Located nearly 900 km east of India the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are some of the few remaining unexplored islands in the world. Rain forests, mangroves, and pristine beaches above water contrast with rocky pinnacles, coral reefs and thousands of fish. Some islands are inhabited by indigenous tribes that have little to no contact with the outside world. Havelock Island is one of the few islands open to and developed for tourism and is the main gateway for scuba diving in the Andamans. Around Havelock, reefs teem with marine life. From colorful soft corals and clouds of anthias, to multihued reef fish, large groupers and napolean wrasses to schools of barracuda and trevally. Get away from the chaos of mass tourism, get away from the chaos of cities and a million people, get away to the Andaman Islands where life moves at the pace you want it to.
4 comments:
Hi Nishan, had a cursory look into your blog. Shall go into it for details.
The link was provided by Mr Eranjith W. We were together at MCC.
While in A & N, did you visit the Mahatma Gandhi National Marine Park. I was there last summer where I had the first encounter with coral life forms.
The snaps in the blog are classic. How deep did you dive?
Brian.
rajkumarbrian@gmail.com
Thanks Brian! I was not able to visit the Mahatma Gandhi Marine Park. Stayed and dive around Havelock mostly. The pictures were taken at depths between 10-30. Sadly a lot of the coral shallower than 10m is dead due to an El Nino related coral bleaching event in 2010. Thailand and even the east of Sri Lanka were badly affected as well. I heard that Mahatma Gandhi Marine Park was also badly affected.
Nishan,
I'm planning my OWD course in March. I'm from India.I'm trying to decide between Andamans or Koh Tao, Thailand. I will have my wife along, she is a non-diver.
Which of these 2 places has better visibility and fish life?
What about the quality of Instruction (Koh Tao looks crowded).
From your post, It appears OWD course may not be a lot of fun because of max depth 18m. You mention that deeper locations have better sea life vis a vis coral bleacing in shallow sites.
Thanks for your help
You can mail me at keshavram AT gmail DOT com
HI, I have never been to Koh Tao but from what I have heard its not as good as the Similan Islands which is reputed to have the best diving in Thailand. Having been there I think the Andamans are as good and less crowded. There is not much to do around Havelock unless like me you enjoy some forest walks and bird watching etc. I personally loved the laid back feel of the islands compared to the more touristy feel of Thailand. And dont worry there is plenty to see in the first 18m and diving for the first time everything will be new and exciting.
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