India is home to the extremely diverse and beautiful Havelock Island, and I was nothing short of thrilled to be diving there for my Open Water Diver and Advanced Open Water Diver certifications. After 12 to 13 hours of theory lessons and confined pool sessions, I finally landed in Andaman with my dive crew. What ensued in the next couple of days were life-changing dives.
Here are my top three favorite dive stories from getting my Advanced Open Water certification in India:
1. Deep Dive at ‘The Wall’
On this dive, we were exploring a wall formation deep underwater with innumerable unique corals. 20 minutes into the dive, my mask started flooding with water. To my surprise, I was more disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to watch the colorful schools of fish and play with them, than I was afraid of being 25.2 meters (83 feet) deep in the ocean with no visibility. It took an ‘I’m not giving up’ attitude, confidence and calmness from my buddy and instructor to finally fix my mask and enjoy the rest of the dive. This is what diving did to me, it made me fall in love with the water so much that I wanted push myself to fix the problem. And I had the knowledge and confidence to do so. All I needed was calm breaths in and slow breaths out.
2. Fish ID Dive at ‘Pilot Reef’
On this dive, we ventured into Pilot Reef for 47 minutes and to a maximum depth of 20.1 meters (66 feet) to meet a bunch of adorable and colorful fish. Before this dive, my buddy and I had memorized the names and signals for some common species of fish found in Asian waters. We spotted lion fish, scorpion fish, trigger fish, box fish, starfish and many more schools of fish. At one point I was surrounded by hundreds of colorful fish swimming past me and making their way through water so gracefully that the only thing I wanted to do at that moment to express my excitement was to dance, dance my heart out. I felt liberated while dancing there because it made me feel like I belonged there, and I wondered why it took me so long to discover my love for the water.
3. Night Dive at ‘Nemo Reef’
Deep waters and the dark are two of my fears, which is why the night dive was my biggest challenge, most daring escapade, and a magical experience, all in one. Despite the low visibility at night, I was able to witness a whole new world filled with nocturnal marine life, like lobsters and sea urchins. Towards the end of this dive, we turned off our lights, and we were delighted to see hundreds of luminous insects flapping all around us, lighting up the water and most certainly all our faces as we surfaced back to the most surreal sight. Picture this – you’re on your back floating in the middle of the ocean, looking at the sky with a full moon stealing the spark of the million other stars around, listening to the sound of the ocean and taking it all in. You don’t need to close your eyes or ears to feel the calm, you just have to breathe and feel your world change. Open water diving is not just about the diving, it is about the experience of feeling your emotions, connecting with your heart and soul, and wanting to dive, one more time.
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Author Biography – Poorvaja Arun Kumar
This article was written by guest blogger Poorvaja Arun Kumar, PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and businesswoman.
Poorvaja is a graduate from Delhi University and works in the impact investment space. Prior to this, she has had experience in co-founding a social impact venture during her college days that has gone on to win recognition on international platforms. She has recently discovered her love for scuba diving and as a certified diver, she now wants to explore wreck dive sites and participate in ocean conservation as a PADI Torchbearer.
