Scuba Diving Adventure

by - Arun Nagpal

A ship cruiser from Kerala to Lakshwadeep Island
On Board
On Board I along with my other four friends took a ship cruiser from Cochin to Kadmat, one of the 30 islands in Lakshwadeep-- the coral islands on the south west of India. It was our second day on the ship, the main purpose behind this journey was to indulge in the most adventurous sport of Scuba Diving and to learn some of the major skills perquisites of the sport, in the water of Lakshwadeep islands. Our ship was a newly constructed ship with beautiful ambience and high-class luxury apartments, further assisted with all modern recreational facilities like swimming pool, sports club, and what not. To freshen up our mind and physic we followed the strict schedule of swimming even on the board-as per our guide's instructions.

Actually it was a royal journey meant for those aristocrat people boarding with their families...we had a gala time gazing at those beautiful young girls, Karan my friend got success in making few girlfriends.

Arriving Kadmat Island
The ship was suppose to reach the island of Kadmat by 12 'o' clock in the noon. As the ship approached the island, there was a great deal of thrill among us, the island was beautiful, showcasing its picturesque panorama-crystal clear blue water, silver sand and rows of swaying coconut trees. We were becoming impatient and restless and immediately wanted to fly to this paradise..... Our one week Scuba Diving course was to be conducted by the Lakshwadeep Dive School, after getting down we were taken to the shore in small motorboats as ships cant enter the lagoon due to shallow waters.

The Paradise
The Kadmat Island is 18 km long and 1 km wide, and the only means of supplies to the island is ship, as we could see number of Pablo boats leading towards the ship at its arrival. There were crews of people dressed in black suits with Lakshwadeep Staff written on them helping us to load down our bags and baggage's in the boat and we were off!

Then we were taken to the southern tip of the island where they had set up their diving school, we were introduced by our instructor/coach Pranaya- a smart young guy in his 30's who run the school along with some of other members.

In total there were 4 instructors - Pranaya, Koni, Govind and John all skilled and expert in their respective fields.

Information about the Course
There was a short introduction to the island with the rules to be followed by all the visitors to maintain the Eco-friendly environment during the stay..

After lunch we all were ready to take up the introductory session on snorkeling and finning and were facilitated with required-fins, snorkels, booties and all other equipment required for the adventure. The lesson was easy and enjoyable, there we met another group like us from Mumbai who had also come here to joined this course. We came to know more about the course and the receiving of the French certificate, if we successfully passed all our tests. The other excitement was the 1-star CMAS Course which is accepted the world over, and allows diving up to the depth of 21m in to the sea along with a 2-star instructor. Woo........ What a fun? Our group was divided into pairs more commonly known as 'Buddy' in diving, John taught us some basic sign language, he told us that we should not bend our knees, that is not good finning. That day it was all fun in water, swimming, bathing and indulging in all kind of exciting activities.

It was a hectic day, full of activities and events so we wind up our day quite early retreating to our beds. Morning was a pleasant one, after breakfast, it was time to go for a practical training. The breakfast was a real lavish one, we all enjoyed stuffed parathas and bread omelet with a glass of milk.

We had light food as we had to indulge in our Snorkeling class!
In the snorkeling class, the lesson of Duck Dive was taught, where you had to take a deep breath while snorkeling- diving till the surface of the sea - pick up sand from the bottom, come up and blow the air out to clear your snorkel - and continue snorkeling. This lesson was followed by the training of equalizing the pressure in the ears while going down into the water, we all guys picked up the skill quite easily. The practice continued for almost and hour.

Boat-house Training
Our next session was at the boathouse. The boathouse was having all the diving equipment required to take up the adventure. We were all given tanks, regulators and buoyancy jackets and were shown how to kit up our gear- check valves, check air, breath, diving signs and procedures. It was a difficult class, most of us were nervous at this point, Govind, our instructor informed us that we would be taking up this diving adventure after lunch.

First Dive!
We were ahead of our Mumbai counterparts in every thing and also reached the houseboat before them. There was the sense of nervousness and excitement both among the guys, as it was our first ever-diving adventure. We all were ready with our diving suit looking like the one, we often watch over the Animal Planet and National Geographic Channels, our instructor was also looking great in this attire. The helpers on the boat assisted us in lifting our heavy air tanks on our backs, weighing 15 kg to 20 kg. Instructors were accompanying the learners down, all that was visible were bubbles in the water- as such nothing could be seen beneath the water surface. At last it was my turn - I jumped into the water with my snorkel, mask, oxygen-tank and jacket. This time Pranaya took up the charge as Govind got exhausted taking the guys into the deep waters and then coming up. A few deep breaths and we flatten the jacket to sink down. The depth was not much but the bewilderment of resting down, under water was an awesome experience.

Precautions beneath the Sea
In our training lessons we also learned that during the air cleaning of the mouthpiece, we could easily put the mouthpiece back into our mouth without any salt water entering. It was an amazing and important lesson to learn, because at the depth of 20m, if due to some reason the mask gets knocked out by a fin or anything, one should not get nervous and loose his balance....... Panic, is the worst thing to do under water!
Diving technique is all like yoga..... Breathing control and peaceful nerves.
Even after all these classes and reasoning, I couldn't help panicking! Many a times I breathe in seawater through my nose and when air stopped flowing in, I got nervous. In these moments Pranaya really helped me, in recovering fast, by reminding me again and again about the correct techniques of inhaling through my mouth. After a few long breaths I calmed down. I sighted many exquisite coral, sea cucumbers, beautiful colorful fishes and diverse variety of plant life, it was really a another world..... over what, we humans have no right. I was at peace, no more restlessness and the thrill of being under water so near the second world charged me again to spent some more time in to the great blue waters of Lakshwadeep island.