Doux de Coly

Doux de Coly

Doux de Coly
By Michael Waldbrenner

The Doux de Coly is located in the Dordogne, in the middle of France, a country renown for its beautiful underwater caves. Although they are not as decorated as the caves in Mexico, nor as warm as the caves in Florida, the caves in France have their own “magic.”

The entrance to Doux de Coly is on private property and was first dived in the 1960s. However, it was not until 1970, when P.J. Debras reached a depth of 52 meters (170 feet) and a penetration of 365 meters (1,200 feet), that the shaft and deeper part of the cave were reached.

In 1981, the Swiss Groupe Lemanique de Plonger Souterrain (GLPS) pushed the end of the line to 1,760 meters (5,774 feet) using DPVs; they then returned in 1983, to push it further to 2,100 meters (6,889 feet). The same year, Oliver Isler extended the line to 3,100 meters (10,170 feet) after a three-hour bottom time and eight hours of decompression.

In 1991, Isler reached 4,055 meters (13,303 feet) in Doux de Coly; his total in-water time was fourteen hours. The British Cave Diving Group was also heavily involved in this expedition. Isler returned in July of 1998 and reached 4,300 meters (14,107 feet) during a three-week project that involved 40 people. He was diving solo, using his RI2000 Rebreather and Reinhard Buchaly

Woodville Karst Plain Project