Diving in the Andamans

Hop

I thought, being new here, although not new in India, I'd share with you my experiences of learning to scuba dive in India - at Dive India in Havelock Island, Andamans. It was written last August, off season, but still a good time to visit.

Just got back from the Andaman Islands after going there for the weekend diving. Three expat friends and myself found ourselves at Chennai airport at 3.45am on Friday morning for the Jet airways flight to Port Blair departing at 5am. The flight was uneventful, but Indian airports never cease to amaze me at how incompetently run they are, how many inefficient identiy checks there are, and how hopeless most locals are at queuing and travelling in general.

Flight was uneventful, but did include a reasonable (and welcome) hot breakfast. We landed in Port Blair 2 hours later, disembarked the aircraft and walked into what can politely be described as a corrugated iron shack. Immigration (yes, if you’re a non Indian passport holder you have to get a seperate visa on demand at the airport on arrival for the Andamans) and then out to our transfer who drove us down to the ferry terminal for the 2 and a half hour ferry to Havelock Island, where we will be staying for the weekend. The ferry departs at 2.30pm so we had a LOT of time to kill. With all the bags, and my experienced diver friend's diving gear it wasn’t going to be that easy to do any tourist sites - apparently the prison is good, so we decided to chance our arm and head up to the hotel we'd booked for the last night before heading home, and see if they would let us sit by the pool if we bought drinks and food. The staff at the Fortune Bay Resort Hotel overlooking the harbour couldn’t have been more accomodating. I’m sorry sir, but the pool is for hotel residents only, but you are perfectly welcome to leave your bags here and spend time on loungers on the decks overlooking the bay. That killed some time and we headed back to the ferry. All I can say about the ferry was it was packed, very hot, and stuffy, and with four weary travellers not really what you want. However based on other people’s experience, with it being the Friday afternoon ferry it was busy, most of the others are less busy, and some of them even have A/C so its the luck of the draw.

Arriving on Havelock Island, we then had to go through Immigration again, showing our temporary visa on the dock, which was then manually written down in a log book - does anyone ever reconcile these things, or is it just creating bureacracy to create jobs?

Island Vinnie’s Cabana’s and Dive India are located on the same bit of private beach, golden soft sand, and warm tropical waters lapping at the dive boats that were moored up when we arrived. Settling into our deluxe cabana’s (tents) which are ensuite, we unpacked, met the dive guys and went for a swim in the sea. Dinner followed - grilled fish, and then the other person learning and I settled down to watch the first couple of videos we needed to see as part of doing the Padi Open Water qualification - the other two were both already qualified and would be diving seperately from us anyway. We found out that we were the only 4 in the resort - it is out of season at the moment but still definately worth going - and that us two trainees had the dive instructor to ourselves. The other two would be sharing their dive master and boat with one or two other people staying at other places on the island and who had just booked in for one or more dives.

We all went to bed, me, a bit apprehensive but incredibly excited about what the first day of scuba training would entail. I was woken up about 1am by the ground and bed shaking, a mild earth tremor somewhere, but nobody else was bothered by it and checking the US Seismological department there was a mild tremor near the Andamans that night.

Up bright and early the next day and got kitted out with all the dive gear with my instructor Dickson. A light breakfast and then complete some paperwork and we were off in the boat down to Elephant Cove about an hour away to learn our first skills. Once we arrived we got suited and kitted up and waded into the surf. At about waist height in water - Dickson explained how everything worked and I then intrepidly set about kneeling down in the water to experience the regulator and air in my mouth underwater for the first time. Erm.....well....that didn’t go so well. I got a bit freaked by it I’m afraid. Took me a few minutes to work out what was going wrong, but it turns out I was exhaling through my nose and when you are trying to practise things like taking the regulator out of your mouth underwater then you tend to end up snorting up a lot of water. Fixed that - inhale and exhale through the mouth and I was fine. We practised a lot of basic skills for about an hour in about 2m depth of water then out of the water for tea and samosas and to change the air tanks. Our next dive was about an hour later where we went further out into the surf to about 8m and then just recapped the skills we had learnt. Then Dixon signalled for us to follow him and he took us on a 30 minute dive around the reef just looking at the sea life and coral which was amazing. Back in boat and heading for home, exhausted and it was only 3pm.
As part of the course we had a couple more videos to watch that evening and then in the morning it was back out again. Same place, same scenario - morning spent in the shallows doing more skills and then early afternoon another 45 minute, open water dive around the reef. The feeling of weightlessness is incredible, especially when the equipment out of the water weighs a ton. Dickson announced that we had completed all our skills and so the next day would be two open water dives around an island to the north of Havelock, the first one of which would be at the maximum depth a Padi OW diver is supposed to go to. That night, Sunday, us two boys chartered a fishing boat and went out with the crew for some night fishing. The girls came along too, but I think they got a bit bored fairly early on. However we had a good result and managed to catch about a dozen fish, including a couple of reasonable sized snapper - which the chef kindly prepared for us when we got back - and I suspect fed the rest of the resort staff for a day or so.

The next morning we took the boat 2 hours up to South Button island, and I did my first boat dive - where you get kitted up on the boat, sit on the edge and roll off backwards into the water. I was a bit apprehensive about this - but its great fun - almost as fun as doing the dive itself. We headed down, down and deep to about 18m, and just swam around the coral. A shoal of Barracuda passed over us, and a youngish Napolean Wrasse had a second look at us. So many clown fish (Finding Nemo?) and Angel fish, star fish, snapper and the highlight of my weekend, a giant turtle. Awesome. Now remember the trouble I had on the first day with taking the regulator out of my mouth. Well at 18 metres, I had been signalling to the instructor the quantity of air in my tank through out the dive, but it was starting to get low - down to 50bar, which is into the red zone. I did the signal to say the tank was at that point and he signalled to me to come to him. Now my friend and the dive instructor are small, and aren’t using that much air, I on the other hand am a big guy with big lungs and I’m taking this air faster than a RangeRover guzzles petrol. Anyway he holds out the his spare regulator (Octo) as all divers have a second backup regulator connected to their tank for dealing with emergencies, reg faults or sharing air. So I took the reg out of my mouth and put his spare in and we swam together sharing his air tank for another 15 minutes or so and then surfaced, with a controlled stop at 5m for 3 minutes on the way back up. It was good to do that, otherwise the others would have to have cut their dive short and surface with me. A second afternoon dive on the same island was then arranged, this time not as deep, but as interesting as before. This time we did the same, when I got to 50bar, I shared Dixon’s air.

We then headed back to the resort where we had to complete a 40 question multiple choice paper, which we passed with flying colours and then that was it - fully qualified Padi OW divers. We went out to celebrate that night, at a neighbouring resort where we met a load of other travellers who were enjoying the island and drank into the early hours. Now, Tuesday morning - the big one - the one where all four of us go diving together. So we headed out to the Wall, a 60m sheer drop coral wall in the middle of the sea, and dived around that (not to 60m but around the top of it) - seeing more Napaleon Wrasse and lots of other amazing sealife. Dickson came with us, especially as I am still guzzling air, guess what - I had to share again. Everyone laughs at me for this - I am going through a tank in 35minutes which is too quick - so I have to work on my breathing, although Dixon said my breathing is fine its just I have big lungs. Also considering I’m a big guy, I have 12kg of lead weights strapped to me for each dive as well - everyone was laughing at me about that too. Oh well I don’t care, I had fun and if thats what it takes..... Last dive of the weekend was that afternoon, again all of us, down on Pilot Reef on Havelock, this time the visibility wasn’t so good but there was plenty of aquatic life, and even a cuttlefish. Finally a dash back to the resort, pack up and head for the ferry back to Port Blair. Port Blair airport is only open for about 3 hours a day, and the ferry timings don’t allow for this, so you have to be prepared for one night in Port Blair on your way back. This time the ferry was empty and also air conditioned, so we all sat and dozed off on the long journey back to Port Blair. We finally arrived back at the hotel where we started from and 4 very tired people enjoyed a good meal a couple of drinks and off to bed, to wake up for the Air Deccan 7am flight back to Chennai.

Now Port Blair airport is worse than any other Indian airport I’ve been to. Firstly before you enter the airport you have to get your passport or ID checked by the airline outside counter to verify your id. Then you show that to enter the airport, then having just done that, within 1.5metres of the main door, you have to show your id again. Then you have to show your ID to get your bags scanned, and then again for checkin. Through immigration again, hand in the visa, show your id, and then security, show your id.......and finally onto the plane......
Apologies for any qualified divers out there about any terms - although I did learn one thing - they aren't called flippers!

Lambdadragon

Sounds like you had a marvelous time. I have been certified since 1979 and both my sons are PADI certified as well, but we wanted to take friends to to Bangaram in the Laksawadeep Islands to obtain their scuba certification. Our itinerary would only allow for three days and five nights on the island, so I was very disappointed to learn that Bangaram Island Resort would not provide a certification class for less than six days and eight nights.

When I took my eldest son to Koh Tao in Thailand and my youngest son to be certified in Key Largo, Florida, both PADI courses were 2.5 days. At USD 430 a day, not including the scuba course costs, Bangaram proved both too expensive and too long of a time committment for us.

Should we consider the Anadman Islands?

Hop

Hi - thanks for that.

I would say that my experienced diving friends said the diving in the Andamans was not the best they had experienced in the world, but it was fun, quiet - we were the only boat on the dive site each day (there are only three dive operators on Havelock) and for me the almost one to one tuition was invaluabe. Dive India was about $400 for the whole PADI certification - not per day! We did go at the end of August which was off-season, but living and working in India - it was the only time we could go.

If you are in India and have people who want to learn I would say yes its great - you'll find the accomodation is fairly basic, but as an IT director stuck behind a desk all day, that was part of the charm too. If you want luxury, you won't find it on Havelock. If you are ok with ensuite cabanas for $20 a night - then go for it.

The only other thing you may need to worry about is timings. On the first day - you'll arrive in Port Blair early morning, but the ferry is at 2.00pm. You won't arrive on Havelock until 5pm so the first day is spent trav elling. On the way back the ferry leaves around 5pm but the flights out of Port Blair on Andaman Island only leave first thing in the morning so you have to book accomodation in Port Blair on the last night which may not give you enough time in your schedule. Also you can only fly from Chennai or Kolkata.

Hope thats enough info
Cheers
Nick

amarshah

Hop what was the total cost ex-chennai ... i presume Thialand would be a cheaper bet than Andamans...last time i was in Goa the PADI course i was quoted 16k just for the course...whereas in Thialand i was told 12k bhatts including stay in a/c in Koh Samui or Koh Tan

Do let me know

thanks

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Cheers

Amar

Year 2008 Trips - http://amards14.googlepages.com/

Hop

Hey Amarshah

Here goes:-

flights from Chennai with Jet were 6,500R each
flight back to Chennai with Air Deccan were 3,250R each

PADI OW course - 16,000R
Ferry return - 1000R each, but this included pickup and drop off at airport too.
Deluxe cabana (en-suite) - 1400R a night inc breakfast, 400 for lunch and dinner or pay as you go.
Non en-suite was 700R a night I think - but prices may have changed. Flight prices were a bit cheaper as it was off-season (August)

I think about 32,000R in total for everything.

amarshah

thanks for the info Hop ! Do u have pic of the hotel / room ?

Hop

Just had a look through my dive photos and no, unfortunately not. But if you go onto Dive India's website they have pictures of the places there.

amarshah

thanks Hop !

shahronakm

http://www.diveindia.com/
http://www.islandvinnie.com/

Ronak.

martinez

Hello People,Here are some other dive operators that i personally know on the Andaman Islands.
On Neil Island,near to Havelock,is Johann Barucha. His dive school is WWW.indiascubaexplorers.com, and he is to be found at Tango resort on Neil Island.
I had the pleasure of being his first client at his own dive school,although he has years of expierience in Lakshadweep and Thailand. My schooling comprised of one to one coaching throughout my Padi open water course. This man is a superb teacher and an absolute gentleman.
Neil Island may not be for everyone. It is mega quiet and laid back.Much cheaper than Havelock ,and does not have a cool scene going on. I understand that Havelock and the schools there have more diversity in their choice of locations,but if its a coarse that you want then Johann at Neil cannot be bettered.
His email is info@indiascubaexplorers.com and his mobile is 91 9474238646...I should add that communications to and from Neil island is precarious and often non existent. There is a first class government guest house there and three other camp/resort type places with accomodation to suit all budgets.
The other dive school is at Wandoor,southwest of Port Blair.
It is run by a former naval commander and his sizable team.
the coral reefs in this area are massive and one could easily spend a whole week here exploring just one of them.The commander and his team are to be found at the sea front next to the heliport at wandoor.There are various accomodations nearby.I stayed at The Sanctuary on sanctuary rd. tasteful close to the earth lodges.open plan,airy,good food ,and the staff can point you in the right direction for anything you may require,ahem!

amarshah

This is off topic but don't you'll feel the cost for PADI courses are much higher here.. the OPEN WATER DIVER is 16k here.. many places in Thailand i saw offers for 14k bhatt including decent accommodation. Any idea on the quality of teaching ... ?

shahronakm

Thanks for that info. Martinez. Had been to Andamans in Feb 07, & did a discover scuba with Andaman dive Club, the newest of the three at Havelock. Dive India & Barefoot both were fully booked. Did not go to Neil Island but after your description would love to go there next time.

Regarding Dive School run by former naval commander, I met him at Mahua Dera beach (Near Wandoor) where we had gone for Snorkelling. He was there with some learners making them practice in shallow waters. He said this was a good site for Scuba diving.

Ronak.

PS: Request Moderators or Martinez to correct the link in post no. 10 (Remove and from the link)

martinez

Hi Amarshah,you are right about the price being too high for diving in the Andaman Islands. I heard many people say that they would wait to go diving in Thailand,or take a course there instead of in the Andamans. I hope some dive operaters read this. All the best, Martinez

machadinha

I guess as usual, you pretty much get what you pay for. I know and hear of many places in the world where too-good-to-be-true deals seem to abound. The question to ask yourself is if maybe that's what it is: Too good to be true. Drowning (or simply not having a good time) with some half-baked instructor and ending up with some certificate that has no real meaning at least in terms of what you've just really been taught wouldn't be my idea of fun, and it's the kind of thing you may not want to skimp on.

That aside, I'd guess the Thai market being larger and hence more competitive will influence prices, so I'm not saying what you've been quoted there is unreasonable. I simply wouldn't know.

ps Thanks for comprehensive write-up Hop. Nice 1

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amarshah

Well guess either have to wait for a review from someone in regards to Thialand or else give it a shot myself... lets see how it shapes up ...