Have you ever gone diving in Sri Lanka? If you have once done it, you’d love it forever. It such an enjoyable activity to dive in the warm blue tropical waters. Sri Lanka is an island you can dive everywhere. The fabulous marine life and the sandy beaches add a lot to your dive. The vibrant landscape beneath the seabed will take you into a marvelous paradise. Before we proceed, let’s consider what you need to enjoy each and every dive in the Sri Lankan waters. Guess what you need!
Dive Sites to choose
The first and foremost thing is you should think of the best dive site you should reach at the time. There are many excellent dive locations along the coastline of Sri Lanka. We find them especially in the southwestern, western, southern and eastern seaboards of the island. Many tourists enjoy diving there. If you think of the Southwestern coast, you find some best dive areas such as Beruwala, Bentota, Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna, and Weligama.
They are some of the best diving destinations in Sri Lanka. These bay beaches create valuable opportunities for the divers to enjoy. Hikkaduwa supplies an elegant base for diving about thirty minute’s boat ride off the show. The sea abounds in corals, shipwrecks, seaweeds and fishes. So, it creates some fabulous sites for the divers to have fun with their dives.
Beruwala also provides them a good chance to have a strange experience in diving Sri Lanka. The magnificent rock structure under waters is home to a variety of marine creatures. Fishes, sea anemones, macro- critters add a lot of vigour and color to the underwater paradise. So, one can have a great fun diving in these sites.
In the southern seaboard, you have some ideal places for diving. One of them is Weligama. The main dive sites in Weligama are Prince Heinrich Patch, Bridge Rock, and Yala Rock. They abound in rock and fishes. Divers prefer these places due to the mysterious landscapes and the beauty in them. The Great Bases offer you a find vigorous and robust diving experience under the swirling blue waters.
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In the Eastern coastline, you find Batticaloa and Trincomalee as excellent diving destinations. HMS Hermes Wreck is a famous shipwreck in the area. Divers can have a strange kind of experience in these shipwrecks. The main dive site in Batticaloa is a British shipwreck, Allison, and McClellan. It contains a wide variety of marine life and other features of interest like coral reefs. You are invited to take some experimental dives into the immense, calm waters in the East.
How diving in Sri Lanka changes with seasons
Also, the second thing you should consider is the best seasons for diving in each site. The monsoonal changes directly affect the diving in Sri Lanka. In the East coast, we find some other underwater experience too. If you need to dive in the Eastern part of Sri Lanka, you have to wait for the month of May. The breakout of the North Eastern monsoons in December reduce the visibility of the sea water in the east.
Therefore, diving in that area is possible from May to September. In the same way, South Western monsoons affect the visibility of the sea in the South Western seaboard in May. So, October to April in every year, South Western dive areas are ideal for diving. You must consider these time factors to enjoy a fruitful dive in Sri Lanka. Visibility is one of the main factors you should consider in the sea water. If there’s no visibility, you’ll not see the beauty of the underwater world.
The real happiness in diving Sri Lanka depends on the equipment you use. If your headgear, wetsuit BCD, snorkel or any other equipment is out of order or not of the best quality you’ll face difficulties. So, you must buy them from a good company that has earned a good name. For instance, always buy products of high quality.
Whenever you go diving, make sure you have flawless boat equipment which is not risky. Never think of hiring them. Because the flaws in the equipment you borrowed will mar your dives. Whenever you buy diving equipment, you must consider not the price, but their quality. Leaking masks or wetsuits or anything that doesn’t fit you right in will make you uncomfortable. Then, you will not get the real excitement of diving. If you own your personal diving equipment, their familiarity will make you comfortable. So, if you need to enjoy an excellent dive you have to think of having stuff of your own.
Scuba diving is a worthy recreational activity you can enjoy. It’s not a hard tiring job. You can experience a whole world full of mysteries, elegance, and entertainments. Fascinating underwater views, brilliant arrays of fish and marine creatures you’ve never even dreamt of watching, will amaze you. There’s an incredible Universe beneath the vast seas. The real fun lies in the quiet, peaceful atmosphere at the depths and the amazing new sites. You will feel an eerie silence sometimes. You can forget ‘the real world’ and leave all your worries ashore. Amazement is the only thing that lies in the bottom of the seas.
You can enjoy diving more than you do in snorkeling. Every time you get fresh experiences without getting bored or without having salty water in your mouth. You’ll feel that you are a member of that mysterious secret underwater community. Although Sri Lanka is a small island, the vast oceans around it have a high biodiversity. You’ll be able to explore different things in different parts of the sea.
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Give scuba diving a go at least once in your lifetime. You’ll feel the real fun of it. You’ll be unable to stop smiling after your dives. The incredible underwater views will amaze you and help you to get rid of all your worries and hardships in real life. Indescribable emotions will fill up your mind.
You’ll have many things to share with your friends after each and every scuba dive. It’s a great experience anyone should try in the lifetime. You can share your exciting new adventures with your diving buddies. Let them have fun with scuba diving themselves. Help them to get rid of their fears to face their first dive experience.
The other thing you should do to enjoy diving in Sri Lanka is to get the service of an expert. There are clever PADI and UDI instructors in Sri Lanka. They are experienced and well equipped with knowledge about the hardships each diver face under water. They train you well and take care of your safety until you get used to it. If you need, you can even have a PADI open water diving course. When once you get the right training and equipment, you’ll find diving just a scientific-like thing.
If you need to enjoy diving in Sri Lanka, you’ll have to get rid of unnecessary myths. Some say that there are man-eating sharks in the depths of the ocean. It’s not true. But, even your pet dog can be more dangerous than sharks. There’s another myth that if you need to be a good diver, you must be a good swimmer. True.
Excellent swimmers are naturally good divers as they are comfortable in the water. But, excellent swimming skills are not a necessity to be a good diver. If you are healthy and fit, you can do it. What’s imperative in diving is that you have basic water skills and the ability to submerge your face in the water. That’s all. Some think that diving is not a sports females can do. But it’s not so. There are even female diving instructors and dive masters! So, don’t believe in such myths. Enjoy diving in the Sri Lankan waters just once. You’ll be unable to get rid of the habit after that.
If you are willing to dive in the best diving sites in Sri Lanka, there are many companies to assist you. Out of them, The International Diving School at Hikkaduwa and their Trincomalee branch are superb. Sachin Hasanka, the MD of the enterprise is a PADI instructor. Though he is the second youngest in Sri Lanka, he is an excellent, experienced diver specialized in this field.
There are four more PADI dive masters and one instructor in this company. Apart from that, the two boatmen are also experts in the field having 36 years of experience. They have the latest diving equipment. So, if you need to have great fun in your dives, you can consult experts of this company.
Do not hesitate anymore. Enjoy fabulous dives in the warm tropical waters around Sri Lanka. The Indian Ocean is waiting to welcome you. Get into the deep blue waters and explore the magic of the underwater world. You’ll develop a habit to protect the marine life, and the great natural beauty only divers can see. If you do it, you’ll get the maximum fun and benefits of this exceptional recreational activity.