Writing on The Wall
It’s like falling backwards into space — a blue-green expanse of subconscience. One moment I’m bobbing in a Zodiac Futura inflatable boat with the Suunto Divemaster strapped to my wrist. The next, I’m in the water off this Andaman and Nicobar island exploring divesites known to most of the world, and a few known only to seasoned explorers like the adventure team I’m with. Over the next few days I dive a relentless 13 times in and around Havelock, named for a British general famous for his role in the Revolt of 1857. Some of the divesites like the Jeep are inspired, a sunken skeleton of a vehicle, easy for beginners to swim in and out of. At the other end of the spectrum is The Wall, four kilometres West of Havelock. Best suited for intermediate and advanced-level divers, the fish life found at its 60-metre depth and the faraway light can inspire poetry, even if the unwieldy scuba diving gear doesn’t. Gaze long and hard at Sweet Lips, Octopus and Reef fish, but only after you’ve catered for safe stops.
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Into the abyss
The MV Mars sits upright at the bottom of the sea. The wooden cargo vessel that floundered in a storm a decade ago, looks like a ghost ship in the murky 15-metre deep water. Stand at its helm and make a giant stride into the ocean. Fusilier fish flash like shafts of silver light as they swim through the yawning gaps in the ship’s hull. I share a feeling of kinship with archaeologist Howard Carter on the brink of discovering King Tut’s tomb. Even beginners can explore the site as long as they learn to navigate the currents inside the vessel. But it is the more seasoned diver who is drawn to survey its ghostly innards, much like a medieval knight in search of the Holy Grail. The exits are tricky to travel through but present no challenge to the grotesque-looking Crocodile fish and Snappers found in abundance in these tropical waters. The Snappers come in at you like Frisbees in flight before they veer off at alarming speed. The site gets crowded, but the solitude it offers is unforgettable.
Pinnacle of beauty
Dixon’s Pinnacle is 20 kilometres from Havelock, almost at the heart of the ocean. And, making the journey there to discover its treasures is well worth it. Home to three triangular pinnacles at a depth of 35 metres, the local legend is that it is named after Dixon a well-known diver on the island. The waters here are warm and perfect for the intermediate-level diver. Because the beauty here is mesmerising you may want to wear twin cylinders so that you spend less time overboard and more below. A Green Sea Turtle swims lazily towards a rock, barracudas spin like dancers and manta rays glide close to the floor like Stealth Bombers. A procession of Clown fish blitzes past our visors. The divers float like spirits leaving a trail of bubbles that resembles a bridal train. Coral reefs stand like coloured castles in the air. Sharks are said to have been sighted here but I see none. Capturing the Whitetip Reef Shark that resembles a silver broadsword on the GoPro would have been the crowning moment in this diver’s paradise.
