DiveIndia Awarded India’s Favourite Adventure Operator
Port Blair, March 28: Andaman’s oldest scuba diving center ‘DIVEIndia’ has been awarded India’s Favourite Adventure Tour Operator, based on a poll of over 7500 readers of Outlook Traveller magazine and website. Vandit Kalia, Managing Director of the company, was presented with a plaque and a certificate by Shri Parvez Diwan, Secretary of Tourism, Ministry […]
Muck Diving comes to the Andamans
Posted by Dive India | So far, muck diving has been synonymous with Lembeh in Sulawesi. Well, the Andamans is a geographical extension of the same region, and we – especially Vikas and Sayeed – have been exploring the macro realm quite intently, looking to expand the scope of what is available here. During the […]
Ah, the possibilities…
Posted By Vandit Kalia | So Vikas and I spent 3 days, sitting at the Port Blair port, waiting to get everything sorted so that we could lower our boat into the water (a process which, if one removes the waiting time, took an actual 20 minutes of effort). Yesterday morning, we woke up at […]
Teaching Kinesthetic Awareness – For Instructors
Posted by Vandit Kalia | Every instructor is familiar with this scenario: take 10 students and teach them the same Open Water course, and 6-7 will be competent, 2-3 will be excellent and 1-2 will be at the cusp of acceptability – they may meet all the skill requirements, but the instructor knows in his/her […]
Which Agency is Better? or, How to Select an OW course
Posted By Vandit Kalia | Visit any popular scuba forum, and one common question that is encountered is – which agency is better. Well, there is an easy answer to that – none. The standards for basic Open Water training are set by an agency called the Recreational Scuba Training Council. All the major agencies […]
Scuba Gear Recommendation for Beginners
Scuba Gear Recommendations for Beginners Posted by Vandit Kalia | There is a common – and prevalent – belief that beginners need to buy a lot of equipment right away. Pretty much everything is touted as “essential for survival”, and so divers are urged to have their own gear so that they don’t have to […]
My Underwater Rig
Posted by Vandit Kalia | [Updated April 11, 2020] Generally speaking, I find most “my gear” sections to be an exercise in stroking one’s ego. However, I’ve realized that with the appropriate information, this section can be useful when it comes to helping prospective buyers make a decision as to what to buy. So here […]
10 Tips to Improve Your Underwater Photos
Posted by Vandit Kalia | Virtually every other day, I burn CDs for people who have rented out an underwater camera from us and who hope to have good images to share with their friends and family. However, often the results don’t match expectations. P&S cameras are very well suited to delivering crisp, well-exposed snapshots […]
Building a System for Underwater Photography
Posted by Vandit Kalia | [Partially updated April 12, 2020 – however, I recommend people also read my guide to Putting Together an Underwater Photography System Around a Compact Camera for more up-to-date information] So you want to put together a high-quality system for underwater photography, but are deterred by the prices. You are not […]
ILC or Compact – Which is Best for Underwater Use?
A general assumption seems to be that DSLRs or MLCs (hereafter referred to jointly as ILCs – Interchangeable Lens Cameras) are a natural upgrade to compact cameras for underwater photography.
