My First Scuba Dive Came With An Unexpected Surprise!

What does a person need the most after a nightmarish and stressful year-end reporting? Well, a holiday, of course! I was really craving for one. A place to go and relax in, far away from all the worries of work life. I started searching for places to visit and settled on this beautiful paradise in the middle of Bay of Bengal, called the Andaman. 

The jaw-dropping pictures of scenic beauty and white-sand beaches that I saw online sealed my decision. So my school friend and I packed our bags and headed out to explore this magical island. 

Even before we touched down at the Port Blair airport, the view from up above charmed us. Those lush green trees, clean turquoise water, and a small island visible from far like an oasis; it was absolutely beautiful. And once you exit the airport and hit the road, you’ll notice that even the roads are very clean. There was no garbage lying around, no stains on the walls and no unnecessary papers thrown on the pavement. It was, in fact, one of the cleanest roads I had ever seen in India.

I can go on and on about how beautiful the beaches there are and how the visit to the Cellular Jail filled me with an overwhelming patriotic feeling, especially the sound and lights show. But if I do, then my post will never end. So I think I will just write about my most loved part of the trip – an absolutely transformative scuba diving experience!

It was my first-time scuba diving, and I had zero knowledge on how to swim. We reached Havelock Island and immediately headed to the scuba diving centre, where we filled out forms, changed into our costume and went for training. Training took around 15 minutes where they taught us sign language and how to clear our nose, ears and mouth in case the water went inside. Both my friend and I had individual divers assigned to us and it was time to dive underwater and discover what lay beneath the water surface.

The first time when I went inside the water, it scared the hell out of me. But gradually as the magic started unfolding and I started observing things around me, my fear vanished. I was stunned with my first vision of the underwater world. There were so many rainbow-coloured fish and the blue and yellow fish I’d seen in Finding Nemo, all playfully floating in and out of colourful corals. There were dozens of teeny-tiny fish surrounding me and roaming in groups and I could see big fish eating many small fish. Everything around us was mesmerising, like we were in another world.

One more thing that amazed me underwater was a two-wheeler! Yes, a two-wheeler was there on the seabed, making you wonder just how on Earth did it land there. Well, I guess one never knows what surprise lies beneath the ocean’s surface and it was definitely a surprise to see a vehicle along with all the fish and corals. The corals at Andaman have suffered some damage during the tsunami but are still lovely to look at. 

My 30 minutes of diving time got over way too soon and I never even realised it until the diver motioned that it was time to head up. I guess that's what happens when the view is so eye-catching, you can never get enough of it. It was a bit sad to leave that world and return to ours. I would really have liked to experience it one more time, but our schedule did not permit it. Believe me when I say, scuba diving is a must-try experience for everyone out there! I am already browsing the net daily planning for my next vacation where I can again scuba dive.

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