Tour Intensity
Activity
Best Season
Training and Certification course – Tour for beginners
More than two-thirds of the planet is underwater. The underwater world is home to hundreds and thousands of diverse flora and fauna. Incredible underwater vistas, spectacular coral formations, lush aquatic plants, and exotic wildlife awaits those who are willing to strap on scuba gear and venture into the hidden underwater world. This tour is designed to get anyone started off on turning amphibian for a short while.
The best thing about scuba diving is that there’s plenty for everyone to see, no matter how much experience one has. The Andaman Islands comprises of 572 picturesque islands, islets and rocks, lying in the South-Eastern part of the Bay of Bengal. Situated along an arc, for over 500 miles, in a long and narrow broken chain, these islands belong to India, but geographically are similar to Burma and South East Asia with its clear blue waters and white sandy beaches. Many of the islands are surrounded by fringing reefs, often several hundred meters wide and separated from the shore by a lagoon of similar width. There are also more steeply undulating hills of volcanic lava, which makes for some unusual diving.
Who can do this tour?
The Andaman Beginners Dive Tour is ideal for anyone who wants to get started with the basics of diving and aspires to travel and explore dive sites and wrecks across the world. This is your essential course in diving, which combines theory and practical sessions to equip you with the skills required to explore the deep blue sea. What’s more? You also get certified by PADI, the best certification course for scuba diving. Our trained and experienced dive instructors will ensure you make the best of your experience. More importantly, this course is a great beginner program for anyone with a keen interest in exploring the depths of the ocean and learning about life underwater. The greatest advantage of the tour is the certification that allows you to dive across the world, once registered as a trained diver- you will be issued a dive log and a certification card that you can carry to any dive centre to use their facilities.
Basic requirements to join the tour are:
The expedition starts from Port Blair, but the dive tour mainly centres itself on Havelock and Neil Island, known for its diving spots. On this 9-day tour, we’ve packed the right mix of training and recreational diving for you to explore the wealth of life and beautiful coral reef in the Andamans. You will get to see aquatic life, up close and personal, and also hear about the depleting coral reefs from the ocean floors across the globe. You’ll also learn about ways you can help conserve this for future generations.
Arrive at Port Blair. Meet your fellow travellers and take the Catamaran to Havelock Island and check-in to your rooms. Later, you’ll meet your dive instructors and go through a briefing session.
Accommodation Type: Beach Shack
Highlights:
• We take a ferry ride from Port Blair to Havelock.
• We receive a briefing from the dive instructors.
• We then spend the evening gazing at the beautiful sunset over the horizon.
Begin your PADI Basic Open Water Course (OWC) with a briefing about your gear and a theory session on diving (snorkelling session optional).
In the evening, we will explore the island’s vicinity by taking a walk up to the market. While we are at it, we will also try one of the many restaurants on the island.
Accommodation Type: Beach Shack
Highlights:
• We will begin with a dive session in confined waters.
• Walk to the marketplace on the island.
• We will then have dinner at a restaurant.
We begin with a practical session. Your first open water dive! There will be 2 dives in the morning, where we will explore some reef life and more importantly learn skills in buoyancy and diving. In the afternoon, we take a ride to one of Havelock Island’s best beaches to watch the sunset.
Accommodation Type: Beach Shack
Highlights:
• The 2 dives as part of the morning session.
• A scooter ride to Radhanagar Beach.
• Lunch and dinner at the hotel (included)
We do 2 more dives. You get to explore 2 new dive sites and hone your skills from the previous day. This will be the completion of your Basic OWC. As part of the Basic OWC examination, you will be required to take a written exam that will let you take the Advanced OWC.
Accommodation Type: Beach Shack
Highlights:
• There will be 2 dives in the morning.
• The afternoon can be spent at leisure by the beach.
We take a day of rest from the diving. We can use that time to go through some of the theory material and ready ourselves for the advanced dive course. We’ll start the day late and ride out in scooters towards Radhanagar Beach and hike up to Elephant beach. Enjoy an evening of playing frisbee at Radhanagar Beach while witnessing the sunset and then make your way back to the shack.
Accommodation Type: Beach Shack
Highlights:
• You can use this day for some well-deserved rest.
• The hike to Elephant Beach.
• Witness the spectacular sunset at Radhanagar Beach.
We begin our Advanced Open Water course with 2 deep water dives in 2 different dive spots. We will then go back to the beach shacks and walk around the markets of Havelock.
Accommodation Type: Beach Shack
Highlights:
• We begin the AOW with 2 dives in the morning.
• We will be transferred back to the beach shack near Havelock market.
• We will then have lunch at the resort (Inclusive).
This will be your last day of diving and the most challenging, so ensure you are well-rested. We will have 2 deep dives during the day and 1-night dive in the evening. As part of a night dive, you will get to see a lot of nocturnal sea life and experience bio-luminescence i.e. the emission of light by living organisms in the sea.
Note: A night dive is just as safe as a dive during the day and your dive instructor will fill you in on the details of the dive.
Accommodation Type: Beach Shack
Highlights:
• You complete your Advanced Open Water Course.
• A night dive where you’ll get to see some nocturnal marine life.
On the last day of your dive, you get to dive some more! You will get to dive at two new dive sites as you relax and have fun. We will then transfer you back to the beach shack. We leave for Port Blair in the evening; if time permits we will visit the Kalapani Jail for an evening light-and-sound show and retire for the night.
Accommodation Type: Hotel
Highlights:
• We catch the evening ferry to Port Blair.
• Take in the surroundings at Kalapani Jail, followed by a Sound and Light Show.
We have breakfast at the hotel and head out to the airport and fly back to our respective destinations.
The Andaman Scuba Dive Tour for beginners lasts for 9 days, starting Saturday and ending on a Sunday. Your tour will include all the hospitality elements – experienced tour leaders, dive training, and an internationally recognised certification (this will allow you to dive at various dive sites up to a depth of 30m). That’s not all, your introduction to diving will be with a group of like-minded fun travellers, only making it that much more fun and exciting.
Difficulty Level: Not intense, but demands you to be open to exploring the underwater world.
Preparedness – Physical & Mental
All participants are expected to know how to swim and will be required to pass a series of skill tests in the water like swimming, snorkelling, float test, etc. These tests are part of your certification and you will only be certified if you are successful in passing these tests. The tests are a pre-requisite in getting your diving certification. While these tests are not timed for speed or for the accuracy of the skill, the main aim is to ensure your safety in the event of an accident while diving.
Diving Support
A team of 4 participants will be allocated with 1 dive instructor and a dive master. Throughout the tour, you will have an Unventured tour leader accompanying you on the dives.
Accommodation
Accommodation will be on a twin sharing basis at beach shacks, with good hygienic bathrooms. On one day, you will be staying at a beach resort on Havelock island, with a pool overlooking the beach.
Transport
All transport from Port Blair, across islands and inland for getting around will be managed by the team and will be included in the tour cost. We will also be renting out scooters to traverse the island and the same will be managed by the tour leader.
We have just returned from a fantastic Unventured Scuba Diving tour in the Andamans. Guru and Tej had organised everthing beautifully and nothing was too much trouble for them throughout our holiday. Our smallish group jelled very well together and we came away feeling we had made new friends. Learning to dive from scratch to Advanced Open Water in one week, as we did, is quite intense, but felt like a great acheivment. Unventured scheduled in one day off from diving in the middle of the holiday, an inspired idea that gave us a chance to visit the rest of the Island on scooters that they hired for us.