Dennis Bakhuis

Dive site · cave · The Quercy causses

🇫🇷 Émergence du Ressel

Marcilhac-sur-Célé, Lot, France · part of Réseau Gramat-Sud

The most-dived cave in the log outside Mexico, and one of the great exploration caves of Europe — a window into a flooded network draining 330 km² of the Causse de Gramat.

Dives here
25
Deepest
32.6 m
Water
fresh
First · last
2018 · 2024
Getting in
Roadside on D 41. (44.5622, 1.7723)
Also known as
Emergence du Ressel

Revision 1 · changed 10 Oct 2026

History
  1. r1 10 Oct 2026 Imported from the personal log · Dennis Bakhuis

Site data © divelog-sites contributors (ODbL), descriptions and maps CC BY-SA 4.0 · 53edcaf

1 map

CéléRessel↓8 mGalerie des blocs↓6 m↓11 m180 m↓7 mFaillePassage supérieur↓10 m↓10 mPassage inférieur↓16 mCloche 255 m↓18 mPuits 1Puits 2 358 m↓23 mPuits 3↓31 mPuits 4↓46 m↓50 m↓53 m712 m↓54 m830 mPuits 5Puits 6 930 mGalerie profonde1000 m↓67 mGalerie supérieure↓60 m1160 m↓68 mSalle NordGalerie Nord↓62 mPuits 7 1542 m↓83 m↓60 m1595 m↓47 mLac TPuits Hasenmayer↓13 mLac Isler 1850 m, end of sump 1CO2-PromenadeGalerie RJPuits 9Lac des BlocsSiphon 2Siphon 2aMetroSchikaneSiphon 3Salle BivouacSiphon 4Lac longSiphon 5ResseldomSiphon 6↓13 m↓10 m↓13 m↓18 m↓25 mKreidhalle↓17 mN100 m
  • Entrance
  • T
  • End of line
  • Air
  • Shoreline
  • Depth
  • Along the line
Stick map · 335 stations · 5340 m of line · max 83 m

Plan traced from the HFGK / INGO / LVH Steiermark survey (H. Jantschke, M. Schafheutle and others, 1991-2005) published by Plongée Souterraine FFS, eight plan sheets stitched with the published overview layout; the joins between sheets 5, 6 and 7 were shifted about 15 m to make the passage continuous. The first sump runs 1850 m from the entrance in the Célé to Lac Isler, with the Passage supérieur (-10) and Passage inférieur with the Cloche air bell between the 1st T at 180 m and Puits 1 near 330 m, then the deep zone past Puits 2-4 to -83 at Puits 7; beyond are Lac T, the RJ gallery, sumps 2-6 and the Kreidhalle about 3 km in. Depths are the survey's spot depths in metres (sheets 7-8 underlined sump-6 depths); penetration labels are the survey's distances from the entrance. Line stations are drawn on the passage centreline, not the actual line; positions are approximate, within roughly 5-10 m.

The cave

The Ressel rises on the left bank of the Célé just upstream of Marcilhac-sur-Célé. It is the main outlet of Réseau Gramat-Sud, the flooded network that drains 330 km² of the southern Causse de Gramat, and it is the most important sump in the region.

The first siphon is about 1 870 m long and drops past 80 m — some surveys put the deepest point at 88 m. That is what makes it an exploration cave rather than a tourist one: the entrance pool is at the side of a road, and forty minutes in you are deeper than almost anything in recreational diving.

The exploration

Between 1998 and 2001 the British divers Rick Stanton and Jason Mallinson pushed the Ressel from about 2 km to roughly 5 km, finding shallow air-surfaced lakes and clean passage beyond the deep first sump that everyone had assumed closed the cave. The gallery between the Lac des Blocs and Lac T is called the RJ gallery after their initials. Stanton and Mallinson are the same two divers who, twenty years later, led the rescue of the football team from Tham Luang.

The dives

Twenty-five dives — the most of any cave in this log — between 2019 and 2021. None of them are pushing anything; the Ressel is also a superb ordinary dive, with a large, clean, well-lined entry passage and a gently increasing commitment as you go.

Dived here with

Bas Benjamin Daan Dick Dirk Erik Hanna JP Kim Ronald Saskia Xavier

Nearby sites

25 dives at Émergence du Ressel

Dives per year

Water temperature by month

Mean water temperature in °C; an empty month had no dives.

Mean water temperature per month at Émergence du Ressel
MonthMeanDives
Januaryno dives0
Februaryno dives0
Marchno dives0
Aprilno dives0
Mayno dives0
Juneno dives0
Julyno dives0
Augustno dives0
September13.0 °C4
Octoberno dives0
Novemberno dives0
Decemberno dives0
  1. 29 Sept 2024 with Kim cave date29 Sept 2024 depth9.2 m time35 min water13 °C
  2. 23 Sept 2021 with Benjamin, Ronald cave date23 Sept 2021 depth17.3 m time71 min water13 °C
  3. 21 Sept 2020 with Daan cavedpv date21 Sept 2020 depth31.1 m time60 min water13 °C
  4. 21 Sept 2020 with Daan cave date21 Sept 2020 depth30.9 m time46 min water13 °C
  5. 24 Nov 2019 with Daan cave date24 Nov 2019 depth23.8 m time61 min water—
  6. 10 Oct 2019 with Dick, Dirk cave date10 Oct 2019 depth25.2 m time51 min water—
  7. 10 Oct 2019 with Dick, Dirk cave date10 Oct 2019 depth23 m time81 min water—
  8. 6 Oct 2019 with Dick, Dirk cave date6 Oct 2019 depth18.6 m time37 min water—
  9. 6 Oct 2019 with Dick, Dirk cave date6 Oct 2019 depth18.6 m time42 min water—
  10. 20 Aug 2019 with Hanna, Xavier cave date20 Aug 2019 depth32.6 m time68 min water—
  11. 20 Aug 2019 with Bas, Erik cave date20 Aug 2019 depth23 m time75 min water—
  12. 16 Aug 2019 with Hanna, Saskia cavetraining date16 Aug 2019 depth24.6 m time56 min water—
  13. 16 Aug 2019 with Hanna, Saskia cavetraining date16 Aug 2019 depth22.9 m time54 min water—
  14. 21 Apr 2019 with Erik, Saskia cavetraining date21 Apr 2019 depth24.1 m time59 min water—
  15. 21 Apr 2019 with Erik, Saskia cavetraining date21 Apr 2019 depth21.8 m time45 min water—
  16. 6 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date6 Oct 2018 depth20.2 m time70 min water—
  17. 6 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date6 Oct 2018 depth11.5 m time40 min water—
  18. 5 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date5 Oct 2018 depth11.8 m time52 min water—
  19. 5 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date5 Oct 2018 depth12.5 m time55 min water—
  20. 4 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date4 Oct 2018 depth12.7 m time47 min water—
  21. 4 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date4 Oct 2018 depth13.1 m time50 min water—
  22. 2 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date2 Oct 2018 depth12.1 m time28 min water—
  23. 2 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date2 Oct 2018 depth11.8 m time34 min water—
  24. 2 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date2 Oct 2018 depth11.2 m time31 min water—
  25. 2 Oct 2018 with Daan, JP cave date2 Oct 2018 depth12.5 m time35 min water—

Sources