Diving

Boekholt

Hi there...

I thoughed the Andaman islands where of limits after the wave...but it looked like I was wrong....

I have some questions:

Apperently scuba diving is usually from december until march? Is this right? Can you dive at all? (damage to the coral?) Are there any operators still operating?

any tips? I was thinking about november this year.

Most of the websites of operators are not updated and pre-tsumani so some first-hand info would be great.

thanks.

BWINDI

hi

try www.diveindia.com on havelock island. i was in december there. very basic and no good visibilities. have seen better places to dive, but it is ok.

try it !

Boekholt

any other better places in India?

BWINDI

no no other places known in india.
try the andamans. i think the visibility depends on the time of the year.

rangss

Devbagh Beach Resort near Karwar in Karnataka...Jungle Lodges offers snorkelling....dunno about scuba diving...though this web site says they offer scuba too...
http://www.urbancookie.com/Life/adventure/scuba.html

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-m2-

the Lakshadweep archipelago off the Kerala coast is sort of an extension of the Maldives and from reports I've read, has excellent diving. Entry is somewhat restricted for tourism (only some places open to tourists and I believe it is still necessary to go with a tour operator) There is some additional information in this thread:

Anyone been to Lakshadweep?

(I've seen nothing very promising about diving in Goa which is not surprising as coastal waters generally not all that clear)

navinkurian2002

If i go diving its gonna be at goa with William Downie's diving group
http://www.dive-centers.net/dive_cen...oa_diving.html

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GoanCanuck

Goa is not a suitable place for diving.

navinkurian2002

Have you dived in these locations listed below? And is the above post based on actual dive experience in theses areas? If its on actual dive experience lemme know so i can re-evaluate theses places as dive locations.

1. Grande Island:
Local diving is conducted around Grande Island, which is a 15 min boat-ride from Bogmalo Beach.
Depth ranges from 8 to 15m with an average visibility of 7m. Marine-life is abundant, especially around
the wrecks of late 19th century steamships lying close to the island.
Much of the local diving is conducted around this island. Some of the sites near the island include Suzy's Wreck, Davy Jones Lockers, Sail Rock, Turbo Tunnel, Surge City, Uma Guma Reef, and Bounty Bay.

2. Pigeon Island (October to April)
Pigeon Island offers unspoilt dive sites between 6 and 30m deep and excellent visibility up to 30m.
The marine life is more abundant and varied to that found on our local dive sites. A variety of turtles,
sharks, rays, tuna and large barracuda are regularly seen around the island. Pigeon Island is the underwater photographer’s paradise. The island is located south of Bogmalo
and is dived as an overnight excursion.

3. The Malvan Shoal, comprises some interesting shallow dive sites between Vengurla and Malvan, is just a 2 hours journey from Panaji.

4.Angria Bank
A four-hour high-speed boat ride takes you to this world-class dive site 120 miles from Goa. A vast underwater landmass about half the size of the state of Goa, it offers an amazing wealth of coral and fish. A 'live-aboard' is available with the local dive center to make diving at this site an unforgettable experience.

http://www.diveglobal.com/explore_de...cean/india.asp

http://www.tourismofindia.com/hibea/beagoa.htm

GoanCanuck

I am only familiar with Grand Island and Pigeon Island. Not been to the other two places.

AndaMan

Most dive sites around Havelock Island survived the tsunami virtually intact.
Visit www.barefootindia.com (they run a dive center and have a post-tsunami update on the website).
Dive season commences in december.
Better visibility from jan-may

cyberhippie

There's a marine park near Ramaswaram, I can't remember the name of the island at it's center but if you can get permission to dive here it looked interesting!!

Boekholt

thanks to all for the response....

I will be in India from october until mid-november....so i will have to come back for diving another day.

Rog

My girlfriend and I did our PADI AOW course in the andamans with Diveindia.
We had a great time. The vis was excellent (this was in april). I recently recieved their newsletter, they have apparently refurbished the diveshop - new equipment, new speed boats etc. Might be going back in February for the DM course. Check them out if you go to the Andamans, their staff is very friendly and helpful. I think their website is www.diveindia.com Hope this helps.

Meike

Do you think somebody will rent some FINS for us? Do we have a chance to get some for ~5 days, if we pay lets say 2 $ a day or so? (Best in Havelock, we will go there!)

Thanks