Scuba Diving in Chennai
Ever imagined how it will be to wake up in your own bed, pack only a swimsuit, hop in a car, drive to the shore, get on a boat, kit up and dive? Scuba Diving in Chennai is exactly that. We are here to celebrate your love for diving, right in your backyard.
‘Is there life in the seas here? Can you see anything at all in these green waters? Can a new diver like me dive in Chennai?’, you may ask. The answer is yes, yes and yes.
Chennai is one of the big players in Indian fishing industry, owing to the rich faunal diversity all along Tamil Nadu coast. Yes, the visibility under water is not the greatest, and yes, we pray to the Wind Gods for a successful day everyday, but reefs off Chennai are some of the most prolific reefs we have come across along the coast of mainland India.
Scuba Diving in Chennai – Best Dive Sites:
#1 Thoondil Street: One of our deeper sites where the world changes at about 18 meters, where the visibility shifts from tens of meters to only a few. However, the murky waters don’t stop marine life to thrive down there. The flat bottom that sits at 26 meters is made of rocks covered with soft coral and sponges. Right as you enter the murky waters, you are met with schools of snappers and fusiliers leading their fast paced lives and schools of sweet lips swimming around like a parade of soldiers. The bottom is busy with the groupers having one of their Mafia sit-downs and random excursions by sea snakes.
Scuba Diving in Chennai – Best Dive Sites
#2 Castle Rock: This dive site is a beautiful example of conservation efforts by people concerned about the insistent overfishing along Tamil Nadu coast. This is one of the artificial reefs built to promote the use of traditional fishing gear like hook and line over the more destructive trawlers and seines. Sitting at about 25 meters, these blocks of concrete house a variety of fish species. On a good day, you might find yourself stuck here in a traffic jam of fish. Starting from patient groups of groupers, goofy gobies and gliding lionfish at the bottom, you will see fish like longfin banners, oriental sweetlips, snappers, fusiliers and surgeons schooling in hundreds over the structures.
Scuba Diving in Chennai – Best Dive Sites:
#3 Vaddi Pop & Garden Rock: These are our shallow dive sites, perfect for beginners to apply the skills learnt in confined waters. Starting at 12 meters, the sites are built of big boulders running parallel to the shore and go down till about 16 meters. The rocks are laden with sea fans and whip coral, gardened by butterfly and longfin banner fishes. Feather duster worms and nudibranchs can be seen beautifying these fans and rocks frequently.
One of our most treasured dive sites in Chennai, however, is not in the sea. In the hills of Kanchipuram, we have found this abandoned quarry which is just perfect to experience diving in its purest form, and never again be bothered by bad visibility, swells, currents or any out-worldly distractions.
Scuba Diving in Chennai – Best Dive Sites:
#4 ShowCat Boneyard: The smaller, right side of the quarry has submerged, mostly dead trees and shrubs growing on a bed of sedimentary rocks, eventually falling down into a valley upto 27 meters. The curious placement of rocks makes it a ‘site’ to behold.
Scuba Diving in Chennai – Best Dive Sites:
#5 Mayajaal: The much larger, left side of the quarry seems like a scene out of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas. After a gradual slope till 7 meters, the site drops straight to 27 meters along a humongous scarred wall of sedimentary rocks. Ideal for running deep scenarios, the flat bottom will keep you entertained with numerous crab gatherings, random appearances of truck headlights and tyres, TNT shells, fuse reels and scorch marks on the walls.
There is much more to diving in Chennai than what meets the eye. From rich marine ecosystems hidden in murky waters to new ecosystems sprouting in clear fresh waters, diving here is meant to change your perspective of the world underwater altogether. Contact us for more
