India Tourism » Scuba Diving in India

If 70 per cent of our world is covered by water, doesn’t it make sense to try and explore some part of this huge, largely hidden universe.

So much of our existence is focused on 30 per cent of dry earth, where we all live and work, yet below the waters lies a world of equal beauty and nature. Below the oceans there are coral reefs of multi-coloured splendour, fishes and shipwrecks, volcanic rocks and currents there is a whole aqua-world just waiting tobe explored

Important tip for Scuba Diving

Meat and potatoes
In order to dive you need equipment, obviously: you need air to breathe down below the surface; a buoyancy device to support the tank of air on your back, a mask, a snorkel, fins, weights to help you get down below the water but before the list of equipment starts to put you off, rest assured. Most dive centres hire the equipment service it and refill the tank, so you just turn up and enjoy your dive.

Before you dive you need to be a competent swimmer and before you dive youneed to pass a certification test. For this, you are first taught the theory of diving, basic school-level physics about buoyancy and pressure. Then you learn diving skills how to handle your equipment.

There are roughly 25 hand signals that are universally used underwater to communicate with you fellow divers and it is essential that you learn these. Some are begin. Such as the hand signal for OK which divers should and do use constantly to check on one another some are slightly more alarming such as “I am out of air” but for most of the time a reassuring OK is all that is needed.

You first learn everything what is called a “closed environment, i.e., a swimming pool where help and land are just a few inch away, Once you are familiar with how to handle your equipment and you know the various diving skills, you then practice them in an open water environment the sea or a lake. And once you clear your diving test the undersea world is your oyster.

Just remember that you cannot dive without certification and any dive centre or resort that tells you otherwise should be avoided, since it means they are taking risks.

Wonders down under
Coral reefs are probably the best place to start diving, because of the beauty and variety of things to see; of all the reefs in the world the Great Barrier Reef in Australia rules supreme. Mauritius has a ring of coral reefs encircling it, forming a calm lagoon on the inside. There are gorgeous reefs off the east African coast, off the Malaysian coast, and around many of the 7,000-odd islands of the Philippines. Closer home, the Andaman and the Lakshadweep Islands are popular diving destinations.

Everyone has their own comfort levels in diving, and why not, you are diving for pleasure after all. Once you have explored the world of shallow reefs and corals, you can decide to qualify for speciality dives, such as navigation or deep, where you have to your air carefully, since will be going deeper using more air.

You can do night dive where you get to see dazzling arrays of sea creatures, which air even more exotic than their daytime cousins. You dive holding a spotlight and watch as extraordinary creatures swim around

And even better than this, is diving around shipwrecks. To descend slowly over the hull of a ship and swim past the funnel and port-holes, and wipe the barnacles off the name painted on the side now that is a seriously moving experience. The wrecks where I have so far dived have all been artificial ones, old ships sunk specifically to provide habitat for fish such as moray eels, and as a result of the marine life they attract, the wrecks in turn become dive sites. This means that you can just enjoy the thrill of swimming down to the depths of the wreck without having to deal with sadness and the thought of death!

If adrenalin rushes are your thing, then shark diving may be for you. Off the coast of Cape Town, in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, you can dive in a cage, surrounded by Great White Sharks that are attracted to the area by bait thrown off your dive boat.

You can also dive with sharks in the aquarium in Cape Town, which is still scary but less so than diving in a cage. You drop into the huge fresh-water tank from the roof of the aquarium, with the panoramic backdrop of Table Mountain behind you. You drift slowly down through the aquarium, with visitors watching you and swim down to the bottom of the tank, past sharks and giant turtles. Since you dive at feeding time, close encounters are guaranteed.

Whether it’s pretty fish or sharks, night creatures or shipwrecks, there is a whole world of silent beauty waiting down there, in the other 70 per cent of our world.