Do not penetrate independently without cave-specific certification appropriate to the route, gas, depth, configuration, navigation, restrictions, and decompression.
Obtain current local information on rainfall, river level, flow, entrance visibility, access, guideline status, and recent incidents.
Use fully redundant life-support, lighting, navigation, and cutting systems within the team's training.
Establish an explicit gas, lost-line, lost-diver, separation, equipment-failure, decompression, thermal, and abort plan before entering.
Leave a surface contact with exact coordinates, diver names, vehicle details, planned site and route, breathing gases, expected exit, overdue trigger, and emergency numbers.
Carry surface oxygen and first-aid resources when the trained team and risk assessment require them.
Never allow a booking, travel distance, social pressure, or a famous-site objective to overrule conditions or readiness.

Call 112 or SAMU 15 first for a life-threatening event, provide precise coordinates, and state that the incident involves cave or diving exposure. Contact DAN Europe as soon as practical for diving-medicine advice and facility coordination. No local hyperbaric chamber was verified in the reviewed destination sources, so do not self-drive toward an assumed chamber. Follow emergency-service and diving-physician direction. Cahors and Figeac are key public hospital centers, but cave extraction, stabilization, and recompression routing may involve regional resources. Keep European Health Insurance Card details where eligible, insurance documents, emergency contacts, gas records, and dive-computer data accessible at the surface.

Do not penetrate independently without cave-specific certification appropriate to the route, gas, depth, configuration, navigation, restrictions, and decompression.
Obtain current local information on rainfall, river level, flow, entrance visibility, access, guideline status, and recent incidents.
Use fully redundant life-support, lighting, navigation, and cutting systems within the team's training.
Establish an explicit gas, lost-line, lost-diver, separation, equipment-failure, decompression, thermal, and abort plan before entering.
Leave a surface contact with exact coordinates, diver names, vehicle details, planned site and route, breathing gases, expected exit, overdue trigger, and emergency numbers.
Carry surface oxygen and first-aid resources when the trained team and risk assessment require them.
Never allow a booking, travel distance, social pressure, or a famous-site objective to overrule conditions or readiness.

There is no direct ascent from a cave passage. Open-water certification alone does not authorize independent penetration, and a local map or permanent line does not replace cave-specific training.

Rain can raise river and karst flow after a delay, producing strong outflow, poor visibility, flooded approaches, or inaccessible pools. Check forecasts, Vigicrues, and local reports before every dive.

Water stays roughly 12°C to 14°C even in summer. Long runtimes, decompression, equipment problems, and repeated days can compound cooling.

Visibility may exceed 20 m, but river mixing, floodwater, percolation, team technique, restrictions, or contact with sediment can reduce it rapidly.

Follow the French Federation of Speleology practitioner charter and any site-specific access agreement.
Park only in designated places, keep farm and emergency routes open, close gates, and do not damage fences or paths.
Protect visibility and cave surfaces with precise buoyancy, trim, and low-impact propulsion.
Do not remove, relocate, add, or cut permanent line except within an authorized maintenance or safety project.
Do not touch formations, disturb fauna, leave cookies or hardware unnecessarily, or abandon batteries, line, tape, sorb, food, or other waste.
Clean and manage equipment to avoid introducing contaminants into karst water.
Share condition and hazard reports responsibly with local operators and access groups.

Contact	Role	Phone	Availability
European Emergency Number	All life-threatening emergencies and rescue activation	112	24/7
SAMU	French medical emergency and dispatch	15	24/7
Fire and Rescue	Fire service and rescue response	18	24/7
DAN Europe International Emergency Hotline	Diving-medicine consultation and emergency coordination	+39 06 4211 5685	24/7
Centre Hospitalier de Cahors	Regional public hospital with a 24-hour emergency department; call 15 first for emergencies	+33 5 65 20 50 50	Emergency department 24/7

Lot Cave Country (Cajarc and Gramat)

Safety And Conservation

Top Risks

Dive safety

Safety And Conservation

Top Risks

Dive safety

Snorkel and freedive safety

Wildlife and protected areas

Emergency contacts