Scuba diving and Snorkelling in India: Real heart talk
Everything you wanted to know about Scuba diving and Snorkelling in India — Why, What, Where, When, Who, How? — a straight from the heart talk by someone who dives in India.
WHY
If the only live fish you have watched is in an aquarium, it is time you head out to the sea. The thrill of floating weightlessly alongside the marine life, watching the fish in their natural habitat — unconcerned about you, is an experience that fills you with reverence for mother nature. The underwater world is magical and is something to be experienced at least once in the lifetime. And it is within reach to explore marine life, thanks to diving and snorkelling becoming popular the world over.
If you are a swimmer, you would already know the pleasure of floating on water, feeling weightless and taking up your friend’s challenge of how far you can go underwater while holding your breath. If you are not a swimmer, fret not. Even if you do not know how to swim, you can snorkel (with a life jacket) and do the Discover Dive under the supervision of a qualified instructor.
Exploring the underwater world is an awe-inspiring experience. You could get addicted to it!
WHAT
Snorkelling involves wearing a mask with a breathing tube called snorkel. One end of the snorkel stays outside water. This lets you breathe natural air while floating face down on the surface of water while and observing the life underwater as you float.
Snorkelling is done in clear, shallow waters where the corals can be easily observed from the surface. Even if the water is shallow, you are not supposed to stand over the reef as you could damage the marine life and also injure yourself from the sharp corals. You simply need to float over the corals and rocks while keeping your head down and breathing through the snorkel. While swimmers can do this easily, non-swimmers and those not so confident can wear a life jacket while snorkelling. This helps them stay afloat without fearing that they’ll sink in.
Some snorkelling tour operators often insist that you rent fins from them. But those are not required unless the waters are deep and you intend to go deeper than the surface. Going fin swimming is something you’d want to do only if you are a confident swimmer. In Phuket, the tour operator insisted that we take the fins or risk being injured by the spines of sea urchins. That was extremely misleading…Sea urchins stay on sea floor or cling to rocks, they don’t float around. If you spot them, you don’t touch them — not with your feet, not with your fins. You just float over, from a distance. Fins are usually not needed.
Scuba diving is more complex than snorkelling — you carry your own air and can go to greater depths. It is more involved, more expensive and should be done with a trained divemaster. The first dive one gets to do is the discover dive — aptly called so because this is when you discover what the underwater world looks like, how it feels to carry a cylinder on your back and what it takes to breathe through a regulator below the surface of water. Before your first dive, a good dive centre will make you practice some basic skills — either in swimming pool or shallow waters. Practicing the skills beforehand helps you relax and enjoy the experience. The dive is done under the supervision of a qualified instructor. This is the best way to experience diving even if you do not know how to swim. If you get hooked to diving after the discover dive, then go in for your open water certification to learn the nuances and become a certified diver.
Recreational diving lets you explore underwater upto depths of 40m. Snorkelling is more like skimming the surface. If the operator you choose to go with, promises you diving (and charges you for diving) but you are simply 2–3m near the surface, you have been fooled!
WHERE
India has some excellent dive locations. Snorkelling is enjoyable when waters are clear and you can observe the fish below from the surface.
The Andaman islands in the east and the Lakshadweep islands in the west have some of the clearest waters and fabulous marine life to explore. Snorkelling and diving at these places are absolutely delightful. However, travelling there requires a fair bit of planning with respect to air tickets and accommodation because of limited direct flights to these islands.
To travel to Andaman Islands, one has to take a flight to Port Blair. In Port Blair, you can dive at Chidiya Tapu. Lacadives, is a well regarded dive centre located in Chidiya Tapu. One of the most secluded and beautiful part of Andamans is the Havelock island. To reach Havelock one has to take a 2.5 hour speed boat/ferry from Port Blair. The ferry timings are fixed and pre-booking is recommended. Diving in Havelock is truly heavenly. My heart starts racing just by thinking of that experience. Schools of fish and regal loners, tiny nemo and majestic creatures — all of them, so many them, all around you! It was there that I completely and irrevocably fell in love with underwater world and it is remains my favourite dive location.
Travel to Lakshadweep requires permit. Diving is conducted by government service providers. Lakshadweep is a divers delight. I have not yet dived there as it seems to require elaborate travel and accommodation planning for ordinary facilities. Maybe some day…
The simpler to travel mainland India also has good diving (and snorkelling) locations. The known among these are off Goa, Netrani island (off Murudeshwar), Malvan and Pondicherry. A new addition to dive locations in 2017 is Kaup Beach in Udupi, Karnataka.
I find Netrani to be the best diving location on the Indian mainland as it has clear waters, good visibility and rich marine life. You can expect to meet Moorish Idols, Bannerfish, Blue Ringed Angelfish, Sergeant Majorfish, Lionfish, Scorpion fish; run into different members from the families of Puffers, Lobsters and Moray Eels; and join the school of Giant Trevally in a swim class. The base camp for diving at Netrani is Murudeshwar, a small temple town on the west coast. Murudeshwar is about 3 hours drive from the nearest airport at Mangalore. I have dived with West Coast Adventures in Netrani (and also in Goa) and would recommend them any day.
Goa is home to some excellent dive centres. But you’ll hear mixed reviews about diving in Goa — some love it for the wrecks and macro diving and some dislike it because of frequently murky waters and low visibility. On a good day, Goa is known to surprise even the most cynical diver. Goa wasn’t my first choice when I went diving there. It was more out of desperation since I had to cancel my Thailand trip and I did not want to miss getting certified that season. But now Goa holds a special place in my heart. I saw the most massive jelly fish, up close and personal — floating royally, all alone as though it owned that part of the sea. I saw a sting ray gliding nonchalantly across the floor and put up a show just for me! I got to dive at a shipwreck and a coral garden. In retrospect, Goa turned out to be the best place to learn the skills and get certified — fewer distractions, less diving crowd, sandy bottoms to practice skills, ample practice to get over the fears in less than ideal conditions and a devout dive instructor!
I haven’t been too enthusiastic about diving in Pondicherry or Malvan after knowing about the low visibility and not so great marine life there from some folks who have dived at these places. Temple Adventures, the dive school in Pondicherry carries a good reputation, better than the dive sites there do.
Where you dive is often a matter of convenience, availability and company. The best of the dive sites might have a bad day (with respect to visibility and sightings of marine life). While the murkiest waters might spring a surprise on a good day. Just like life, the beauty of diving is often in its unpredictability. In some places, you might dive for the clear waters and the colours of vibrant marine life. In others, maybe because the site was accessible, and the dive centre was reliable. Whatever the reason — I feel it is good to “dive for the dive” — not just for the fish, or a bucket list destination or the perfect photograph. Sometimes you dive, because that itself is enough.
WHEN
In India, diving season is from mid October to end of April, give or take a few weeks. It is better to find out from the dive centre ahead of time if you are visiting a place specifically to explore underwater world. Monsoons (Rainy) season when the sea is turbulent is not suitable for boat rides and most dive centres completely stop operations during that time.
WHO
Anybody can dive…well almost! It is a set of skills and techniques that you can master over time with the help of qualified instructors. Snorkelling and the discover scuba dive can be tried out even by non-swimmers. However, to get certified as a diver, it is good to know how to swim and not be fearful of water in general. Some agencies mandate that a person should be able to swim 200m (any style) to qualify for getting certified. Make sure that you go diving with a dive centre that is affiliated with an agency such as PADI, SSI etc. Their websites list the recognized dive centres and you can choose the one at the location you are interested in.
For snorkelling, being able to breathe with a snorkel and being comfortable in open water are two skills that suffice.
HOW
Pick a spot for your dive vacation in India — Havelock, Chidiya Tapu in the Andaman Islands, Lakshadweep, Goa, Netrani (Murudeshwar), Pondicherry or Kaup Beach (Udupi)? Find a dive centre there, book a dive and just go
Plan your trip in such a way that you do not have to take a flight upto 24 hours after your last dive. It is strongly recommended not to fly for 18–24 hours after diving, there is no such restriction for snorkelling.
India has so much to offer — mountains, valleys, deserts, beaches, monuments, culture, spiritualism. Now we even have dental and medical tourism. There is however limited recognition as a diving destination. Scuba diving has evolved, slowly but steadily and is something that ought to be tried out in India.
The first scuba dive or snorkelling experience can be a life changer. Do the due diligence and choose the dive centre well. Fancy travel magazines, websites and travel tour operators sometimes offer the most beautifully packaged advice which is often different from on-ground (and in-water) reality. It is better to check with reviewers who have actually lived the experience. I usually rely on TripAdvisor for the latest reviews to check on individual dive centres once I decide the destination. Then I write/call the dive centre. Their response is often a giveaway of their professionalism and whether they’ll care once they get the payment.
Once you decide to go diving, remember to check out what to expect on diving day with tips on how to manage for some inside info :).
Happy exploring the underwater world!
