Scuba Diving in Andaman and Nicobar

There is no specific course duration. The courses are generally performance based so you earn your certification as quickly as you are able to learn the scuba diving procedures.

PADI Scuba Diver Course- In 3 days of duration, one can get water skills and 2 open water dives with maximum depth of 12 meters/40 feet. The license is valid worldwide. For this course, you need to carry certain swimming knowledge.

Open Water Diver- This will allow to learn underwater photography skills, night diving and deep diving. With the duration of 1-2 days, you can be Certified Open Water Diver. Minimum age is 10 years.

Advanced Open Water Diver (1-2 days)- The course is designed to experience deeper dives for 18-30 meters/60-100 meters. Minimum age is 12 years.

Master Scuba Diver- For 15 days, one will learn about Advanced Open Water- Rescue Diver and Minimum 50 logged dives.

There are a number of varieties of certification. A young diver must be at least 10 years of age to get the Junior Open Water Diving Certification and he/she should be accompanied by a certified parent, guidance or a professional diver. Young divers are not allowed to dive more than a depth of 12meters or 40 feet. 12 to 14 year olds should also be accompanied by a certified adult. When the young diver reaches age 15, his junior certification is upgraded to a regular Open Water Diver certification.

Scuba diving is generally open to all individuals. With considerable fitness and a thrill for adventure, operator take anyone who wants to experience the beauty of underwater. You, though, will have to fill a medical questionnaire. If we find anything of concern you will have to get a clean chit from physicians.

It is not necessary to be an excellent swimmer. A fairly good swimmer, who can swim a length of 200m without any break and has the ability to float, will be considered. But if you’ve no idea about swimming, the scuba diving professional will help in learning.

The scuba diving service offering course provides gears like scuba regulator and tank, mask, snorkel, fins, Dive watch, dive light, scuba gear bags and dive knife. All these equipments will be provided under the fees.

It varies according to the scuba diving instructor or the school through which you are taking your scuba diving lessons. There are several certified schools and diving coaches who conduct scuba diving for tourism purposes. On an average a 2 day 4 diving package may cost you around Rs. 10,500. Some travel operator which includes these activities in Andaman package at a good price.

Almost all the noted and certified diving centres take credit and debit cards. If you have problem with them, then cash is always an open option.

Don’t worry yourself. Most scuba diving schools provide internship programs that allow you to work towards your goal of undertaking the Instructor Development Course. These will give you the opportunity to work alongside international and highly qualified professional divers and learn from them.

Check out about tour packages of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The medical facilities in Andaman,is fairly decent, however, it depends on where you are at Andaman. Port Blair and Havelock have some good hospitals and healthcare centers. GB Pant Hospital, INHS Dhanvantari, Chakraborty Hospital, Pillar Health Center, ACE Hospital and few others.

Well, scuba diving causes pain in your ear and on your face while you are trying to decent in the water. These are the minor common problems. It happens to almost everyone. However, the major ones include barotraumas to the lungs and decompression sickness. These can be handled with proper training and guidance from a certified diving trainer.

They will hurt, but there’s a simple explanation. Your ear hurts because of the water pressure on your ear drum. When you will be doing your scuba diving course you will be taught some tricks on how to equalize the pressure with the surrounding.

It isn’t a problem as wearing soft contact lenses don’t pose any problem while you dive. However, if you are a hard contact lens user, we recommend you to use gas permeable lenses. Prescribe to your eye doctor for more information on this issue.

Any medical conditions related to your respiratory organs and your cardio vascular system that may render you senseless and lag your response or cut it off altogether, is considered to be a red signal by us. We regret to inform you, but you won’t be able to take a diving course. There are several common contraindications which the schools look for in their diving students. They are asthma, epilepsy, diabetes and heart disease. If you have any of these, we recommend you to consult a doctor before diving.

It is generally not recommended for people with the following conditions to scuba dive:

•People who suffer from breathing problems.

•People with ear problems and those who had an ear surgery in the last 12 months.

•People suffering from cold, flu or congestion. We recommended that people with a cold should not take decongestion medication in order to dive, this will create a problem underwater, as this can wear off and create chaos while ascending to the surface.

There are several other reasons for which a diving student will be asked to prescribe a doctor. They are:

•If you have a history of heart or lung disease

•If you use prescription or non-prescription medications

•If you suffer from shortness of breath

•If you are having repeated trouble clearing air spaces (equalization)

•If you experience unexplained loss of consciousness or “blackout”

•If you had suffered from of nausea or vomiting recently.

No, nothing as such guidelines are provided specifically for women, but it must be noted that pregnant women are not allowed to dive.

Rain never affects your diving activities. Rain falls on the surface and hence, when you are in sea, 12-15m deep, it will not affect your diving in any way possible. Also, rain does not alter your visibility in the ocean.

It’s a simple checklist, but the diving schools are extremely strict with it.

•Never drink and dive, as intoxication can put a diver in a very dangerous and compromised position. An intoxicated diver won’t be able to make sane judgment and rational decision jeopardizing his safety in water.

•Don’t dive in a full stomach, schools says that you should wait for at least two hours after your meal to dive. Diving in full stomach or after a heavy meal will make it uneasy for you to move in the water, there is a possibility of acquiring cramps and making it impossible for you to breathe.

•It is a strict rule to never conceal any kind of medical conditions that you are aware of yourself.

Sadly, there aren’t any decompression chambers in Havelock in Andamans. We strongly recommend that you check with your diving insurance company to know if there is any decompression chamber.

This is interesting. You must keep in mind that like land animals, most marine animals are passive and timid. They rarely attack you. Some animals do bite and/or sting, but only if you touch them. The divers are not a natural prey for sharks, so they rarely or never attack. There are many scuba divers who actually seek for an encounter with sharks, just for the experience and the thrill that come with it.