5 scuba dive sites in Pondicherry

Who would have thought that Pondicherry had such stunning dive sites? The dive sites in Pondicherry are absolutely breathtaking. Clear blue water with abundant marine life is what you can expect when you dive at Pondicherry. The Bay of Bengal has so many unexplored and hidden gems underwater and it can surprise even an experienced diver who dives there almost everyday.

I have dived at Pondicherry multiple times. In fact, I did my Advanced Open water certification at Pondicherry and each time I have dived there, I have been pleasantly surprised with the underwater world. In this post, I would like to list the top 5 dive sites in Pondicherry that must surely be on your list while diving there.

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Best scuba dive sites in Pondicherry

The coastal line in Pondicherry has been a victim of overfishing and had once suffered a decline in the marine life. The fishermen and the dive centres collaborated and started creating artificial reefs to attract the marine life back to the waters of Pondicherry.

The artificial reefs have surely worked in getting the fishes back and has made Pondicherry one of the most promising dive locations in India. There is so much to see underwater and the marine life is very active.

5 dive sites to look out for in Pondicherry

• Even though it is hot in Pondicherry, I still suggest wearing a full sleeved wet suit. I got stung as I was wearing half sleeved wet suit.
• All the dive sites are accessible only by boat. Ensure to take a sea sickness tablet for the ride.
• The visibility of the water depends on the ocean conditions on the day of the dive. It is not possible to predict what can be seen and the clarity. So, go with an open mind.

Aravind’s Wall

Known for a huge rock formation resembling a wall, Aravind’s wall is a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) recognised dive site in Pondicherry. The dive site at Aravind’s wall is huge and has spectacular marine life including the corals.

Dive statistics

• Suitable for: Advanced Open water certified divers and above.
• Maximum depth: 30 to 40 metres.

Marine life

Aravind’s wall is known for having diverse marine life. Divers can see groupers, snappers, banner fishes, rabbit fishes and many more. The site also attracts the whale sharks during the whale shark season (which is around March and April).

Diving at Aravind’s wall was on my scuba diving bucket list but unfortunately, when I dived the visibility was really bad and I did not see too much of marine life. However, I did see lots of jelly fishes, larves of jelly fishes, shrimps, and fighter planktons.

Danny’s Eel Garden

Danny’s Eel Garden was a very fascinating and interesting dive site in Pondicherry. Known for lots of eels that pop out of the sand beds, the dive site is surely a desert underwater. The sand bed provides a desert feeling.

Dive statistics

• Suitable for: Open water certified divers and above.
• Maximum depth: 18 to 20 metres.

Marine life

There are plenty of things to be spotted at Danny’s Eel Garden. The dive site has many different types of crabs and shrimps along with eels, starfishes and silver monies. During my dive, I spotted a cuttlefish, lots of eels, starfishes, sea cucumber, jelly fishes and hermit crabs.

Marianna’s Reef

The dive site at Marianna’s reef is a very new site discovered by Samudra Adventures dive centre. There is an artificial reef with palm leaves attached to the structures so to attract marine life.

Dive statistics

• Suitable for: Open water certified divers and above.
• Maximum depth: 20 metres.

Marine life

There is a variety of marine life at Marianna’s Reef. There are lots of fishes like groupers, snappers, sweetlips fishes, crabs, eels and shrimps. During my dive, I was amazed by how active the underwater world was at Marianna’s reef. I spotted lots of crabs, especially hermit crabs, octopus eggs with soft corals, snake eel, lion fishes, rabbit fishes, snappers, oriental sweetlips fishes, and plenty of jelly fishes.

Groupers Den

As the name suggests, the Groupers Den is known for groupers at the dive site. There are plenty of groupers and they are huge in size.

Dive statistics

• Suitable for: Advanced open water certified divers and above.
• Maximum depth: 20 to 22 metres.

Marine life

Wide range of marine life can be found at Groupers Den even though it is named after groupers. Divers can expect groupers, great barracudas, crabs, dancing shrimps, lion fishes, silver moonies, giant trevallies, yellow spotted sting ray, porcupine pufferfishes, morray eels, snappers, banner fishes, bat fishes, angel fishes, and butterfly fishes.

Naveen’s Reef

Another artificial reef similar to the four corners a.k.a Temple reef is the Naveen’s reef. The palm leaves are attached to buoys.

Dive statistics

• Suitable for: Open water certified divers and above.
• Maximum depth: 18 metres.

Marine life

The marine life is diverse and the divers can spot groupers, puffer fishes, scorpion fishes, trevallies, silver moonies, and lion fishes. The visibility was very good at Naveen’s reef when I dived. And I spotted a very big grouper and a pufferfish.

Dive centre to dive in Pondicherry

I have dived with multiple dive centres in Pondicherry. I have enjoyed diving with all of them but diving with Samudra Adventures was a very pleasant experience and the one to remember.

Established in 2018, Samudra Adventures is the first native dive centre. They provide a range of courses starting from the Discover Scuba Dives (DSD) for non-certified divers to the Open water, Advanced Open water and Rescue diver courses for getting certified. The dive facility also has an eco resort where guests can stay and dive with them.

Reasons why I love Samudra Adventures

I loved the dive crew at Samudra Adventures. They were absolutely delightful to dive with and I had the best time with them in my recent Pondicherry trip. Some of the reasons why I enjoyed diving with them are:

• The diving instructor Ritwik is brilliant and he brings a lot of diving experience at an international standard.
• The owner Prabhakar is very humble and approachable. We had a great conversation with him talking about all the dive sites around the world.
• The dive masters Akshay and Pranav were great too and even though they are still learning, they were mindful about the environment and surroundings throughout the dives.
• Equipment provided to us was very good and well maintained. All the gear that I rented out were good and I had no issues with them throughout the dive.
• The dive sites are very unique and they do not hesitate to explore new sites.
• Some of the dive sites we dived are not known to others and hence, there were absolutely no on at our dive sites.
• We spent a lot of time talking and identifying the marine life we spotted at the dive sites. This means that they are passionate and curious to know what lies in our ocean and they do help the certified divers learn too.
• While diving, they provided the divers space to dive freely without being pushed and only guided when required. I loved this, especially because this is supposed to be a fun dive for certified divers and not where they are herded throughout the dive.

Contact details

• Website: Samudra Adventures.
• Operational hours: 7 AM to 8 PM every day.
• Email: info@samudraadventures.com.

Safety for solo female divers

Diving with Samudra Adventures is very safe for a solo female diver. The dive crew is very caring and friendly and not for once make you feel insecure or threatened. I felt very safe diving with them.

Closing Notes

The dive sites at Pondicherry are worth diving and exploring. I had a great time diving at each of these dive sites even though I had very bad visibility at some of the sites. I highly recommend diving at these sites.

How many of these dive sites have you dived at in Pondicherry? Let me know in the comments below.

Note: This post is written in collaboration with Samudra Adventures dive centre. But the views and the opinions expressed in this post are honest and unbiased.

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