By Vineet Khunger
I got my Open Water Scuba Diving licence on a lark – I was backpacking through the South-East, had a couple of weeks in Thailand, and figured, here’s a new thing to try that should be a lot of fun. Well, “a lot of fun” turned out to be a massive understatement – it’s pretty hard to describe the feeling I get when entering the water, knowing that for the next hour, I’m in a completely silent place, with just the sound of my breathing running through my head as I’m flying through an entirely different world, free of the confines of gravity and full of creatures and landscapes from the most psychedelic of dreams. Yes, that was a very long sentence. And yes, “flying” is the perfect word to use here – I’m no longer trapped in the 2-dimensional world of lefts and rights; I’ve added ups and downs to my repertoire. Take that, Gravity.
Since then, I’ve done some more diving and seen a lot more mind-boggling stuff, including a whale shark lazing around 5m below me, a bunch of dolphins swimming around on the surface above, hundreds of barracuda surrounding me as far as I can see, and a shipwreck 30m below sea level that has now become one with nature. And most people don’t even realize how easily accessible these experiences are.
What does Scuba diving involve? It involves finding a good dive operator, putting on a dive suit, mask and fins, strapping on an oxygen tank, and jumping off into the water with your dive buddy/instructor. You’ll start off with a 3-day diving course, called the Open Water course, which teaches you the basics of diving and how to dive comfortably up to a depth of 18m. Will there be any discomfort in the beginning? Probably. A lot of people, including me, felt some claustrophobia in the first dive. Plus of course the realization that breathing through your nose is off-limits takes some getting used to. But it gets better very quickly – I’ve run into many people who were quite pensive at the end of their first dive, but by the end of the course, decided to stick around and do the advanced course as well. You don’t need to be an expert swimmer – you only need to swim to get to the boat or float for some time on the surface once you’re done with your dive.
Asia’s full of places where you can find some excellent dive schools with proper certifications, high-quality equipment and very experienced dive trainers. Diving courses cost roughly the same anywhere you go – you’ll pay between 13K and 17K {13,000-17,000 INR} for an Open Water course at most places in Asia.
India
In India, you could go to Lakshadweep, The Andamans or Goa. Lakshadweep’s a rather expensive place to get to, though, and the water in Goa is considered too murky for a good dive, so The Andamans would probably be your best bet. Havelock Island has quite a few good diving schools. I went to Dive India and had an excellent experience, but a few others like Barefoot are supposed to be equally good. Getting to Andamans is easy enough, and stay can be very expensive at Barefoot’s resort, or very cheap at some of the smaller beach cottage places, so there are enough options available.
Thailand
Thailand is another option – just as easily accessible and would probably cost the same or just a little more to reach. Koh Tao, an hour away from Koh Samui, has 50+ dive schools. Safety is of paramount importance, of course, so you want to make sure that the dive school is reputable. Trip Advisor is a great resource for this – any dive school with a 100+ positive reviews should be reliable. Krabi, Phi Phi, Phuket – most of the popular islands in Thailand have some good dive schools.
Philippines
Boracay is one of the most popular places to dive in Asia, plus it’s a great party place. How could you not be convinced already? Coron in Palawan and Anilao near Manila are other very good options.
Indonesia
While there are enough and more dive schools near Bali, the three Gili islands and Komodo are considered to be much better, with richer marine life.
There’s a lot more to do after the Open Water course – the Advanced course opens divers up to possibilities like wreck diving, night diving, underwater photography specialisations, and after that even deep diving, which takes you down to 40m, the limit of recreational diving. But whatever you do, don’t forget one thing – a good underwater camera. You won’t regret it.
About the Author | Vineet is, at any given point, either travelling, or daydreaming about travelling. He has backpacked quite a bit over the last few years, and refuses to rest till he visits Hobbiton in New Zealand. And scuba dives the Great Barrier Reef. Sorry, back to the daydreaming now.
