Romancing the Fishes - Scuba Diving

Finally my dream came true last weekend – wish fulfilled, done, happy in life… Went scuba diving in Arabian sea off the coast of Netrani island. What a wonderful, fantastic and colorful experience it was. Ofcourse it had a lot of hitches too – I guess that’s what made the trip so realistic and memorable.

We went through BMC (Bangalore Mountaineering Club – www.bmcindia.org) – had heard a lot about them – so thought why not two birds in one shot when they announced the scuba diving weekend. First disappointment was when they did not come to the pick up point on time – we were there on dot by 8 – and that was after quite a few back and forth words (pls read heated tempers and arguments) with hubby and sis – who were taking an eternity (according to me) to get ready and not even helping in the packing, and closing up the kitchen, but they kept reminding me time and again that they were coming only for my sake. We even finished our dinner infront of Lifestyle (oh yes, sitting on the katte on a Friday evening ) and finally we saw that our tour vehicle was actually a cramped tempo traveler – which was a shocker considering that it was an overnight drive.

After couple of long breaks, we reached Murdeshwar around 7 in the morning, freshened up, breakfast – and it was time for the practice sessions in the stimulated environs of the swimming pool. Gosh all of us were quite excited. BMC has a tie up with Dreamzdiving (www.dreamzdiving.com) - the instructor – Mr. Gobor from Hungary patiently gave us the theory and then it was time for the practicals. It was totally cool to put on the gear – fins, face mask, jacket, weight belt, air cylinder, breathing apparatus – the works – wow – all of us looked kewl – really. And one by one, we got into the deep end of the pool and got the feel of the stuff. How to avoid glasses getting foggy, what to do if water enters mask, not to panic if breathing apparatus slips – etc etc. was practiced time and again – till all of us felt confident. The rest of the day was just spent lazing around murdeshwar – temple, beach, ice cream, water scooter, sunset and a walk on the sands. Our horribly tanned (despite layers of sunscreen lotion – you know I think they are just ‘talk talk talk’) bodies was creaking by end of the day - Dead tired – we just crashed.

Left early morning the next day after a little heavy breakfast (I guess that was my first mistake – knowing fully well that there was a 2 hour boat ride to the island – and I get horribly seasick). By the end of 1 hour, I was queasy, another 20 minutes and I was clutching my tummy (inspite of taking motion sickness tablet) and another 10 – reached the peak and fed the fishes!!!!!. When we reached the island – another shocker – we were marooned on the waters – there was no way we could get on the land – it was just rocks – that’s when I realized that I had to spend the entire day either in the water or in the boat getting seasick!! Water obviously was a better choice and I just jumped in – did some swimming and snorkeling – shoals of fish and I was just waiting for my chance to get into the deep waters. 4 instructors – and 1 person for each. So we could just go in batches of 4. I went in third batch – put on the gear, little tensed, dived in – yes, its always a back dive – because of the weight of the cylinder. Oh my god – what an out of the world experience. The instructor took me deeper and deeper. Till that point I was like – if you cant reach the floor, any depth of water is the same. But I was sadly mistaken. As we went deeper, ears started hissing in pain because of the pressure. I realized by trial and error that my limit was 10.5 mtrs. Just before I got in the instructor said ‘Enjoy the show’ and what a show it was – all shapes and sizes of fishes – and all colors too. Any combination with yellow – including ‘mera wala yellow’ and any combination with blue – amazing colors – pastel, bright, dark, deep, fascinating – big fish, small, smoky ones, sea anemones, jelly fish everything – and we were going right in the middle of them. Such gentle creatures - and they are as inquisitive about us, as we are about them. They were swirling around us – hazy, lovely, divine, blindingly colorful…. Totally regret that i did not have an underwater camera :( Though it was extremely tempting – I stuck to the instructions – no touching. We saw some nice corals as well. 40 minutes of pure bliss – I just wanted to float behind those fish – but unfortunately my instructor as well as my ears did not agree. However, there was a baby fish – light blue and dark blue stripes – which kept following us everywhere. An escape to freedom, an escape from reality, an escape into the arms of the nature – that is what it was.

Highly recommended for water babes and nature lovers. Will provide more information if required. Getting back to Bangalore was another experience – best saved for a separate blog – we actually had dinner at a shady bar and restaurant – since everything was closed – it being a Sunday!!!! Though my ambition of getting PADI certified – went down the drain – because of my stomach and ears, I am still a little optimistic – so lets c. Will keep you folks posted. Despite everything - totally worth the money, time and effort. The experience will be cherished for a lifetime. Though I hope and wish that this is just the beginning of more such scuba diving expeditions.