Jun 04 2018
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Scuba Diving Careers in India

Scuba Diving Careers in India

By Articles, Blogs, scuba careers, Scuba Diving Careers in India, Scuba diving Courses
One of the most common questions we get asked from people is about the scope of career options in diving, especially in India.
Makes sense – would you rather be stuck in an office in an unsatisfying job that leaches away your soul, while you dream of the 2-3 weeks of vacation you get each year when you can finally go diving?   Or would you rather dive daily and then spend your ample free time doing other exciting things?   Yeah, thought so, too.    But let’s face it – for most of us, the dream job also has to meet a bunch of practical requirements as well.
The purpose of this article is to talk about what the career options in diving are – in subsequent articles, I will also cover what sort of lifestyle dive pros lead.    Keep in mind that this article is focused on sport diving only, not commercial diving (underwater welding, construction, etc).
10 years ago, the world of sport diving attracted a handful of daring individualists who were willing to take a plunge into the unknown (pun not intended) and see where their passion led them.    These days, however, diving is growing rapidly in the country, with dive centers opening all across the country (including in some extremely unlikely places).   And that means there is a very high demand for qualified dive instructors.
Scuba Diving Careers in India – This can take many shapes and forms:

 1/  Divemaster:

The Divemaster is the first professional level in the recreational dive industry.   As a Divemaster, you lead certified divers in their diving activities by providing logistics and support, on-site guiding and being an added layer of safety.  You can also assist Instructors in teaching their course.    Most industry insiders agree – Divemasters tend to have the most fun, as they get to go diving at a location’s best sites along with the customers.

Time to go from beginner to Divemaster:   45+ days (although more time is recommended)*
Approximate expense:   Rs 125,000 – Rs 150,000 **
Typical salary range:    Rs 15,000 – 35,000***

2/  Assistant Instructor:   

This is the next level up from Divemaster – as an Assistant Instructor, you can independently teach some sections of various courses.  In addition, of course, you can do all the tasks that a Divemaster can.   Usually, most people rush from DM to Instructor – but we feel that spending time as an Assistant Instructor is a great way to develop your teaching skills.   That way, when you become an Instructor, you are really ready to hit the ground running (or hit the water swimming, as it were).

Time to get to AI:   7+ days*
Approximate expense:   Rs 25,000 – Rs 40,000 **
Typical salary range:    Rs 25,000 – 40,000***

3/  Instructor:

This is the highest level of dive professional (well, there are categories of instructors as well, but we can ignore that for now).   As a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (or comparable rating), you have the highest responsibility of all:  you can teach people to dive and issue them certification cards to that effect.  In other words, you can now introduce others to this sport that we all love.    You can also teach additional advanced-level courses, all the way up to Divemaster, actually.     The responsibility on you is higher – and commensurately, the pay also tends to be higher

Time to get to Instructor:   20+ days to complete the pre-requisites, 15+ days to complete the Instructor Development Course*
Approximate expense:   Rs 165,000**
Typical salary range:   Rs 35,000 – Rs 65,000***

4/  Non-Diving Positions:

Yes, surprisingly, there are non-diving positions to be had in the scuba industry.   Like any business, there are a lot of other ancillary functions which are essential to the smooth functioning of the industry and in many of these positions, it helps to be a diver even though you are not actually going to be diving.    Some of these tasks include:  scuba equipment sales,  equipment technician, business development/sales, customer relations and marketing, dive travel, dive resort management and more.   And for those of you interested in working in the industry but without moving to a remote destination – many of these jobs can actually be done while working from your current location.
So how many of these jobs are there, anyway?   Quite honestly, it is hard to give a definite number.     But at the time of writing this article, there are nearly 80+ dive centers in the country, and the sport has not even started to enter its boom phase.   So the opportunities are there – certainly, we are always on the lookout for good instructors, not just in the Andamans but also in the various cities, and so is virtually every other dive center that we know.
And with this industry growth comes the opportunity to carve out a larger role for yourself, as well – making this not just a job but also a potential career.   So don’t just in your office cubicle dreaming about a fun, active lifestyle – go ahead and take the plunge!

Note:

*This is the minimum time to complete the pre-requisites and also the training course for that level
**This is for the training only and is meant to be indicative only – prices vary from location to location.  It does not include meals, stay, personal expenses
***This varies by location, experience, specific role of the candidate, other skills that they bring to the table, etc.
The author, Vinnie, is India’s first and most experienced Instructor Trainer, with over 10 years experience teaching instructor candidates, nearly 20 years as a dive professional and over 25 years as a diver.
May 25 2018
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How to pick a dive center when doing your Divemaster program

By Andaman scuba diving course, Articles, Blogs, Scuba Diving Andamans, Scuba diving Courses, Training
The Divemaster course is a great step forwards for divers looking to become a part of the dive industry – as a PADI professional, they become part of the largest association of dive professionals in one of the coolest sports on (or is that under?) the planet, with employment opportunities all over the world.     The sport is just starting to take off in India and there are tremendous opportunities all over the country.   So obviously, for someone looking to become a dive professional, this is a very critical step in their professional development.
Even if someone isn’t looking to work as a dive pro, the Divemaster course allows them to really expand their horizons when it comes to their dive skills and involvement in the sport.    And either way, it is a fairly large commitment of time and effort – and a not-insignificant amount of money either.
So here are a few things to keep in mind when picking a place to do your DM program.
The next most important question is something you ask yourself – why are you doing the DM course?     Is it because you want to work in the industry?   Is it because you want the personal satisfaction of having that black professional’s card?   Is it because you want a break from work?    Or is it because you just want a few weeks of discounted diving?    Each of these are perfectly valid reasons – this is a sport and you get to make the call on what you like, and what you want.   But in each of these cases, you need to be absolutely honest about why you are doing the course.
Let me go use a college analogy:  just as the same degree can be taught very differently in a liberal-arts college vs a technical-focused college (or even two similar types of colleges), so too the DM course can be taught very differently across dive centers.    So you need to make sure that a dive center’s teaching philosophy is in line with your expectations above.   For example, at DIVEIndia, our focus is on preparing qualified dive professionals who are ready to work at a dive center (most often our own!) afterwards.   So our training has a very heavy emphasis on diver control, safety and also in assisting instructors (if you can handle students, you can handle certified divers), as well as in developing judgement, decision-making & professionalism (which occasionally translates into a little ’tough love’ from an instructor :)).    For candidates who are looking to get a month of relaxed diving for free, this is not a good fit.   But given how virtually all our Divemaster candidates who want to work in the industry have gone on to do so, we are obviously doing something right in our chosen area of focus.
Another thing to keep in mind that the Divemaster course is going to be very different from any other program that you have done so far.      Till now, every program that you have done consists of a set of skills you have to learn, which is a binary state:  either you know the skill or you don’t (simplifying a little – there are different levels of learning, but we dont need to get into that yet).   The DM course also has quite a few areas that are similar (theory, watermanship, dive skills), but these are only a small subset of what makes a professional.      Just as with any other job, there are a lot of soft skills that make the difference between a good dive professional and a mediocre one.   And those are the skills that are harder to grade:  how do you score “decision making” or “judgement” or “professionalism”?   These arent attributes which you either HAVE or DONT HAVE – they are skills that are constantly evolving.
The impact on this depends on what your goals are – if you are planning to work in the industry, then you want to develop your judgement, decision-making and professionalism.    So you want a dive center that will customize the program to some degree to cater to your strengths and weaknesses.    On the other hand, if you are looking for a break from work, then it may be better to do your course somewhere where it is taught in a standardized manner to groups of Divemaster Trainees (DMTs), so there is a more social and group aspect to the training.     Again – no right or wrong:  whatever fits your needs best.
Furthermore, what is the training philosophy of the dive center?   For example, at DIVEIndia, we generally go well beyond the minimum requirements for candidates, customizing the training as per each person’s requirements.   But, as we explain during the initial orientation, we expect DMTs to be more proactive about their learning, and to question/challenge/ask, as opposed to passively waiting to be hand-fed everything they need to know.     No matter what the personality of the candidate, there is a certain baseline we expect all candidates to achieve, but when it comes to the ceiling, that is set by the DMT and his or her interests and drive.   We feel it is a good preparation for life as a dive professional, and that’s how we operate.   For someone who isnt comfortable with this, a more “standardized” approach may be more appealing.
Continuing the training philosophy approach – every person has their own style of working.     A large part of being a good and effective working dive professional (Divemaster or Instructor) is finding your own style and continuing to develop and refine it.   For that to happen, you need to be exposed to different instructors and see how they do things, so you can pick and choose.   You need to be able to question them – why did you do it THIS way and not THAT way?    And you need to have the freedom to absorb elements from each instructor and create your own approach.     Does the program let you do this?
Another point to consider is – should you do the DM course or do an internship?   Depending on how the program is structured, internships can sometimes cost more or less.  Some dive shops trade off the DM program in  exchange for labor – you fill tanks, load/unload the boat, clean gear, etc.   In such cases, the training costs may be offset – and this is a good option for people looking for a bunch of inexpensive dives.   Other dive shops (like us) charge more for the internship – our internship includes 40 dives, but these are training dives and the candidate is not working as shop staff.       Hence the difference – again, a matter of training philosophy.
So should you do a training internship or not?    The barebones DM course meets the minimum requirements (which are fairly thorough, to be clear) and is a good option for those who want a DM card for personal reasons, but for those looking to work in the industry, we always recommend an internship – usually, these programs are a lot more immersive in nature than just a barebones DM course.  And because you are better assimilated in the dive shop, there is a greater scope for informal learning.  Lastly, those soft skills i mentioned earlier:  those always improve.   The more experience you have, the better you get in those areas.   And the better a professional you become.
There are also a few nitty-gritty type of questions to ask – what is the experience level of the  dive center and the instructors, how many dives are included in the package or internship, what are your specific roles and responsibilities?    This last part is especially important if your goal is to get in a lot of discounted dives – there are dive centers where the DM course is traded off for free labor:   DMTs get to lead dives and in exchange, they load/unload the boats, they fill the tanks, clean the gear, etc.    Again, for someone looking to get a bunch of cheap dives in, this may be a better fit than a program like ours, for example, where the emphasis is not so much on “fun diving” as on “learning” (although hopefully, both “fun” and “diving” are involved-  otherwise, why are we doing this???).
Lastly, there is also the question of what agency to go with.    If you are doing this for personal reasons, find a dive center whose philosophy matches yours, and a good instructor who will be managing the program – agency doesn’t matter.    If you are doing this tog et a bunch of dives in, find a good location where you will enjoy the diving.    If you want to work in the industry, or freelance when you travel, then your 2 main choices are PADI or SSI.   In the absence of any specific reason for one agency or the other, our general recommendation is PADI (and to be clear – we used to recommend this even when we were both PADI and SSI), for three main reasons:  (1) there are a lot more PADI dive centers than SSI dive centers, so odds of finding a job are higher if you go with PADI,   (2) as an SSI dive pro, you have to be affiliated with a specific dive center;  as a PADI pro, you can work independently  and (3) if you want to be multi-agency qualified, it is cheaper to first become a PADI pro and then cross over to SSI (especially at the instructor level).
You’ll note that we didn’t mention money.    This may come across as self-serving, but money should be the last thing you look at this level.    Do you pick a college based on tution?   So why would you devalue the quality of your professional training?   Even if you aren’t planning to work as a dive pro but are doing this for personal reasons, you should still make sure you find a good fit between your requirements and the dive center’s philosophy first (even those 3 months of fun diving for free can start to get tedious if you are expected to dive every day, without days off, and are working from 5am to 7pm daily).       That is not to say money isn’t important – for sure, if you have a few equivalent options that are equal in all respects except money, go for the cheaper option.    But your initial selection should not be based on money.   Picking a bad fit to save a little money will result in a bad experience and a waste of time and money, not a savings.
If you have read this article, odds are good that you are either planning on doing your DM program, either now or some point down the road.  Hopefully, it gives you a few pointers on what to look for, when it comes to selecting a dive shop.   Feel free to chime in on our Facebook group with your thoughts on this.
Apr 24 2018
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Scuba diving information for beginners: Discover scuba diving

By Articles, Scuba diving Courses, Training

Scuba diving information for beginners


6 Important Tips for first time Discover Scuba Diving (DSD/ Try Dive) participants.

So you are going to the Andamans (or any other diving destination) and you want to have a great experience for your first dive (aka, a Discover Scuba Dive or Try Dive)  – how do you ensure that?
In theory, diving courses all follow more or less the same procedural standards.   However, in practice, there are enormous differences between the same program, conducted to the same standards (hopefully!), just as 2 different schools, both following the same curriculum, can have very different teaching outcomes.     While the program is standardized with international standards, how it conducted and the experience/attitude of the instructor conducting the program makes a big difference in the quality of your dive program.      And how the program is conducted also matters – does it follow a “one size fits all” approach or is the program tailored to account for each person’s comfort level?
So here are a few tips that you can follow, to ensure that you have a great experience for your first dive – one that you will rave about to your friends for a long time, or even hook you to the sport for life!
1/  Set your expectations
What do you want to get out of the program?   Do you just want to check it off a list, and perhaps get a few photos for social media but nothing beyond that? If so, pretty much any dive shop will do.   However, doing that is selling yourself short, in my opinion.
A good diving  experience is *magical* – you are weightless in the water, a sensation similar to flying, and are surrounded by lots of fish and marine life, seeing more action in an hour than you would in a week on safari.      If you are going through the program, why not try to have a richer experience, where you are an active participant in the program, as opposed to just passively being dragged around for 15 min?      The sad part is, because beginners don’t have any basis for comparison, they typically don’t realize how much they are missing out when they do such a bare-bones passive program – its the difference between seeing animals in the zoo vs being on safari.
2/  Dive with a reputable school and with qualified dive professionals
Sounds obvious, right?   But be careful if you are on a package trip with diving included – a mainland-based Andamans holiday operator does not know much about diving, and only cares about signing with an operator who provides the lowest possible rates (and some of those trade rates go very low indeed, with agents using competition among diving operators to their benefit).      So while you may be paying the regular price for the diving, but there can be a big difference in how much a dive center actually earns from the dive.
A reputable dive shop sets its program standards first, and then sets a price for it, knowing that dropping the price too low will mean a reduction in quality.    However, as diving grows in popularity, there are enough operators chasing the money, who are willing to offer diving at cut-rate prices:  and guess what that means you get?  A sub-standard diving experience.    In many parts of the country, this means dives are led by people who are barely qualified as divers, let alone being certified dive professionals (a requirement to conduct any scuba program with beginners).     They have minimal knowledge of safety procedures, or even how to make the experience more fun and enriching.   And if something goes wrong, it is your safety that is at risk.
So always ask if the dive center itself is accredited with an agency and check to see the qualification card of the person conducting your program – it should read Instructor or Divemaster, depending on the program.   Anything less, and you dont have a qualified person leading your dive.
3/  Don’t rely on local agents and taxi drivers
What we wrote above about mainland-based travel agents holds doubly so for local agents or taxi drivers.
Atleast the mainland agent has taken your money and perhaps wants to build a longer-term relationship with you as his client.   The local agents or taxi drivers will be motivated entirely by the commission they get from the dive center with zero interest in making sure you have the best dive experience possible.    We have heard some amazing yarns being told by taxi drivers about other dive centers in an effort to convince their clients to go to the dive center of their choice.
Do your research online instead.
4/ Check how the program is conducted
If you have seen a safari jeep crammed with 8 people and being driven around by disinterested guides, vs had a private jeep with an experienced naturalist, you know how different a safari experience can be, even when conducted in the same area and seeing the same things.       Similarly, even when a dive center is reputable and follows program standards and has qualified dive professionals, there can be a big difference in your experience.
The first thing to check for is – does the program follow a cookie-cutter formula (5 min to put on gear, 10 min to do skills, 10 min out, 10 min back, done) or is it customized to take into account each diver’s comfort level?    If you are comfy in the water, the former may work for you.   But if you are nervous, or more interested in specific marine life, a more customized program may be a better option.    Now obviously, there are limits to how much customization you can get before the price increases significantly, but at the very least, the dive shop should be prepared to spend more time and tweak the program a little for nervous divers, for example.
Some other questions to ask:
– Is the program being conducted by agency standards (PADI or SSI)?
– Is your program registered with the agency (this has some benefits to you, not the least being that it makes your program auditable for adherence to training standards)?
– Does the dive shop maintain a compressor log and change the filters regularly?
– Do you complete a full set of paperwork, do you get a detailed briefing (video or verbal) explaining the program, the basic theory behind diving and also the risks (so that you can make an informed choice)?
– Do you complete a medical form (big red flag about safety standards if you don’t)
– Will you get enough time to practice the skills yourself and get comfortable?
Also, trust the vibe you get from the dive center!    You are doing this for fun, and the dive center’s vibe should match your own expectations for how you want to spend your day.    If you want a relaxed program, and the dive center is very strict about timings, process, etc., then even if they conduct a very thorough program, you won’t enjoy it as much.   Or vice versa.
 
5/  Be wary of huge discounts
Yes, it may be a little self-serving for us to be writing this, but honestly, we’ve all been (and still are) on the other end of this equation:  we all go on diving holidays as well, and one thing none of us do – despite being professionals with thousands of dives under our belts – is pick a dive center based on the lowest cost.    Do you pick schools or hospitals purely based on price?     If you are going to spend tens of thousands of rupees – or more – to fly all the way to the Andamans, then trying to save a few hundred rupees and picking the cheapest operator (see point #1 above) is false economy.
Focus on finding a dive center which is professional, has qualified dive leaders and which has a vibe you enjoy.     It is better to spend a little more and have a great time, vs saving a little and not really enjoying yourself.
Diving is a sport where the costs are fairly standard worldwide (dive professional salaries are similar across the world, dive gear costs the same and so on), so prices are fairly standardized in similar destinations (eg, popular high-volume destinations tend to be similarly priced,  remote locations tend to be similarly priced, and so on).    If you are getting a price that is significantly lower than average for the destination, then be suspicious.
6/  Review medical requirements before leaving on your trip
Diving is a safe sport and for Discover Scuba Diving / Try Dive programs, the medical requirements are quite minimal.   But there are still a few medical conditions which, in some cases, can increase your risk in diving – only your doctor is in a position to determine if those risks are applicable or not.   Not the dive center.    So if you answer “yes” to any of the listed medical conditions, reputable dive shops will not take you diving without a doctor’s clearance.
Please don’t argue this decision – if a company which earns money from taking you diving is refusing to do so, on the grounds of safety, they have good reason to for this.    And it involves YOUR safety.   In a lot of these cases, a doctor’s clearance solves the issue.    So if you have any pre-existing medical conditions, contact a dive center before your trip for a medical form, show it to your doctor and get a clearance before coming to the Andamans.
SUMMARY
Diving is not rocket science.    All it takes is a desire on your part to experience the underwater world, and a commitment on the part of the dive professional to ensure that you have the best possible time.    Sadly, that is not the case and too many people leave the Andamans having gotten an experience that is only a fraction of what could have been.   Which is a shame – a properly conducted program should wow you, and leave you raring to dive more.
Here at Diveindia, our programs are conducted by dive professionals, who have spent several months assisting after getting their pro certification before they take divers out independently.    We are owned and operated by divers, not businessmen sitting in a remote office, and we want to make sure you have such a great time that you continue your diving journey after this by doing a certification course and becoming a trained scuba diver.    Our programs are conducted one-on-one, based on PADI Discover Scuba Diving standards, and yes, you are registered with PADI at the end of the program.
Whether you dive with us or someone else, we encourage you to do your homework and support a professional, competent dive center.    You will have a better experience as a result.
Mar 20 2018
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9 Best Places (Dive Sites) to Scuba Dive in 2018

By Articles, Dive Sites

9 Best Places (Dive Sites) to Scuba Dive in 2018

  • Maldives
  • Raja Ampat
  • Komodo
  • Sri Lanka
  • South Africa
  • Egypt
  • Maldives
  • Andamans

Maldives: A destination that is on every divers bucket list and with good reason. Pretty much THE place to go to for sightings of enigmatic pelagic fish. The mantas of the Maldives are rightly famous, with their playful curiosity making dives with them highly memorable. It doesn’t end there. Visit during the high season for a good chance to spot whale sharks too. Famous dive sites like Maya Thila, Hafsa Thila, Miyaru Kandu cover a range of underwater terrian, from beautiful reefscape, to narrow channels through which currents rush bringing in large predators like grey reef sharks, nurse sharks, devil and eagle rays and other predatory animals.

Accessible to all levels of experience, year round, the experienced diver who wants something different should consider an itinerary that takes in the islands of the Southern atolls.

 

Raja Ampat: The epicentre of biodiveristy for tropical waters, the numbers for this destination speak for themselves. Called a ‘species factory’, the archipelago boast 1300 species of fish, 600 species of hard coral, 700 species of mollusc, 13 marine mammal species and more. Above water, the varied topography of the islands around MIsool make for extremely photogenic memories. With new species being discovered constantly, Raja Ampat offers plenty of surprises for divers who make the long journery to this part of western Papua.

Consider: If you have the time, try and explore the area around Triton Bay which is slowly getting more and more attention for it’s endless fields of soft coral, and resident pilot whales.

 

 

Komodo : Like Raja Ampat, but with the volume turned up to 11. It may not have the same number of species as Raja Ampat, but Komodo makes sure you never forget your dives there by making sure to throw everything possible at you on any given dive. Max currents? Check. Big stuff? Check. Little stuff? Check. All on one dive. Check! Encompassed within one of the largest marine protected areas in the World, there is no end to the number of dive sites that one can explore here.

Consider: Most land based operators and liveaboards operating out of Labuan Bajo are an economical way to explore the Northern side of the park, but spending a little more can get you on a liveboard that will explore the North and Southern side of the park that has extremely different diving and a different range of species.

 

 

Sipadan : One of the most famed coral reef drops off in SE Asia, and probably one of the best destinations to observe turtles. Dive along sheer vertical walls that drop to 600 metres while marvelling at the massive schools of barelling baracuda, and trevalli. Keep an eye out for grey reef, and hammerhead sharks at depth, and then on your ascent try and keep a track of the number of turtles you see. Finish your dives by listening out for the huge school of bumphead parrot fish crunching through acres and acres of gorgeous coral coral reef.

It’s isn’t all just about Sipadan though, the surrounding islands of Mabul, Kapalai, Mantabuan and Sibuan offer avid divers the choice of relaxed dives where they can check off their macro species sightings, as well as some speedy drift dives over gentle sloping reef.

 

 

Sri Lanka : A dive destination that typically isn’t on most people’s radar, the best diving is on the west coast, and solely focused on wrecks. Dive amongst the wrecks of modern cargo carriers, peep through the port holes of historic World War 1 & 2 wrecks, swim through the skeletal remains of ships that haven’t even been identified. It’s isn’t all just lumps of old metal though. The richness of the Arabian Sea means that these dive sites have healthy resident fish populations, as well as beautiful soft coral colonies. In recent years, there has also been an increase in whale shark sightings too, all of which make the short hop over to this gorgeous island worthwhile.

 

 

 

South Africa : Possibly, THE destination to go to for sightings of enigmatic large predators. The diving around Aliwaal Shoal is famous for massive schooling fish populations, resident Ragged Tooth sharks, and the chance to dive with hammerheads, tiger sharks and bull sharks. Come June and July, and the season for the Sardine Run begins. Dubbed the largest show on Earth, this is an incredible natural event that allows divers and snorkellers witness penguins, gannets, sharks, dolphins and whales hunt a bait ball of millions and millions of sardines.

Consider : Exploring the vast coastline of Mozambique, famed for it’s whale shark and manta ray encounters.

 

 

Egypt : Reefs, wrecks and pelagics. Three things that Egypt has a lot of. With the choice of land based or liveaboard diving, all to dive sites that boast crystal clear water, this stretch of the Red Sea is a great way to add to your dive count without breaking the bank. Descend the deep walls of Brothers, Daedulus and Elphinstone for a chance to spot hammerhead and oceanic white tip sharks. Sail the northern waters on a wreck specific tour and dive the wrecks of SS Thistlegorm, Roalie Moller, Salem Express, and more. With inumerable dive sites to choose from, the liveaboards here are a great way to get up to 20 odd dives on a trip and give your dive count a huge boost.

Consider : The more adventurous can try a liveaboard in Sudan, the less explored part of the Red Sea.

 

 

Bali : It may not have the bucket destination cachet like Komodo or Raja Ampat, but what Bali does have going for it is easy access from India, a seemingly endless amount of choice of accommodation and dining options to suit all budgets, and by our reckoning the prize for the most varied diving you can do in a week. The waters of Padang Bai are great for courses, and fun divers looking to sight macro and wide angle classics. A short van drive to Amed lets you walk into the famous USS Liberty wreck dive and glimpse a piece of World War 2 history. Boat across to Nusa Penida and you may get lucky with sightings of Mola Mola and Manta rays. Drift along the coralline walls of Nusa Lembongan in strong oceanic currents. ONce done, return to your luxurious resort and while away time doing as you please. Preferably with a cold Bintang beer. 😉

 

 

 

Andamans: We’ll be up front: When it comes to any particular type of diving, there are better places in the world. Macro? Go to Lembeh. Big fish? Go to South Africa. Sharks and turtles? Go to Sipadan (and we do – join our Outbound trips to these destinations!).  However, when it comes to having everything in one place, the Andamans are  very hard to beat. You get a lot of macro, including exotics like mimic octopus and ambon scorpionfish; large schools of pelagics (tuna, trevally and more) as well as regular sightings of sharks and mantas. In addition, the reefs are home to a very high variety of marine life – despite being physically close to Thailand, the marine life here is more similar to that of Indonesia, which isn’t surprising, as the Andamans are geographically an extension of those islands.

 

And because there is no large-scale commercial fishing here, not only do you get variety, you get quantity as well. You won’t see a few barracudas – you’ll see a school of hundred. Thirty or forty trevally are a regular sight swooping through the reefs in attack formation. And the biomass on the reefs is amazing as well – rivers of snapper and fusiliers flowing around divers on many of the sites. It is the sort of diving where there is stuff to see the entire dive. And because the reefs are always changing, the sites are very repeatable. You can go to the same site for 5 days in a row and have a different dive each day!

Jan 02 2018
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Our Journey: 1st Dive Shop in the Andamans

By Articles, Dive Sites, Press, Scuba Diving Andamans

DISCOVERING HAVELOCK:  THE EARLY DAYS

It was a small island, about 2 hours by boat from Havelock, with high, rocky crags, occupied only by a pair of nesting eagles and some egrets, all of whom watched with mild curiosity as our boat got closer.   None of the islanders knew much about it or what to expect around it – diving and snorkeling were absolute novelties back then – and all I had to go on was a sea chart, whose topography hinted that the reefs around this island, called South Button, would be different.   Despite my best efforts to stay calm and focused on the exploration, I could feel my excitement mounting.

The water itself was a bright azure, with gold flecks of sunlight reflecting off it, inviting me in while remaining mysterious – even so close, I still couldnt tell what lay on the bottom, about 80 feet below the boat.   What fascinating corals were underneath?   What reef fish would I see? Would there by any sharks swimming by?   Would there be any turtles or manta rays passing by?    

A short while later, I jumped in the water, did my safety checks and gave the “all ok” sign to the boat crew before starting my descent to the bottom: in a few seconds, I would see what secrets the ocean bottom held here!

People with a desire for exploration and discovery live in the wrong era these days.   With virtually the entire world viewable with your finger-tips, thanks to Google Maps, the days of Dr Livingstone and Lewis and Clark are well and truly behind us.

However, to an extent, the oceans present the one remaining frontier where discovery is still possible; but even here, exploration usually involves either a substantial bank account or wealthy backers: boats, crew & equipment are not cheap.   Moreover, the diving industry is reasonably mature and in most places, the days of exploration and discovery are in the past, as most of the dive spots have already been found.   However, the dream remains alive: every scuba diver – an explorer in his/her own way – has visions of going out diving and discovering a new reef or a new dive site, and seeing something that no other human has seen before.

Thus, when a chance trip to the Andamans in 2000, and a few trips out on local hired fishing boats showed me the undiscovered, untapped potential of the place, I was hooked. I took a year off work and spent 6 months here, diving and exploring the blue waters.

Havelock was, in a word, magical – truly pristine in every sense of the word, with only a handful of hardy backpackers making their way over. Life went on, and the fact that a visitor or two had been deposited on the island was of no consequence. There were a handful of rooms available for rent, most of them right on the beach, and unless you brought your own fish, meals were whatever the owner’s wife had cooked (or been persuaded to cook) that day.

Those were truly frontier days – there was no mobile or internet connectivity on the islands, I’d go out on small fishing boats and explore based on intuition derived from looking at sea charts and speaking to fishermen.     On the way back, we’d string a line in the water and catch a trevally or a barracuda, which would be grilled for dinner that night.   Rise with the sun, go out exploring, come back and sleep shortly after sunset.

And in those 6 months, the urge for discovery fueled me to dive like a man possessed, going out daily.   That made for some interesting and some scary times.   I remember going out early one morning to see if we could track whales, which should have been moving up the coast at that time of the year.   We went out into the open sea in a small fishing canoe and started searching – and soon found not a whale but a monster of a storm that came upon us suddenly.   The foaming waves were welling at over 2 meters, dwarfing our tiny canoe as we turned tail and fled before the storm’s wrath.   We made it back ok, but all our gear had been washed off the boat.   And I got a talking-to from both the fisherman and his wife, for my hare-brained obsession with diving, and was advised to give up all this madness, get married and settle down with a respectable job instead.

Sadly, that advice rolled off my back and I kept the exploration going.   And thus it was that a fine sunny summer day found me getting in the water not far from South Button island.

The anticipation didn’t last long – the moment my head went into the water, the first thing I was a large sea snake, gliding by me in crystal clear waters.   I watched it for a while and slowly started descending to the bottom.   Before I could get there, a school of barracuda came swimming by me, slowly and elegantly, their curious eyes watching me as they passed by.   And then, I saw the bottom and my jaw almost dropped: below me, was one of the biggest and varied coral garden I had seen anywhere in the world.   It extended out for about 300m ahead and about 30m wide, with corals growing so thick that I couldn’t see the ocean floor.   And swimming around in this were hundreds upon hundreds of the most colorful and varied fish I had ever seen – far more than in the Caribbean and Egypt, two of the world’s most popular dive destinations, and orders of magnitude better than anything in Thailand.   And best of all – I was the first person to actually see this nature’s wonder.   I still get goose-bumps at the thought.

Fast forward some years.   My sabbatical from work became a career change to start DIVEIndia, and thus, Havelock had its first professional dive center.     We searched for, and discovered more world-class sites which we named after our dive professionals at the time – and as word of Johnny’s Gorge, Dixon’s Pinnacle and Jackson’s Bar started to spread, the diving in the Andamans started to grow as well.

Interesting anecdote about Dixon’s Pinnacle – we discovered it on what was the 8th or 9th drop on that day.   And we managed to save the wrong coordinates in the GPS.   The next day, I took a couple of divers out there, who were all excited by the prospect of this amazing site… and ended up diving a rock that was about 2 feet high and 3 feet across. Hmmm, this sure looked a lot bigger yesterday, I thought to myself while my bemused divers gave each other looks as if to say “ok, this really is not THAT interesting”.  So on the surface interval that day, I had to go “discover” Dixon’s Pinnacle all over again.

And not long afterwards, the frontier days started to come to an end.   More dive centers set up shop, and diving has now become an industry, with an ever-increasing number of visitors coming to experience the underwater world: and with good reason.  Right here in our background, we have some of the best diving in the world – no need to leave India!

There are places elsewhere in the world which may be better in any given area: more big stuff (sharks, mantas, etc), a great variety of soft corals, or more macro life (the amazing array of incredibly colored and shaped critters).   But very few places combine the same range of species – everything from tiny to giant – in one place, and especially in such high densities.   The absence of excessive fishing (long-lines, large nets) has meant that the fish density in the Andamans is higher than most places in the world.   A dive could turn up a couple of sharks, a large turtle, a few hundred barracudas, a few giant groupers, a school of twenty trevally hunting on the reefs, a few tuna in the background and of course, all the usual denizens of a reef: fusiliers, octopii, butterflyfish and angelfish, wrasses, parrofish and the ever-popular clownfish.   And this would constitute a typical dive!

And the best thing is, this underwater world is accessible to virtually anyone over the age of 10 who is in good physical health – starting from a half-day introductory dive with an instructor for those who just want to have a taste of this world, to 2-4 days certification/training courses for those who want to learn to dive and do it on a regular basis, to 6-month instructor courses for those who have found their nirvana underwater!

However, Havelock still represents only a fraction of the underwater world in the Andamans.   Neil Island, just to the south of islands, has escaped the notice of most visitors, and still retains the same untouched look and feel of Havelock from a decade ago.     And then there are the entire uncharted north Andamans, especially the atolls on the western coast of the islands, where my research indicates the presence of a few shipwrecks, and where the whale migration comes very close to the islands.     So while the frontier may have moved, it isn’t gone – and I for one am already planning our next exploratory expedition to the north, where a Japanese ship was sunk by Allied bombers during World War 2, and should be resting in 45m of water, a snapshot of the past awaiting re-discovery!

 

[Vinnie is a NAUI Course Director, SSI Instructor Trainer and PADI Staff Instructor, and has been awarded the Platinum Pro rating, given by an independent committee to only a handful of the most experienced instructors in the world.   He is the founder of DIVEIndia, the oldest and largest dive center in the Andamans, and has been diving in Havelock since 2000]

Nov 09 2017
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Scuba Diving Articles

We’re a PADI 5 STAR DIVE CENTRE!

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Hello everyone!
We are pleased to announce that effective immediately, we have become a PADI 5-STAR DIVE CENTER, and are going to be offering exclusively PADI training for recreational diving (although if you have already booked an SSI course with us, don’t worry – we will complete that course with you).
As many of you know, we have been a SSI Platinum Instructor Training Facility since 2009 and a SSI Dive Center since 2005 – back then, we were a small dive center struggling to establish ourselves and the Andamans on the diving map, and the flexibility and support SSI Thailand, led by their head, Gary Hawkes, showed us was an immense help as we grew to where we are.    And we’d like to think that we have since then contributed in our own way to helping SSI develop a presence in the country.   So this was a decision that took us a long time to reach.
In the end, the decision to go PADI was driven by the question that drives every aspect of our operations:   how can we offer the best training to our divers?
Over the past decade, the training curriculum of the two agencies have converged fairly significantly, both in terms of training and also costs.  It no longer made any sense for us to offer 2 agencies, and deal with the complications of 2 separate sets of paperwork, processes and instructor rosters.     Streamlining to one agency helps us standardise and improve the efficiency our own course processes, in terms of structuring water sessions, classroom time and skills development.    Also when all instructors are working from the same baseline in terms of course structure, we are better able to disseminate our institutionalised best practices for each of those courses.      Lastly, it also helps us to manage the complexity of conducting training across 5 different locations (2 in the Andamans, 3 in mainland India).
Ultimately, we felt that the structure of the most recent version of the PADI courses allowed us to cater to the needs of our student divers more effectively, and also matched our own internal philosophy of what it takes to train someone as a qualified diver (and not just a certified diver), and we decided the time had come to make the switch.
One other benefit of this is that we will now be offering PADI Instructor Development Courses as well, for those of you who want to become instructors.   As the largest diver training agency in the world, the PADI instructor rating is probably the most coveted and professionally useful of recreational instructor ratings, and we look forward to providing this training to our divers.   More details on this coming soon as well.
PADI has made a tremendous commitment to developing the scuba diving industry in India by focusing on improving quality standards and creating more environmentally AWARE divers, and we are very excited to work with them and help shape the future of the industry into one where more and more people adopt it as a lifestyle (and not just a one-and-done program served as part of a package tour) and also become ambassadors for the ocean and its marine life.
5 star PADI resort India
Oct 03 2017
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6 Adventure Sports you cant miss in the Andamans

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6 Adventure sports you can’t miss in the Andmans
I may be biased, but in my opinion, the 2 best things to do in the Andamans are dive and then relax on the beach with a nice book.   That sums up the island experience that makes these islands so magical – the easy-paced lifestyle, the greenery and the lack of nightclubs, bars and other bastions of “modern civilization”.
That said, we are willing to accept the possibility that some people – strange as it may seem – will not be satisfied by this, and are actually looking for things to do which keep them busy and also let them explore the islands in more detail.  Fair point – i am congenitally incapable of sitting still when i am on holiday, and the idea of spending my entire vacation loafing by the beach or poolside doesnt work for me either.    So here are some suggestions on a few things for the intrepid island explorer to do in the Andamans.
1.   Scuba diving: 
Ok, we are kinda belaboring the obvious here, but for good reason.    There are very few places in the world which have a similar amount of bio-mass on the reefs, thanks to the fact that there isnt a lot of large-scale trawling here.   Enjoy it while it lasts, because there aren’t many places in the world which offer this.   And diving is an activity which has many levels – ranging from easy guided intro dives for beginners, to more immersive programs for people more interested in the underwater world (and willing to commit the time to the sport).    So really, if you are coming all this way, do take advantage of this and dive.     Do keep in mind that diving is not a commodity activity – just as 2 colleges arent the same and the quality of professors has a great effect on a student’s experience there, not all dive centers are created equally.   Do your research (and this is true not just for the Andamans but everywhere in the world).       Diving can be done in Havelock (the best established dive destination in the region), Neil or Port Blair.
2.  Snorkel:
Snorkeling is often considered the “lesser” cousin of diving, mainly because it isnt as immersive – you are on the surface, looking down at fish, where on scuba, you are down there surrounded by the fish.  That’s a fair point.  On the other hand, diving is equipment intensive and somewhat limiting in terms of schedule, whereas snorkeling is something you can do almost anywhere there is a beach and at any time that is convenient.   You don’t need a lot of gear either – just mask, snorkel and fins (these can be had for very cheap, but we recommend getting slightly nicer gear from established manufacturers like Aqualung and Mares – they will last longer and be of better quality).     Snorkeling can be done in Havelock, Neil or Port Blair.
3.  Kayaking:
This activity is still in its infancy, but Tanaz Noble, of Andaman Kayak Tours, runs very high quality kayaking trips in Havelock.  A national-level kayaker, who has done 100km solo kayaking trips, this is a labor of love for her, much as diving is for us, and it shows!    Kayaking provides a very peaceful way to explore the coast of Havelock, without the noise of a boat engine marring the experience.  And obviously, it is good exercise as well (although you do not need to be super-fit to do this – reasonable fitness is more than sufficient).     The kayaking trips combine the kayaking activity with either snorkelling or exploring the mangroves:  the latter is a great way to see some of bird and reptile species of the islands.
4.  Skindiving:

This is the hottest new underwater sport in the world and lets you explore the underwater realm without any specialized equipment.   As the name implies, it is breath-hold diving:  going down and exploring the underwater world in one breathe, surfacing, recovering and repeating.    Participants of the sport call it the most zen-like experience they have had, truly close to flying and with the added bonus of utter silence, without any intrusive bubbles.   It does require a little more fitness, swimming skills and commitment than scuba – but then, nothing good is ever really easy, right?     Diveindia offers skin diving classes in season in Havelock, the first center in India to do so.

Video Credit: Andrey Sokolov

5.  Jungle Hikes:
At this point, we start to point you to the fact that there is a LOT more to the Andamans than Havelock and Neil.    The entire North Andamans awaits – Rangat, Mayabunder, Diglipur.   The last is home to Saddle Peak, the tallest peak in the Andamans and an excellent hiking destination (and very good birding as well).   And as an added bonus – you won’t see a single package tourist being driven around from beach to beach in a car, either.     There are shorter jungle walks available in Havelock and Port Blair (Mount Harriet and Chidiya Tapu) as well.   One thing all these walks have in common:   the amazing, prime-growth rainforest that you will be walking in, with birds and reptiles to be spotted.
6.  Cycling:
If you are in Havelock, consider doing your daily traveling on the island by bicycle.   From Village #3, the roads go 9km towards Radhanagar Beach, 9km towards Kalapathar and 3km towards the jetty.   So all easy cycling distances, and all of them are flat, except for the last 5km stretch towards Radhanagar, which has a few short climbs (you can always push your bike up the steep sections – they arent that long).   Get some exercise, soak in the fresh air, and explore the island in a more leisurely manner, rather than whizzing by on car:   where’s the downside, again?   Bicycles are easily available for rent in Havelock.
Jan 28 2017
Love5

Inter-tidal walks

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Left by the tide, right by your feet

Sunny days by the beach are best spent taking a cooling dip in the sea. Wait for the tide to rise and once there is enough water to swim in, make a dash for it. Even better if you have a mask and snorkel to take with you. Now that is what most would say.  But, have you ever waited for the tide to recede before getting into the sea?

What could there possibly be to do or see when there is practically no water, you ask? The short answer to that would be –prepare to be amazed. 

The ‘inter-tidal zone’ is that stretch of the ocean that can go from being fully submerged during a high tide, to holding as less as one foot of water at low tides. The receding water gradually begins to expose the hidden ‘rocky shore’ ecosystem- a magical world waiting to be explored.

Left by the tide, right by your feet

Credit: Gunnhild

It was a sunny and clear day here at DIVEIndia. Sharmila and I had just rounded up an army of nine kids who had been eagerly waiting to head out for a low tide walk. We had promised them that we would spend all afternoon looking for crazy critters of the sea.

The moment we set foot on the beach, the first questions began coming in. Touching the wet sand, one of the kids asked “Wasn’t the water up till here in the morning?”

Another wondered “Where did all those rocks come from?”, followed by “What made all the water disappear?

We talked about the moon and tides and what makes the pretty patterns in the sand. We spoke about how the intertidal zone is a place of extreme environments. How animals and plants found in this stretch of the sea have adapted to extreme fluctuations in water levels, water temperature, oxygen and salt.

We hopped across the rocks and waded through the shallow pools that formed in between, looking for any sign of movement- something crawling here, something darting there and sometimes, something slithering under our feet. Each time one of us spotted something, there would be an excited “Oh my, what is that?!” and within no time there would be circle of curious kids squatting around the critter that was just spotted.

Blog DIVEIndia Sharmila Mondal

Credit: Sharmila Monda

A common sentiment shared by all who have come on these walks with us, kids and adults alike, has been absolute surprise and amazement at how full of life this intertidal space actually is. All we have to do is squat, wait and something beautifully bizarre will emerge right before our eyes. From crabs, wormsand snails to many species of coral, sponges, juvenile fish and marine plants. We’re also keeping an eye out for the occasional mantis shrimp, octopus and sea snake too!

Natasha Jeyasingh

Spider Conch. Credit: Natasha Jeyasingh

Intertidal walks have also been a great space for conversations about conservation. Looking at the stunning architecture of the rocky sandy shore, yet finding vast tracts of dead coral. Seeing hundreds of hermit crabs scuttling about carrying their homes made of shells lying on the beach, while walking past a wide variety of plastic trash.

Hermit crab blending in with washed up coral. Image courtesy -Natasha Jeyasingh

Hermit crab blending in with washed up coral. Credit: Natasha Jeyasingh

Everyone leaves with a renewed sense of awe, while  also realising how degradation is slowly setting in and wondering what can be done to understand and conserve these beautiful places.

For starters,  as visitors to these beautiful seashore ecosystems, it’s time we start gathering more knowledge than we do shells. 🙂

Read about ‘The Highest Tide‘ a novel by Jim Lynch, our #OceanLove book of the month for July 2018

We now offer a variety of marine ecology programs, both diving (covering reefs, surveys, fish identification and more) and non-diving (covering not just the reefs but also mangroves and coastal eco-systems).    These can be taken as stand-alone options or combined with diving packages.    Please contact us for more information on these programs.

Nov 28 2016
Love0

Review: Aqualung Pro HD and Apeks ATX40 Regulator

By Articles, Reviews

Earlier, I had talked about the benefits of owning your own scuba gear, Here, i would like to start by discussing a BCD and a regulator that I have a lot of personal experience with, and which I think are fantastic value for money: the Aqualung Pro HD and the Apeks ATX40 regulator.

APEKS ATX40 REGULATOR

AQUALUNG PRO HD BCD – SHORT REVIEW

The Aqualung Pro HD BCD is a personal favorite of mine.  I owned the previous version of this (Seaquest Pro HD, before they were re-branded) for several years and found it an extremely comfortable jacket-style BCD.     The air pockets have some structure to them, so the air bubbles doesnt move all over the place (as in some other BCDs) and robust tank support and structure in the back means that the tank stays firmly put, without rolling from side to side.

 

This BCD has integrated weights and one feature i consider near-essental – trim pockets.   These are weight pockets located around your shoulders:  by storing 1-2 kg there, you can move the center of your buoyancy higher up, which allows you to get a better, neutral trim (in other words, you can hold any body position you want – horizontal or inclined – without any issues).    This system of distributed weights (2 integrated weight pockets and 2 trim pockets) gives you more ditch options:   if you are diving in cold water where you need to plan for the contingency of dropping weights, this gives you more options as compared to a weight belt (which is all or nothing).

 

The Aqualung Pro HD BCD uses a high-denier fabric, which is more robust, more abrasion-proof and less likely to fade or look raggedy over time.    Lastly, the BCD comes with more than enough lift to handle cold water diving as well (13kg of lift for a size M).     And it has more than enough D-rings and attachment points to hold all your accessories.
As I mentioned earlier, I used to own this many, many years ago and sold it because i was diving with a tech harness only.     In terms of price/performance, this is probably one of the best BCDs in the market today, period.
AQUALUNG PRO HD BCD

APEKS ATX40 REGULATOR – SHORT REVIEW

I am a creature of habit when it comes to scuba.   I don’t chase the latest technology or the fanciest bit of kit (which usually is finicky and more expensive to maintain).    I have been diving with the same Cressi Master Frogs for nearly 2 decades.   And I have been using Apeks regulators for almost 25 years.    Apeks makes very high-end regulators as well, if you want the latest in breathing rates, materials, light weight, etc. etc.     And they make bomb-proof, ultra-reliable workhorse mid-end regulators that simply work, work, work without any fuss.      I’ve always owned their mid-end line, as that’s where I feel the best value lists – my TX50 has gone down to 94m, has been to the Dorea, has done nearly a 1000 dives in cold water (<10C) and has gone embarrassingly long durations between servicing, and yet has performed reliably.   4000-something dives without any issues.
The Apeks ATX40 is the modern day equivalent of my venerable regulator.    It doesnt have the highest-end features and technology (honestly, I dont even know what they are – we are talking regulators, which are basically pressure-assisted springs whose designs haven’t changed for decades).     However, what it does have is the following:
– A very robust design
– Very easy to breathe at all depths you are likely to go to as a recreational diver (and then some)
– Cold water suitable
– Adjustable flow rate controls for surface/underwater (to prevent free flows)
– Comfortable mouthpiece
Again, if you want higher-end regulators, we have them for sale.   But really, other than trying to save a couple of hundred grams in weight, there is very little in the way of actual, tangible performance benefits that you will notice in real-world diving.
Another price/performance leader, and another one that I have a LOT of experience with, and recommend highly.

We have this combo available at a very good price, with your choice of instrumentation – SPG only, SPG+depth gauge or air-integrated computer. And as always, we have further discounts for our diving alumni. Please contact us for more information and pricing.

Nov 28 2016
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The Benefits of Owning Your Own Scuba Gear

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Some 90s rock band had a song which went “Dont know what you’ve got, till its gone”.  Scuba gear works the other way – you often don’t realize what you are missing when you rent gear, until you actually buy your own BCD and regulator.

 

Let’s start with weighting and trim:  Different BCDs have different flotation characteristics. So every time you rent a different brand of BCD, your weighting will need adjustment, as will your trim (where you place those weights). Having your own rig (and matching wetsuit) means that once you dial in your weight amount and positioning to get the ideal trim, you are good to go for all future dives.   Benefit:  More comfort, more streamlining, better air consumption and a more enjoyable experience.

 

Now let’s talk about familiarity and how useful it can be during an emergency. For whatever reason, you have lost your buoyancy and are floating up, legs up. Quick – do you know where the emergency pull dump on your rental BCD is located? Is it on the left or the right hip? Front or back? Or will you have to waste a few seconds in flipping yourself into a vertical orientation and then raising your inflator hose before you are able to purge your gear? What about an air emergency? Where is your octopus stowed? Front pocket? Upper right shoulder? In an octo holder across your chest? All of this affects how quickly you can deploy it in an out-of-air situation and in a real live situation, those extra couple of seconds of fumbling can make the difference between a safe resolution or a panic incident.

 

Familiarity isn’t just for emergencies either – when you dive with the same BCD all the time, you get familiar with how much air the inflators and deflators add/remove. So no more of the “add some air, realize it was too much and then let some out” dance that everyone does. How about donning the BCD in the water or removing the clips – your hand automatically goes where the strap is or the clips are, and you can focus on where the boat is, what your buddy is doing, etc. The less mental attention you devote to your gear, the more mental bandwidth you have to be aware of your situation, your buddy and also to look out for that manta or whaleshark. Never underestimate the importance of muscle memory.

 

Lastly, let’s talk costs. No, this stuff isn’t cheap and we wont pretend it is.   However, when you go on a dive holiday, gear rental can often run a couple of hundred dollars a week. Many places have shore dives and if you have your own gear, you can rent a tank for $10 and go diving with your buddy. Rent gear and that could be $50 more. In other words, do 3-4 trips and your gear has paid for itself – and you get all the benefits above.   With proper care, your gear should last you a very long time. Amortized over the lifespan of the gear, a BCD/reg set can cost you less than Rs 200 per dive. That’s pretty good economics!
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