Avail The Best Scuba Diving in Havelock Island

My first dive at the wall | Scuba diving at Havelock seahawksscuba.livejournal.com/1296.html

Wall is one of the finest and most beautiful dive sites in Havelock. It was an unforgettable experience to go for the best scuba diving in Havelock. I saw countless fishes in that dive. All dive sites are different. As the name implies the topography of the site is a drop going down 55m, much like a giant wall. The reefs start after ten meters. However only experienced and certified deep divers can go cross the depth of 18m. What a wonderful thing that is, we cannot dream of scaling such a wall on land. But we can see every part of this wall swimming like a fish. Scuba diving truly feels like flying.

Scuba in Andaman Sea The dive site is about 3 kilometers from the Havelock Jetty. I went there for a fun dive but the whole crew was extremely excited to be going there as well. My instructor Siddharth, divemaster Nicolas, divemaster Jeet, along with Sajan and Subash two instructors from another dive center with their student Janvi, and last but not least our boat captain Guddu. We reach the site in 15 minutes and readied our equipment for the dive. We entered the water one by one, after everyone was in the water we started our descent. We descended slowly, equalizing with every meter.

Once we reached a depth of ten meters, we caught a glimpse of the ledge and the massive chasm that lay beneath. As we edged ourselves closer to the ledge, schools of fish surrounded us. It was breathtaking, the feeling undescribable to be floating on the edge of

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an underwater abyss surrounded by creatures of all shapes, sizes, and colors. I thought I was dreaming. I felt truly privileged to be able to witness this miracle of nature.

ancient corals in Havelock A lone Napoleon Wrasse ambled by as we swam past, barely a meter away. He noticed us and was still for a moment, then he disappeared in a blink of an eye. As I tried to follow him I ran into a group of Moorish Idols. Those yellow, white, and black stripes with their elongated dorsal fin and pointed snouts are unmistakable. As we went a little deeper we saw many flourishing corals. Brain corals, large star corals, Staghorn corals, Elkhorn corals, Cauliflower corals, etc.

A Giant Barrel sponge caught my eye, it looked like a big cooking pot from the Harappan civilization, actually one might mistake it for a wine barrel. This particular Giant Barrel sponge looked like a giant tree in a field of flowers with tiny staghorn corals surrounding it. Not only were these corals healthy I saw signs of growth, which gave me a great deal of hope for this endangered species. Common sights while Scuba diving in Havelock is sea anemones, with their resident clownfish, better known as Neemo. I don't think I can ever get bored of them.

Fifteen meters down we saw two lobsters, two of the largest I've ever seen. Hanging around right above the little burrow of the lobsters, were two Groupers, lazily swimming past. Or so that seemed as we watched them swim by something caught their eye and suddenly they were on the hunt. Watching these fish switch between lazy ambling to what seems like warp speed, truly makes me appreciate just how slow and clumsy we are even with all the technology that allows us to explore the sea. We leveled out at our maximum planned depth of 18 meters. As part of my Scuba Diver Course, I was taught to dive within my limits and experience.

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As we were peering into the nooks and crannies of The Wall, a huge school of Yellowtail Fusiliers surrounded us. These small blueish-grey fish get their name due to their yellow upper back and rear dorsal fin. While I was being hypnotized by the sight of such a huge school and the way the individuals coordinated their movements so that the school moved like a single unit, a tiny dark brown and white striped blob caught my attention. I suddenly realized I was in extremely close proximity to a juvenile Lionfish.

While the venom of a Lionfish may not kill a person, I had no desire to find out just how painful it would be. I gave it wide birth as it drifted with the current. Suddenly the school of Fuscillier jumped into action, ducking and dodging what seemed like an invisible enemy, slowly the actual predators came into sight, two giant Trevallies. They retreated after a brief chase, perhaps regrouped would be more apt.

Diving around the wall As our planned time at depth was coming to an end we started to ascend slowly. Our surroundings again transformed from the rocky nooks and crannies of The Wall to a vibrant reef. It seemed as though a group of Butterflyfish had come to bid us adieu. We even crossed paths with a Seal-Faced Pufferfish. As we conducted our safety stop at five meters, we saw a huge Humphead Parrotfish munching on some corals. For a brief moment, it felt like he gave me a puzzled look, almost as if to ask me "What are you even doing here?"

The realm of the ocean is breathtaking, a magical world with innumerable hidden treasures. Havelock Island is surely a dream destination for deep Sea diving in India.

Each dive presents an opportunity to find these hidden treasures. The excitement of seeing new fish, new corals, and even new underwater topographies will never cease, I can't wait for my next dive at the Wall!

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