Day 8 : Havelock island
No alarm and we were up by 6 am for the morning dive! With some anxiety and some excitement we reached DiveIndia by 7:15 am. We were not sure if having a breakfast before a dive would be fine. After some inquiry, we ended up having breakfast at the cafe in the DiveIndia center.
Once done, we were asked to choose our wet suits and shoes based on the size along with the many others who were in the same batch. Wearing shoes is a must since being amateurs, our feet can get injured in the dive. We were paired with our instructors and then off to Govindnagar beach, which is the dive site.
At the dive site, instructions are given by the instructor on safety and precautions. Since you cannot talk under water, you need to use hand signals for not being able to breathe, moving up/down, all fine, not fine and many other things. Do pay attention to the instructions.
Once done, in low tide we were taken till chest depth water. For a non swimmer it feels a little scary when you are chest deep into water! I had informed that I did not know swimming and once in water, I was asked to immerse myself in water and stay for as long as I could. Next weights are put on at the waist. Weights are used to help us sink down during the dive. I know it sounds scary! Life jacket with Oxygen cylinder was put on. The life jacket can be inflated/deflated to float/sink respectively. Then the mask was put on and I was asked to breathe from mouth. Yes, you need to breathe from mouth since your nose is closed by the mask. Its a little uncomfortable in the beginning but a few mins of practice and you are fine. Next regulator is given which supplies oxygen from the tank and you need to put it in your mouth. Breathing can be done normally the only difference being you will be using your mouth! Next I was made to again immerse myself under water to get used to the breathing apparatus. Next you are taught two more important skills - one to remove water from the mask if it gets in during the dive and the other to remove water from regulator in case it gets in the regulator during the dive. And they make you practice these as well.
In day to day life, the air inside the ears is at the same pressure as the air outside the ears. When you dive, there is water outside and air inside. If nothing is done, pressure inside will be at atmospheric pressure. But on the outside, pressure will be greater. Your ear drum does not want to accelerate and it stretches causing the ear drum to hurt. To help out, equalizing is taught and its important you know how to do it since if you don't do it, there are chances of injuring ears.
With all the training and a little practice, you are slowly taken under water by the instructor. I got a little scared when we were going deeper since I suddenly drifted in the opposite direction by a current and I asked the instructor to take me back. In the time I spent under water, I saw clams, moorish idol and some other weird fishes. It was really beautiful to see the clams opening and closing! Its more like watching a Nat Geo show live!
My husband completed the dive and he could obviously see more varieties of fishes like clown fish (Finding Nemo fish), bumphead parrot fish, corals and many others. Videos and pics are taken under water which you can collect later in the day. Never the less, it was a wonderful experience and the instructors teach you well. Hence its important you choose a good scuba diving center and do make sure that its PADI certified as well.
All the morning activity made us even more hungrier and we were at at Anju Coco in no time! Some much needed rest in the noon and we were back at Radhanagar beach for the sunset for one last time in this trip. A veg roll and coconut milkshake at Welcome restaurant, dinner at Anju Coco and were back the resort.
What an adventurous end to the stay at Havelock island!
No alarm and we were up by 6 am for the morning dive! With some anxiety and some excitement we reached DiveIndia by 7:15 am. We were not sure if having a breakfast before a dive would be fine. After some inquiry, we ended up having breakfast at the cafe in the DiveIndia center.
Once done, we were asked to choose our wet suits and shoes based on the size along with the many others who were in the same batch. Wearing shoes is a must since being amateurs, our feet can get injured in the dive. We were paired with our instructors and then off to Govindnagar beach, which is the dive site.
At the dive site, instructions are given by the instructor on safety and precautions. Since you cannot talk under water, you need to use hand signals for not being able to breathe, moving up/down, all fine, not fine and many other things. Do pay attention to the instructions.
Once done, in low tide we were taken till chest depth water. For a non swimmer it feels a little scary when you are chest deep into water! I had informed that I did not know swimming and once in water, I was asked to immerse myself in water and stay for as long as I could. Next weights are put on at the waist. Weights are used to help us sink down during the dive. I know it sounds scary! Life jacket with Oxygen cylinder was put on. The life jacket can be inflated/deflated to float/sink respectively. Then the mask was put on and I was asked to breathe from mouth. Yes, you need to breathe from mouth since your nose is closed by the mask. Its a little uncomfortable in the beginning but a few mins of practice and you are fine. Next regulator is given which supplies oxygen from the tank and you need to put it in your mouth. Breathing can be done normally the only difference being you will be using your mouth! Next I was made to again immerse myself under water to get used to the breathing apparatus. Next you are taught two more important skills - one to remove water from the mask if it gets in during the dive and the other to remove water from regulator in case it gets in the regulator during the dive. And they make you practice these as well.
In day to day life, the air inside the ears is at the same pressure as the air outside the ears. When you dive, there is water outside and air inside. If nothing is done, pressure inside will be at atmospheric pressure. But on the outside, pressure will be greater. Your ear drum does not want to accelerate and it stretches causing the ear drum to hurt. To help out, equalizing is taught and its important you know how to do it since if you don't do it, there are chances of injuring ears.
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| With all the gear under water |
My husband completed the dive and he could obviously see more varieties of fishes like clown fish (Finding Nemo fish), bumphead parrot fish, corals and many others. Videos and pics are taken under water which you can collect later in the day. Never the less, it was a wonderful experience and the instructors teach you well. Hence its important you choose a good scuba diving center and do make sure that its PADI certified as well.
All the morning activity made us even more hungrier and we were at at Anju Coco in no time! Some much needed rest in the noon and we were back at Radhanagar beach for the sunset for one last time in this trip. A veg roll and coconut milkshake at Welcome restaurant, dinner at Anju Coco and were back the resort.
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| Sunset at Radhanagar beach |
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| Another beautiful snap of the sunset at Radhanagar beach |
What an adventurous end to the stay at Havelock island!
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