Being in India, it is very difficult to find good diving schedules (really starved) - Andamans and Lakshadweep are excellent , but they are more expensive to go to from Delhi.. than say Thailand.
Since the war ended, I have had my eye on Sri Lanka as a good, inexpensive place to fly to for diving. I hooked up with Nishan (on scubaboard) for any clues about diving in Sri Lanka. Turns out that he has his diving joint - Colombo Divers - on Lavinia beach, near colombo.
Besides doing his ph.d. on sea horses, he turned out to be an awesome guy to talk to for advice on diving - I really appreciated him calling up a couple of places for me to find out schedules.
Having 4 days for diving, I did not want to end up being in Colombo (the capital city) all the time. so I scheduled going to Hikkaduwa (a popular surfing/diving place in the south of SL) and then spending a day or two in Colombo with Nishan.
Well, the sea turned out to be unfortunate for me - I could not dive for 2 days. I really wanted to dive "The Rangoon" - an old 1863 ship near Hikkaduwa.
I ended up going to Colombo sooner than I wanted, in the hope of getting some good dives there.
Colombo Divers is a new-ish dive shop with well maintained equipment and a very cool vibe. Some of them are involved in marine research and still others train the military. I dont think I met anyone there with less than 2000 dives. The two divemasters who came with us on my diving sessions were Shaf (a gruff Bob Marley) and Yohan (almost Yoda-like!).
I dived twice with them at the Cargo Wreck - their favorite dive site (and now I guess mine too!). Suffice to say it took my breath away - I particularly remember a view in an enclosed space which looked like a mini oasis in the middle of the sea.
Each time I saw sting rays, which had made the wreck their home and loads of other fish and some macro.
I think it is a great place for people from India to go on a quick trip to dive. Prices for courses are a wee bit more expensive than thailand (surprising) - but in general on the very affordable side.
Dive prices vary with the dive sites (as is the case with most places in Sri Lanka), so I suggest people check by email first.
I had a great time with Nishan, Shaf and Yohan - cant wait for when I can go back!
Since the war ended, I have had my eye on Sri Lanka as a good, inexpensive place to fly to for diving. I hooked up with Nishan (on scubaboard) for any clues about diving in Sri Lanka. Turns out that he has his diving joint - Colombo Divers - on Lavinia beach, near colombo.
Besides doing his ph.d. on sea horses, he turned out to be an awesome guy to talk to for advice on diving - I really appreciated him calling up a couple of places for me to find out schedules.
Having 4 days for diving, I did not want to end up being in Colombo (the capital city) all the time. so I scheduled going to Hikkaduwa (a popular surfing/diving place in the south of SL) and then spending a day or two in Colombo with Nishan.
Well, the sea turned out to be unfortunate for me - I could not dive for 2 days. I really wanted to dive "The Rangoon" - an old 1863 ship near Hikkaduwa.
I ended up going to Colombo sooner than I wanted, in the hope of getting some good dives there.
Colombo Divers is a new-ish dive shop with well maintained equipment and a very cool vibe. Some of them are involved in marine research and still others train the military. I dont think I met anyone there with less than 2000 dives. The two divemasters who came with us on my diving sessions were Shaf (a gruff Bob Marley) and Yohan (almost Yoda-like!).
I dived twice with them at the Cargo Wreck - their favorite dive site (and now I guess mine too!). Suffice to say it took my breath away - I particularly remember a view in an enclosed space which looked like a mini oasis in the middle of the sea.
Each time I saw sting rays, which had made the wreck their home and loads of other fish and some macro.
I think it is a great place for people from India to go on a quick trip to dive. Prices for courses are a wee bit more expensive than thailand (surprising) - but in general on the very affordable side.
Dive prices vary with the dive sites (as is the case with most places in Sri Lanka), so I suggest people check by email first.
I had a great time with Nishan, Shaf and Yohan - cant wait for when I can go back!
