Andaman
Islands Diving
Phuket
Diving Guide, Thailand
The Andaman Islands
| Reef
type: |
Fringing
reef, deep walls, coral gardens -- you name it |
| Access: |
Lengthy
liveaboard trips from Phuket; one, possibly two dive centers
in Port Blair offering local trips and instruction |
| Visibility: |
Variable
from 3-50 metres (9-164 feet) |
| Current: |
Variable,
often strong |
| Coral: |
Average
to unbelievable |
| Fish: |
Unusual
and prolific, very big |
| Highlights: |
Deep
vertical walls, big sharks, lots of manta rays, active
volcano, very clear water, lots and lots of big fish |
|
A part of India, the Andaman Islands are one of the world's newest
diving destinations and have yet to be fully explored for diving.
After a 50 year period of virtual isolation from the outside world
the Indian government has made a decision to allow limited,
environmentally conscious tourism development in the islands.
The Andaman's modern history began as a British penal colony for
Indian radical elements. During World War Two it was occupied by
a small Japanese force. Once India gained its independence from
Britain, India initiated a limited colonization program and at the
same time, committed itself to protecting the island's aboriginal
population and its natural environment.
On the surrounding islands live some of the last stone age peoples
on the earth. One tribe, the Sentinelese, are isolated on their
own tiny tropical island, North Sentinel, and no visitors are allowed;
no camera crews, no journalists, no scientists, and no researchers.
Contact has been attempted only a few times by the Indian government
and the locals have made it rather clear - by throwing primitive
spears and shooting arrows at the party - that they do not want
to be disturbed.
The islands have no modern fishing fleet and commercial fishing
licenses are granted to foreign operators only on an extremely limited
basis. Thus, the waters surrounding the islands are simply full
of fish that have never been disturbed by modern man. And, since
the islands only opened in the last few years, most of the offshore
diving areas have been explored by very few people.
Although in many of the near shore areas the visibility is limited,
the offshore islands such as Passage Island, Barren Island, and
Narcondam are rich in marine life such as huge fish, sharks, manta
rays and unbelievable coral growth, and are blessed with crystal
clear water.
About 70 km (44 miles) to the south of Port Blair, the capital
and main port of the Andamans, Passage Island features an offshore
pinnacle - appropriately named Fish Rock - where two meter (6.5
foot) long dog-toothed tuna compete with sharks for food. Groupers
larger than most men cruise the reef unafraid of divers. Large eagle
rays patrol the plankton rich waters completely at ease in the strong
currents.
The active volcano Barren Island, almost 20 hours cruising northeast
of Port Blair, last erupted in January of 1994. The eruption covered
almost everything underwater and above with a thick layer of black
sand, creating an unusual landscape to explore. Although most of
the coral was killed by this layer of sand, tunas and sharks swim
along its black walls, which plunge to over 500 metres (1640 feet).
Hammerhead sharks have been seen here. Visibility can exceed 50
metres (164 feet), and even though there is not much coral left,
the contrast of vivid colours of bright fish against the jet black
walls is almost psychedelic.
The most fantastic spot in the Andaman Sea is an extinct volcano
located another 160 km (99 miles) north of Barren Island. Walls
drop to over 500 metres (1640 feet) here as well - just off the
shoreline - but the difference is that here everything is alive
and healthy. This is truly a diver's paradise.
Imagine four metre (13 foot) tall barrel sponges, fans twice as
large as they are in the Similan Islands and monstrous dog-toothed
tuna - one animal we saw was almost three metres (10 feet) long.
The best part of our first trip to the area was the herds of manta
rays that visited us on every dive-both in shallow and deep water.
In four days we saw at least 50 mantas-no kidding, and we snorkeled
with three groups of 12 feeding animals for over two hours our first
day there.
The Andamans are certainly not for everyone. It requires spending
long periods of time on the boat and traveling almost every night
in order to get to the best spots. However, for those interested
in the best of frontier diving, this is it.
Source: John
Williams - Photographs by Ashley J. Boyd Siam Dive n' Sail
121/9 Patak Road, Mu 4, Karon, 83100 Phuket, Thailand
Tel: 66-76/330-967 Fax: 66-76/330-990
E-mail: info@siamdivers.com
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