Diving in France – the best places, schools, equipment.

Diving in France: schools, the best diving sites in France, a description of the equipment necessary for diving

Diving in France has a very long tradition. This is mainly due to the location of this country: the Mediterranean Sea surroundings, which abound in various types of rock formations and excavations, as well as a multitude of caves, shipwrecks, etc. All this has encouraged adventure lovers to try diving for years. Nowadays, special diving schools have developed, which are based on many years of trials, research and, above all, on modern equipment. In many countries around the world, diving has many enthusiasts, also in Poland. However, despite the schools and diving courses that take place practically everywhere, many people choose such training in France. They want to learn from real professionals right away and under the best conditions. Returning to the history of diving, the French have had a lot of success from the very beginning: in a French document from 1715, entitled ” Le Plongeur du Chewalier de Beauve ”, we can learn about the invention of the diving suit, and in 1772, also a French: Freminet dived 15 meters in a suit of his own production. Of course, today’s diving equipment is significantly different from that of previous eras, but these examples clearly show that France had a very large influence on the development of diving from the very beginning.

Types of diving – French school, French combination.

As we have already mentioned, and as fans of this fascinating but dangerous sport probably know, France, or rather French waters, is an ideal place for diving. We can go there with the appropriate preparation, after school or diving course completed in our country, and we can also take advantage of the numerous schools and courses that are organized in France. Certainly, we will not have a problem finding them, because diving in France attracts a lot of people. The great interest in this sport has led to the development of some diving rules, developed just by French divers, such as: French school, French combination. These rules are used to dive practically all over the world.

1. French school – used in cave diving, which involves the penetration of very narrow siphons that are difficult to access. You usually dive individually, with cylinders separated, as heavy equipment might not squeeze through the narrow passages.

2. French configuration– also called lateral, it is usually used in European caves, where most often there is very little visibility, and there are also narrow passages and crevices. Cave diving is the most common type of diving activity in France due to the multitude of caves in that region. However, wreck diving, night diving, ice diving and many others are also practiced.

The best diving sites in France.

All lovers of this sport know about the most beautiful diving caves, which are located in France, more precisely in the Lot region, which is famous for their large number:

Fontain de Truffe– a wonderful cave with only one narrowing, right at the entrance, further wide and shallow, so it’s great for group diving.
Emergence de Russel– also very wide, without any constrictions and difficulties, so you can easily dive there in pairs and groups.

-Source de Landenouse – a cave with a high degree of difficulty, so only for people with extensive diving experience, at the bottom of a seven-meter well, there is an entrance to it, so the very entrance to the cave and lowering the equipment requires skill and appropriate experience, visibility in the cave is very weak, close to zero.

Equipment needed for diving.

For diving, not only in France, but everywhere, you need the right preparation: graduation from a diving school and training courses. Long-term training in safe conditions, in swimming pools and other safe and predictable waters, of course under the supervision of an experienced instructor, is also necessary. Then you need good equipment and then you can set off to penetrate French caves. Equipment that is necessary for diving is: