Looking For The Best Scuba Diving in Andaman?

A Memorable Diving at Tribe Gate Havelock | Scuba in Andaman seahawksseo.medium.com/a-memorable-diving-at-tribe-gate-havelock-scuba-in-andaman-c329b027279d September 24, 2021

Scuba diving in Andamanhas been a dream of mine for years and I was finally able to fulfill it last week. While the best time to visit Andaman for scuba diving is around late November till the end of March, I had a spectacular experience diving at Tribe gate. But before I get to the experience let me tell you how to get to Havelock.

SCUBA AT HAVELOCK

Traveling to Havelock The Andaman Islands are a group of 572 Islands in the Bay of Bengal, closer to Thailand than to India. There are direct flights from Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, and Kolkata to Port Blair, the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Due to covid restrictions at the time of writing this article an RTPCR was taken at most 48 hours prior to the flight departure.

Once you reach Port Blair another RTPCR will be taken, the result should be available in 24 hours. Tickets for the ferry to Havelock can be booked online or at the ferry offices once you reach Port Blair. The private ferries take approximately an hour and a half to 1/3

complete the journey whereas a government ferry takes an hour longer.

Scuba Diving in Havelock There are dozens of dive shops offering diving, from try dives to pro-level courses. Scuba diving in Havelock was much more exciting than my expectations. I chose to do the try boat dive with Seahawks Scuba. I was taken to a nearby beach and in the shallow area, was taught some basic scuba skills to ensure my safety and increase my comfort in the water. My Divemaster was extremely patient and allowed me to take my own sweet time to practice the skills, which greatly boosted my confidence. Once this training session was complete, we boarded the boat to our dive site, the trip took only 10 minutes.

Diving at Tribe Gate We entered the water using the backroll, which was one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve had. At first, when you look down into the water it can be daunting since you can’t see the bottom but a divemaster is always holding you. Slowly you begin to descend, and you can feel the pressure of the water around you (particularly in your ears!).

Coral reefs at Havelock

Then out of the deep blue a reef starts to emerge, with hordes of fishes of all shapes sizes, and colors as far as the eye could see. The smallest fish I recognized was the clownfish or as it's better known, Nemo. The largest fish I saw was a Hump Head Parrotfish. Along with these, I saw mackerels, groupers, butterflyfish, batfish, squids, and surprisingly colorful sea cucumbers.

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I was really disappointed when my dive ended, even though it was half an hour, it felt like an eternity. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

After the dive when I returned to the boat there were smiles all over the place. Everyone seemed to have had an amazing experience and were engaging in friendly banter with the staff. I also met a number of scuba divers from different parts of the world taking their diving courses.

At this point, I feel that I must emphasize how warm and wonderful the staff were. Guddu Ji conducted my training session and never rushed me, insisting that I take my time to get comfortable breathing underwater. Nico who was my divemaster made sure to point out interesting fish and even showed me an octopus. Jeet fed me so many poses from behind the camera, that I felt that I was part of a photoshoot.

And finally Phooljan, the captain of the boat, kept reassuring me that everything would be fine and all I had to do was relax, while I sat on the edge of the boat getting ready for my backroll.

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