I had a secret desire for last few years to go inside the sea for adventure on one hand & to have glimpse of marine life on another. I was petrified by description of complications & incidences narrated by some of my friends. But that has not stopped me to dream of it. I had been dreaming to go to Andman or lakshdeep or Mauritius for the wish. Finally I made plan to visit Andaman during this year on Jan 4th.
On the very first day of tour I got chance to snorkel at jolly buoy island, popularly known wonder island ,around 20 km from port blair by road & cruise for 20 minutes.
Though everyone had a free chance to snorkel as a package, but for a fruitful & long snorkel I paid 300/- to guide.
I got an eye mask to wear that also closed my nose, a breath pipe through which I needed to breathe from atmosphere with tightly closed lips & a tube for floating. But it is not easy for first timer, as I tried to inspire lips loosened & water thrust inside my throat that was sufficient enough to decrease my enthusiasm.
But the person who was guiding, encouraged me & a training of few minutes made me easy , it was a wonderful experience, lots of lives were floating under the silent water, beautiful corals , vibrantly colored fishes & starfishes even a octopus was sighted , though breathe with special technique ticked continuously my brain.
The anxiety experienced in snorkeling & advices given by friends warded off my desire to dive till 9th of January, in Havlok, where while taking lunch I talked to a young couple, honeymooner, they had been come back after dive this morning, they boosted us, & again dive got space in my schedule & while returning hotel, I booked my dive for morning.
We reached to destination on 7 AM, with a bit of anxiety; first I arranged space for kids where they could sit & watch TV while we (me & my wife) would be diving.
Then a trainer appeared, he taught us few basic things,
First how to breathe from pipe, it was same technique we practiced during snorkeling but equipment was better here.
Secondly how to clear eye mask if water intrude & block the vision
Third how to clear breathe pipe if accidently it sucks water
Forth is valsalva to equalize ear pressure in case of ear ache
Fifth we learned code language in water like how to tell about problems etc.
Now we taken to beach no 1 for our program, I squinted to sea, measuring depth & width of the sea. Facing island was probably few miles away from us, but depth. Oh god! Depth of .hundreds of feet was enticing at me
After practicing all maneuvers for a while, I dipped my face into water to wear specific shoes , an anxiety struck my heart that what would happen if the breathing pipe slips away from mouth or more dangerously if I met a shhaaark.
I thought Reena ( my wife) should come afterward so if anything happens with me someone remained there to care kids. ha….ha…ha
And as I started to float in water according to instructions by guide, I was in depth, suddenly vibrant colored fishes were swimming with me; floor of sea was full of corals. Pulsating sea anemones were just facing me &, swimming mode of bigger fishes appeared like dance. I was amazed to see how much life is running under sea surface, a larger world than my assumption. My feet were just a hand away from floor. meter hanging in my dress showed around 30 feet depth.
After few moments in sea I got intermingled with marine life, lost in their world, forgot about man verve that I learned recently, everything was in my reflexes , to breathe, to clean mask, to tolerate earache & getting rid of it.
A new world, different than known to me, beautiful, colorful & very- very deep,. Enough for anyone to got lost. I just forgotten my world.I felt , it was just an experience ,nothing like adventure.
