I can't answer OPs original question, but I just got back from Havelock and did a couple of dives with Barefoot.
Our first day, we did two dives at Dixon's Pinnacle - not as colorful as the Thai or Florida Keys reefs I've seen, but still nice and teeming with life - and we were admittedly much deeper (20-30M instead of, say, 10M in my recent Key Largo dives) so there was also a lot less light. From talking to the dive masters, it sounds like the recent bleaching wiped out much of the shallow coral, though the deeper stuff fared better. They said some of it is starting to come back, but still at its early stages. So if you're not certified to go below 18M, you might be a bit disappointed (though there may be some nice shallow dive spots, I can't say).
The second day, we went to Johnny's Gorge, but the currents were so strong that we had a tough time even just getting down to the bottom (used 50 bar just getting down), and ended up struggling the whole time. Saw an eagle ray, moral eel and a school of barracuda, but other than that, all I remember was focusing on my air and the current. We tried again at a nearby site for the second dive, but the currents were just as strong, so we bailed on that dive. First day there were 5 divers, and about 5 instructors/dive masters, and the second day there were just 2 of us (and 2 dive masters).
Barefoot seemed like a pretty professionally run operation, and the two dive masters we had on the tough day did a good job of managing the challenges we faced. I heard good things about DiveIndia as well, though there seem to be a bunch sketchy dive shops around as well. We stayed at the Barefoot Resort on the other side of the island - beautiful place, good food, relatively unpopulated beach, and very eco-friendly feel. But it is a bit pricier than the other resorts (and significantly further away from where the dive shops), so if you're focused mostly on diving (we weren't), you'll probably want to stay closer to where the dive shops are located.
Our first day, we did two dives at Dixon's Pinnacle - not as colorful as the Thai or Florida Keys reefs I've seen, but still nice and teeming with life - and we were admittedly much deeper (20-30M instead of, say, 10M in my recent Key Largo dives) so there was also a lot less light. From talking to the dive masters, it sounds like the recent bleaching wiped out much of the shallow coral, though the deeper stuff fared better. They said some of it is starting to come back, but still at its early stages. So if you're not certified to go below 18M, you might be a bit disappointed (though there may be some nice shallow dive spots, I can't say).
The second day, we went to Johnny's Gorge, but the currents were so strong that we had a tough time even just getting down to the bottom (used 50 bar just getting down), and ended up struggling the whole time. Saw an eagle ray, moral eel and a school of barracuda, but other than that, all I remember was focusing on my air and the current. We tried again at a nearby site for the second dive, but the currents were just as strong, so we bailed on that dive. First day there were 5 divers, and about 5 instructors/dive masters, and the second day there were just 2 of us (and 2 dive masters).
Barefoot seemed like a pretty professionally run operation, and the two dive masters we had on the tough day did a good job of managing the challenges we faced. I heard good things about DiveIndia as well, though there seem to be a bunch sketchy dive shops around as well. We stayed at the Barefoot Resort on the other side of the island - beautiful place, good food, relatively unpopulated beach, and very eco-friendly feel. But it is a bit pricier than the other resorts (and significantly further away from where the dive shops), so if you're focused mostly on diving (we weren't), you'll probably want to stay closer to where the dive shops are located.
