The Week India - July 29, 2018

JULY 29, 2018 • THE WEEK 81

SEA SCAPE

Vijaynagar beach on

Havelock Island

heavy belt on your waist. My instructors, Annie

and Rehan, were great teachers, although it was

unnerving to think that Rehan was only 18. I

quickly grasped the sign language used to com-

municate underwater. Th e most confusing was

the thumbs-up sign, which, unlike popular use,

signifi ed that you wanted to come up and not

that everything was alright.

If you want to relax after a strenuous diving

session, go for a walk on a beach in Havelock at

sunset, and watch the glut of colours streaking

the sky. My trip, however, ended on a rather

disturbing note, when I fell into the sea with my

cellphone and new DSLR camera. I was at the

beach early in the morning, and to photograph

the sunrise, I waded into the water. My foot hit

a sharp coral and down I went, with both my

gadgets suff ering a watery death. It turned out to

be a costly trip, but it was worth it. After all, you

can’t put a price tag on beauty.

Next, we took a boat to Havelock Island. As
we neared the island, I felt a deep sense of calm,
and with each mile, left the stress of the city
behind. Th ere is nothing like the feeling of your
feet sinking into the cool, white sand beaches of
Havelock. It was here that I tried scuba diving
for the fi rst time. I opted for the extended begin-
ners programme with a scuba company called
Barefoot Divers.
It seemed the sea was a gently-breathing
surface of blue, with nothing below. My fi rst
dive introduced me to the wondrous world
underneath, of soft corals and tropical reef
fi sh, worms named after feather dusters and
Christmas trees, brittle stars and sea urchins.
Underwater trivia is fascinating to hear, like how
the squids and octopus move by forcing water
out of a deep cavity.
Scuba diving is not easy, with the weight
of the oxygen cylinder on your back and the

Place State/UT

Islands of

Havelock and

Neil

Andaman

and Nicobar

Sindhudurg

and Diveagar

Maharashtra

Gokarna Karnataka

Karwar Karnataka

Byndoor Karnataka

Varkala Kerala

Palolem and

Fatrade

Goa

LOCATIONS

BEACHES &

LOCATIONS ISLANDS