[INJAXN]

Has any one tried scuba diving @ malvan or @ tarkarli?
looking for a good vendor, I am planning to go there in Oct first week.

[Adi_k]

Originally Posted by INJAXN

Has any one tried scuba diving @ malvan or @ tarkarli?
looking for a good vendor, I am planning to go there in Oct first week.

Did you try suba diving at Malvan or at Tarkarli? I am planning to go there next week, any pointers would be great.

[INJAXN]

Originally Posted by Adi_k

Did you try suba diving at Malvan or at Tarkarli? I am planning to go there next week, any pointers would be great.

We did go to Malvan in first week of October but did not try the scuba. People at malvan were nice enough to inform us that there is no point in doing it in Oct and you should do it in Oct last week or later.

Still few pointers which I got from other friends:

1) Choose the first slot of the morning, water is calm at that time so better visibility.
2) Have a prior idea on what exactly you have to see under water, so easier to spot.
3) Bargain hard, more the number of people, more is the discount.

All the best and do write your experience here.

[Adi_k]

Originally Posted by INJAXN

We did go to Malvan in first week of October but did not try the scuba. People at malvan were nice enough to inform us that there is no point in doing it in Oct and you should do it in Oct last week or later.

Hopefully this would be a good time to do scuba diving. Thanks for the information

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by Adi_k

Hopefully this would be a good time to do scuba diving. Thanks for the information

There's a deal on GroupOn for Scuba Diving there you might be interested in. It's listed under the travel section.

Costs 2480 for stay and the dive. 2N/3D.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by acurafan

Rawat runs Dreamz Diving and Nethrani is his home ground.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Here is their web site. Hmm, just realized our instructor (Rawat) was the owner/founder of the center. They even conduct divemaster course.

Dreamz Diving

Now Rawat is in news for something else...

http://www.thenewsminute.com/article...ing-instructor

[acurafan]

Wow, quite a character !!

[swiftnfurious]

Reviving a thread. Am interested in doing a certification course which will help me in take this up as a hobby project etc leading to monetizing it at some point of time.

Am based out of Chennai and have 1 or 2 vendors here who does training courses. I'd love to know more about the details on to start where and what's a good certification to do which will help me take this up in future.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

I'd love to know more about the details on to start where and what's a good certification to do which will help me take this up in future.

(Till some actual, experienced divers chip in, here's my limited info.)

There are a ton of places offering certification courses these days. The most popular certification seems to be the PADI Open Water one that serves as a good entry point.

Popular spots are Pondicherry, the Andamans, Malvan, Goa. But like 'yoga teaching' centers, there are good ones and not-so-good ones, do your research and talk to divers working in the field/serious recreational divers before signing up.

The Open Water Diver certifies you to dive with a buddy up to a certain depth, it's more a recreational/hobbyist diver kind of thing. If considering this as a career, there are a few more certifications you'll need to take up- Advanced, Dive Master, Instructor, etc. All progressively longer and considerably more expensive. A friend completed a whole bunch over the past 2 years, and also worked for a couple of dive shops in the Andamans and in Thailand. From his experiences, I believe that while it's definitely gaining popularity here, it will take time to start making a decent living, especially considering the initial expense of all the qualifying courses.

From what I understand, visibility is an issue in most places, and you can't compare the diving off our West or East coasts with the amazing diving to be had in the Andamans, Lakshadweep or Thailand.

Some people will have issues equalizing. I almost blacked out a couple of times underwater. Pretty intense pain. An ENT specialist I visited after the incident told me I have very small ear canals and that is why it will always be tough for me. (Anyway, after that I never tried scuba diving again.) But lots of people are able to do it easily.

Try the basic certification and decide after that if it makes sense to pursue this as a career or to just keep enjoying it as an incredibly enriching hobby.

[raghukodali]

Cross referencing the other scuba diving thread where I updated my journey into scuba diving

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5450082 (Scuba Diving in Netrani Island, Karnataka)

[raghukodali]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Reviving a thread. Am interested in doing a certification course which will help me in take this up as a hobby project etc leading to monetizing it at some point of time.

Am based out of Chennai and have 1 or 2 vendors here who does training courses. I'd love to know more about the details on to start where and what's a good certification to do which will help me take this up in future.

I just updated the details of my certification courses here. Did about 40 dives and multiple certifications over the past 6 months.

Originally Posted by raghukodali

Cross referencing the other scuba diving thread where I updated my journey into scuba diving

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5450082 (Scuba Diving in Netrani Island, Karnataka)