[siddutta]

hey fellow T-BHPians

can someone help me out with some info on scuba diving

1. where are possible places around bangalore ( say < 1000 kms) where I can experience scuba diving . IMP : trainers are required

2. can we do scuba diving if we cant swim ?

3. Any other sports based holidays information would be helpful

Regards
Sidhartha

[sschivate]

if yes, please check out Dive Goa: Scuba Diving and PADI Courses in Goa

My cousin owns it, and he is a certified scuba diving instructor...

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by siddutta

hey fellow T-BHPians

can someone help me out with some info on scuba diving

1. where are possible places around bangalore ( say < 1000 kms) where I can experience scuba diving . IMP : trainers are required

2. can we do scuba diving if we cant swim ?

3. Any other sports based holidays information would be helpful

Regards
Sidhartha

I've done some digging here as part of an Out Bound Training Project, some answers:

1. Goa it is. During rainy seasons, its off. There's this Firangi called George (will hunt up his contact details, PM me) who does it around Goa and has been operating for many years.

Sschivate's cousin is another possibility.

2. Yes, but its good to know swimming. Generally they would orient you in a swmming pool first, then do many practice sessions before they put you out to sea. People who do not know swimming can freak-out when you go under water, you need to be oriented to the watery environment before you start out. My youngest son 13 years (plays aggressive tennis) who does not know swimming, almost threw a fit when they tried out a tank on him at Indonesia on a swmming pool, have never seen him so scared; all of us went snorkeling after that !!!!

3. Snorkeling is another possibility, again, orientation to water is a must. You must learn how to breathe out thro the gizmo; but you need pretty clean water with shallows for it. Did a lot of this in Indonesia; Mauratius is pretty hot for all water activities. If you experiment with the budget, lots of possibilities out there.

Have fun,

--Ramky
--------

[Gautam Misra]

Originally Posted by siddutta

can someone help me out with some info on scuba diving

The best place would be the Lakshadeep islands.Bangaram has great scuba diving unit but it is a tad expensive.

The Andamans isles also have professional diving units.

Otherwise you may "misuse" the Navy for such activities. They have a great set of deep sea divers at Vizag and in Kerala.

As far as you other question goes, unless you know swimming deep sea diving may not be feasible. You may however try a hand at snorkeling.

[nnandi]

Originally Posted by siddutta

hey fellow T-BHPians

can someone help me out with some info on scuba diving

1. where are possible places around bangalore ( say < 1000 kms) where I can experience scuba diving . IMP : trainers are required

2. can we do scuba diving if we cant swim ?

3. Any other sports based holidays information would be helpful

Regards
Sidhartha

Hi Sidhartha,

I had been to a place called "Turtle Bay beach Resort" in Trasi in KA (Mangalore->Udupi->Kundapur->Trasi) during end 2005. They have scuba diving/snorkelling at their resort, conducted by professionals and their gear is also in great condition. But they do that only on peak season (Nov-Jan) or on advance request from guests. Also, it's quite expensive (almost like Rs. 1000 per half hour during 2005). I have personally not done that though! Their website is: Turtle Bay Beach Resort - trekking, snorkelling, scuba diving, swimming, boat rides and more...
You can contact them from their contact page info and find out more.
For scuba diving, you need not know swimming, just some basic training sessions would be given on how to breathe under water etc.

Another place where sports form part of holiday is grange resort in yercaud. Website: Grange resorts yercaud India,Resorts India, Grange Resort Yercaud india,Swimming pool, Children play,Grange resorts yercaud tamilnadu india, Tamilnadu resorts, yercaud resorts
You can call them for more info.

[BikerSG]

Barracuda Diving : Scuba Diving in Goa and other Destinations in India

based in goa - but they organise dive trips to netrani which is not very far from Bangalore.

[Spitfire]

Barracuda Diving - I know some trainers there. Some good folks have left though for working on Oil rigs and other places.

If you dont know how to swim, learn to swim, get good in it and then go in for these courses.

SCUBA(Self Contained Underwater Breathing Appratus) diving is more handling the equipment then swimming itself.

To get through the course much easily learn free diving and snorkeling before taking up the course. This you can try easily in a pool.

I am not sure whether any of these courses are recognized in India but they are valued by some firms abroad.

[surfatwork]

Planetscuba (http://www.planetscubaindia.com/programme.htm) had started scuba diving training in Bangalore. As I understand, they do the shallow water and theory parts of the course in a swimming pool in Bangalore. The deep water part of the course is likely to be in Goa.
Diving at Nethrani is organised by Barracuda Diving in Goa. It is off the coast of Murdeshwar. But diving is suspended as of now, because of some security issues with the local cops. But diving at Nethrani is superb.
The Andamans has some of the best diving in the world. The last time I went there, we did some exploratory dives in never-before-dived sites i.e. we were the first humans to set eyes on the scenery below - spectacular. I did those dives with DiveIndia. (DIVEIndia - PADI, SSI & NAUI Scuba Diving Centre in the Andamans, India).
Regarding swimming - if you cant swim at all, you cant complete your basic diving course. But you can go for a "Discover Scuba" dive with an instructor/dive master. All diveoutfits will have DMs.

[siddutta]

thanks Guys for so many replies. would sit during the weekend , study and reply to you friends. Thanks so much ..

[BikerSG]

most people say that you can go diving even ifyou dont know how to swim. frankly, i have come accross a very few cases where people who dont know how to swim actually go diving.

i guess the most important thing is to be comfortable in the water and under water. but this is easier said than done.

snorkeling is a good alternative to diving. and where there is divin, there is usally sailing, windsurfing, kayaking etc..

[BikerSG]

i have dived in maldives, andamans, goa and the great barrier reef.

the best diving for me has been the andamans. by far the best in terms of variety of flora and fauna and sheer abundance of it.

the most memorable though was observing a turtle from 5 feet away for a whole 5 minutes in the maldives.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by BikerSG

i guess the most important thing is to be comfortable in the water and under water. but this is easier said than done.

The ringing in the ears they call it

Originally Posted by BikerSG

i have dived in maldives, andamans, goa and the great barrier reef.

the best diving for me has been the andamans. by far the best in terms of variety of flora and fauna and sheer abundance of it.

the most memorable though was observing a turtle from 5 feet away for a whole 5 minutes in the maldives.

Never been to the andamans or maldives. Maybe someday.

Stopped diving after we had to fish out the body of a drowned tourist. The sight and scene was too much for me. Have a desk job now.

[rangaraj]

Originally Posted by BikerSG

i have dived in maldives, andamans, goa and the great barrier reef.

the best diving for me has been the andamans. by far the best in terms of variety of flora and fauna and sheer abundance of it.

the most memorable though was observing a turtle from 5 feet away for a whole 5 minutes in the maldives.

Have not dived in Goa (water would not be very clear), but in the maldives (nearly 10 years ago - it was fantastic!), Andamans (great, but post the tsunami you can see some of the effects on the coral), Great Barrier Reef - Quite hyped, but some good varieties of fish, Hawai - Decent, but really enjoyed Jamaica - great temperature, clarity, great fish and of course a great party place.. The easiest is to keep taking intro dives in each place you go to - make sure that you are not flying post the dive for 24 hrs.. If you want to become a professional diver, then PADI or Eurodivers are two popular ones - The crew at Andamans are good, the ones in Maldives are expensive (but good). Australia is fairly OK priced, but the best would be Malaysia or Thailand - My brother and his wife went on a two month diving honeymoon - they both got PADI certified and my SIL does not know how to swim - it is tough when you are in the open sea and have to swim a distance to the dive boat. Make sure you are not claustrophobic or too hyper - that is the really danger when you dive - dont panic and you need to be calm. So when you start, go to a place where the water is clear, warm and relatively shallow (12-20 feet) - thereby you can see the bottom, the top and folks around you. As you get experienced, then get more adventurous. If you do get PADI certified, you will have to dive x number of times to keep your certification valid (sort of like a pilots license), so if you intend to snorkle/dive once in a while, the intro dives are a lot better..

[siddutta]

thanks guys for teh info . I think i need to learn swimming first ... actually I have made a list of 50 Things to do before I die ( could compile only 34 ) and Scuba diving is one of them .... (others are like Owning / Driving a Cayenne atleast for a day .) thanks for your input friends ...

[viv1984]

Hi,
I guess there is also scuba diving in sindhudurg , Malvan.. Its operated by MTDC