Introduction

This guide came about following my first visit to the region and the fact that no English guide to the area existed. The guide is not intended to be a blow by blow description covering each rock and twist of submerged passage, but a guide to the location of the cave and a general idea of the sumps - number, length, maximum depth etc. I have mainly covered te large sites with good access and large underwater passage although I have included a few smaller sites as well as a few dry caves . I make no excuse for the tourist slant to the guide. The Lot/Dordogne is one of the best cave diving areas in the world and has diving to meet all tastes. This does not mean that UK divers cannot push sumps in the area (and some have done so with spectacular results) but this is usually done in co-operation with French divers - it is their country after all. Any line junctions, lines etc. mentioned can not be guaranteed to be there. As a rule back mounts can be used in all the sumps described without any problems. In most sites 10 litre cylinders are the smallest it's worth taking and in most cases the larger the better (twin 12 litres being a good start). It is also useful to take your own compressor with you. A range of the Series Bleue maps is also useful to have at 1cm to 250 m as a lot of the sites are marked on them. Finally, if I have missed out your favourite site I am sorry.