dive where
- At least Full cave
- Configurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR / Small cylinders / no-mount (speleo sumps)
- Goes down to 85 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
Park at the hydroelectric plant ('la centrale'), then through the big entrance and the 'labyrinth' to the sumps (under 1 h 15 min in 2010, with a team of 10–15 porters). Only reachable after a long drought: a few millimetres of extra water turn the approach into a 30 m sump.
Around Grotte de Bournillon
FillsNo fill station known nearby
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Caves nearby5 within 39 km
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