Top 10 Diving Sites At Havelock You Don’t Want To Miss

Explore the colors of the ocean: Travel to Andaman Islands to see turquoise blue waters, stunning coral reefs and various fishes. Andaman Islands offer one of the most fantastic experiences for diving enthusiasts. Expect to see beautiful coral gardens, colorful fishes, green sea turtles and sharks. If you have the spirit of a discoverer, dare to go deeper in the ocean where you would find an amazing world that would leave you bedazzled. Havelock is a tropical Island only 50 kms far from Port Blair, the capital of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Apart from the well-known diving sites there are many unexplored sites which are waiting for you to trod.
Here we collected 10 sites for scuba diving around Havelock Island. Whether you are a beginner, an intermediate, or an expert, there are options for all.

Minerva’s Delight
Depth: 12 – 17 meters
Category: Intermediate/Advanced

Every type of reef species can be spotted here. Imagine swimming in a large garden of coral, with hundreds of yellow and red snapper around you. Another school of unicornfish swims halfway up the water column. Sea snake, tuna, barracuda and reef sharks are also seen here.
Bob’s Backyard
Depth: 14 – 20 meters
Category: All

Part of the famous Minerva Ledge, this site was legendary for regular sightings of Bob, the 4m grumpy bullshark. The reef itself is a majestic spread of coral, with large schools of blue-and-gold fusiliers, snapper, sweetlips, triggerfish, groupers (including giant grouper), angelfish, Moorish idols, Indian bannerfish. Tuna, trevally, jacks, mackerel, white-tip sharks and black-tip sharks are also spotted regularly.
Elephant Beach
Depth: 7 – 30 meters
Category: All

A large, about 30-40 school of bumphead parrotfish, some well over 1m, hang out here. This area has a high frequency of turtle sightings. There are large forests of staghorn coral, housing hundreds of reef fish species and other marine life – damselfish, clownfish, trumpetfish, pufferfish, boxfish, large emperor angelfish, coral groupers, giant clams, angelfish, Moorish idols, fusiliers, rabbitfish, etc. Photographers sure will love this site.
J-Table
Depth: 14 – 17 meters
Category: All

J-Table has a profusion of table corals, layered one atop the other. Large school of batfish swim by, blue and gold fusiliers swim around in one long stream, while yellow snapper circle slightly higher up. Large schools of glassfish hover close to rocks for protection, while giant groupers swim by purposefully. Surgeonfish, various type of triggerfish, morays, black unicornfish, oceanic whitetips and dugongs are also seen here.
South Button
Depth: 6 – 30 meters
Category: Intermediate/Advanced

This small island is basically an overgrown pinnacle sticking out of the rocks. It has vertical columns of rocks, covered with coral, a couple of interesting overhangs and strange-shaped rock formations, some sheer walls, very clear water and lots of coral and fish. Manta sightings are very common here during the season, and macro lovers will not want to leave this site – nudis, shrimps, crabs, cuttlefish, octopi – you name it, they are found here.
Junction
Depth: 25 – 35 meters
Category: Advanced

A very popular site with advanced divers, and with good reason – on a typical day, you get to see sharks, schools of barracuda, a turtle or two, groupers, large schools of fusiliers, trevally, groupers and maybe even tuna. Absolutely stunning. Strong currents and a deep bottom make this site suitable for advanced divers only.
Lighthouse
Depth: 6 – 18 meters
Category: Beginner

A shallow reef sticking out near the Havelock Lighthouse, it is a very good muck diving site. It provides shelter to yellow trumpetfish, various angelfish, bannerfish and fusiliers. Further on, the reef gets deeper and isolated pockets of rock act as an oasis of life in the sandy bottom. Large table corals, a couple of gorgonians, lot of feather stars in various colorations and occasionally eagle ray and turtle sightings make this a very site.
Mac Point
Depth: 10 – 14 meters
Category: All

Off the southern side of Havelock, Mac Point is usually a leisure drift dive alongside a reef with lots of lagoon rays, large numbers of sweetlips, occasional groupers, and varieties of wrasse, octopi, morays and firefish.
Pilot Reef
Depth: 6 – 18 meters
Category: All

This is a drop-dead gorgeous site, the best spread and variety of coral in the Andamans – every type of coral can be seen here: whip coral, red coral, table coral, gorgonians, brain coral, madrigal coral, staghorn coral, a type of green coral, sea grapes, etc. The fish life is more scattered but there is still lots to see here – leopard sharks sleeping on the sand, large banded sea kraits, giant grouper, fusiliers, schools of jack, coral groupers, various wrasses, lots of pufferfish and manta rays.
Aquarium
Depth: 10 – 14 meters
Category: Beginner

Beginner’s paradise, with mostly hard corals strewn throughout. A shallow fringe reef, a good spot for training dives. The highlight of the site is a chance to see dugongs, but lagoon rays, turtles, napoleons and groupers are also common. Keen eyed observers of details may also see the highly venomous stonefish, and several types of nudibranches here.

This mysterious ocean world is waiting for you too!

Source: Diveindia

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