When I first watched
ZNMD the thing that captivated me the most was deep sea diving.
The reason was that I
could relate a lot to Hritik's character except for his physique that is ;) and
When Hritik gets out of the water and cries for some time and says “zindagi ka matlab hai sirf saas lete raho”
it totally brought in front of me a different perspective of life. Life is not
just about slogging 12-14 hours in the office and taking home a big fat pay
packet, it is also about spending time with your loved ones, staying healthy
and breathing in peace. I wanted to experience the exact thing that Hrithik's
character had experienced in the movie. Basically I wanted to find peace, and
hence grew a passion for Scuba diving in me.......
I started googling
about Scuba diving in Karnataka and searched for various scuba diving shops in Karnataka after checking various links for murudeshwar scuba diving review I came across a company
called Dreamz Diving in Murudeshwar. They organize scuba diving at Netrani Island
also known as Pigeon Island 10 nautical miles off the Murudeshwar beach. Scuba Diving at Netrani island cost us Rs 4500. After
reading numerous reviews on the internet about Dreamz Diving I decided to opt
for this dive shop for my first Scuba diving experience. And I must say it was
a wise decision after all, Dreamz Diving made my first diving experience a
memorable affair and I would like to dive again with them. People who visit Goa and want to take part in Scuba diving in Goa can also consider diving in Murudeshwar since it is close to Goa....
I get many questions on trip advisor on how to reach Netrani Island? resorts in Netrani Island ? Can we Snorkel in Netrani Island etc. This blog is intended to give you those details
I get many questions on trip advisor on how to reach Netrani Island? resorts in Netrani Island ? Can we Snorkel in Netrani Island etc. This blog is intended to give you those details
Netrani Island
Netrani Island or
Pigeon Island is located 10 nautical miles off the murudeshwar beach. The
Island is surrounded by beautiful corals which make it a perfect place for snorkeling
and diving. Based on reviews from professional divers on the internet Netrani Island
is one of the best diving sites in India.The Island was used by Navy for target
practice earlier which was put on hold after some court case.
The Plan
Four of us including
my wife decided to take a plunge into Nethrani Island. I am glad to have a
khatro ka khiladi type wifey, who is ever-ready to try
adventurous things J so the date was set
3rd of March, Sunday. We paid the advance to dreamz diving and provided our
address proofs for clearance from the Navy without which we would not be
allowed to dive.
Day1:
We had booked accommodation
at Vaibhav Palace Kumta which was 40kms from Murudeshwar. As we were diving on
Sunday we had nothing much to do on Saturday. So we decided to travel to Kumta
via Jog however we shelved that plan after reading about the bad roads from
Sagara to Honnavar and decided to go via Sirsi. The planned route was
Bangalore-->Haveri-->Sirsi-->Devimane Ghats-->Kumta. I heard a lot
about this scenic route and wanted to experience the same. So we set off by 5Am
on Saturday from Bangalore. The road from Haveri to Hangal is in bad shape with
pot holes and sometimes no road.
The road from hangal
to Sirsi was somewhat OK. We reached Sirsi in the afternoon and had our lunch
at The new Kamat Hotel. The food was good. We enquired with the hotel staff
about tourist spots on the Sirsi-Kumta highway and we got to know about
Unchalli falls. We drove to Unchalli falls which was about 26kms off the Sirsi
Kumta highway. We had to trek on a hilly terrain for half a kilometer to reach
the falls. We were expecting the falls to be something like Abbey falls but for
our surprise it was very big, almost like jog falls. After spending an hour at
Unchalli we headed off to Kumta. The road to Kumta from Sirsi was very
beautiful as it passes through Devimane Ghats but the only problem is that
road-work was being done on this stretch which caused a lot of delay. We
reached Kumta only by 5PM. We quickly
freshened up and headed off to Honnalli beach Kumta to watch the Sun set. Honnalli
beach is a secluded beach and hence it is very clean. We spotted some Star fish
on the beach and took some photographs. We went back to the hotel had dinner
and slept.
Roads From Hangal To sirsi
Pomfret fry @ new Kamat Hotel
Unchalli falls Sirsi
Honnalli Beach Kumta
Day 2:
D-Day - Dooms day,
Dive day, Death day etc etc all these things were running in our minds. It was
our first dive and we had butterflies in our stomachs as none of us knew
swimming and we were about to dive 30 feet under water.So we were all set for scuba diving in Murudeshwar :) We drove to the Dreamz
diving shop located at RNS residency murudeshwar.
We were greeted by
forms saying if we meet with an accident or die the dive shop was not
responsible.
We ignored the
contents of the forms and just signed it by completely trusting our dive
masters :) after all it is an adventure sport and has risks attached to it which
adds to the adrenalin rush :)
We sat on a small boat
and headed off to Netrani Island from the Murudeshwar beach. After a few nautical
miles the color of the water completely changed. It felt like we were in
Mauritius and not in India. Ravi our instructor for the day briefed us about
the Do and Do Not’s while diving. He explained about the instruments and the physics
behind diving. Ravi heads SAP practice in one of the IT companies on weekdays
and dives on the weekends. How cool is that!!! We were noting down instructions
from him like a bunch of School kids. As we reached the dive site the
butterflies in our stomachs almost reached our mouth. That is how much excited
and tensed we were, a total mixed feeling. The Island was very beautiful and the
water around it was crystal clear. We could see the sea bed right from our
boat. The dives happened in batches of 2. So I was in the 2nd group and had to
wait for the 1st group to finish the dive. So I wore the life jacket and jumped
into the water to Snorkel. As I put my head down to Snorkel I was totally blown
by the magnificent view. I could see different colorful fishes swimming
underneath me. I snorkeled for half an hour and hopped on to the boat to get
ready for the dive.
Dreamz Diving Dive Shop
The Dive
The BCD buoyancy
control device, Weights & the oxygen cylinders were strapped to my body.
The Dive instructor on the boat put the mouth piece into my mouth and asked me
to hold it tight and while I was doing that he just flung me into the water. I
fell into the water on my back. That way the weight of the cylinder doesn't
cause issues to your back but the act just scares the shit out of you ;) My
Dive master, who was already in the water came close to me and held me. I then practiced
breathing using the mask.
After I got used to
the breathing technique my dive master reduced the air in the BCD and we went
10 feet into the water. It was a magical experience. I spotted many fishes
& Corals. I just enjoyed the breath taking view of the marine life as my
Dive master took me around. Then after a while we dived to a depth of 30 feet. When
I looked on top there was nothing but water and beneath there was abundance of
marine life. It was magical. No noise no disturbance, just you and Nature. It
was so peaceful.....
Just like Hritik's
Character in ZNMD I found peace....
I want to Dive again
and probably get a certification done too....You should consider Diving too...
As the Dreamz Diving tag line says
"If You Haven't dived
you haven't lived"
