Grotte marine de la Piade n°3 - Entrée Nord-Ouest

The gallery narrows to one metre wide and the ceiling drops to less than one metre above the water level. The development of the cavity is about 80 metres (not fully surveyed in June-July 2015).

The cave continues as a submerged gallery where one must swim. As soon as the sea is a little rough, the variation in water level, amplified by the narrowings, varies abruptly by more than one metre.

This description corresponds to the route from the other entrance (south-east) of the cavity (see Grottocenter V2 record no. 64694: https://www.grottocenter.org/html/file_Fr.php?type=change&category=entry&id=64694). There is no footing at the start (from the south-east entrance) of the gallery, but after about fifteen metres, one gains footing on rocks. One reaches a chamber, where the light coming from a sump connected to the outside gives an unreal lighting. Exploration of the cavity then becomes unpredictable, because one risks being knocked unconscious against the ceiling and it is very dangerous to venture there. In fact, the cavity only emerges about ten metres further on in a neighbouring cove.

Source: Guillaume CHARDIN - CDS83, Fichier des cavités du Var > "Grotte marine de la Piade n°3" (number 2062003): https://www.fichiertopo.fr/display.php?details=1&indexid=2269

Geology: Triassic limestone of the Muschelkalk.

Sources: article from the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipédia en français > "Muschelkalk": https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trias_moyen ; Guillaume CHARDIN - CDS83, Fichier des cavités du Var > "Grotte marine de la Piade n°3" (number 2062003): https://www.fichiertopo.fr/display.php?details=1&indexid=2269