Andaman

Situated 1000Km East of India in the Bay of Bengal, South of Burma and close to the coast of Thailand, The Andaman Islands are the most remote state of India.

In 1777, a British penal colony was established on the islands and in 1858, following several attempts, the colony was established. Mutineers from the Indian Mutiny were forced to clear the forest and build the prison. In 1896, the 7 winged Cellular Jail was built, this was a new design as prisons prior to this had been dormitory based.
The prison still exists, and, along with the remains of the British houses, barracks and social facilities is a reminder of the brutal treatment doled out by the British to the Indian Freedom Fighters. Visiting the prison is an interesting experience. This part of history is hardly recorded by the British and the cruelty and extent of the executions (executing three people at a time on a multiple gallows) is surely a major act of international crime.

Our initial reason for visiting the Andamans was based (oddly) on a small film clip on a television advert which showed an elephant swimming underwater. When we discovered where it was filmed, it became number one on our dive list. When we arrived, Manavi Thakkar of Samudra diving pointed out that the elephants actually hate swimming in the sea, not to mention being forced to walk over sharp coral reefs and advised that they are forced in to the sea by being beaten with chains!
Some dive tourists have been known to pay for this to be done to get some video or photos..we declined.

We arranged all our diving via email with Manavi, who could not have been more helpful before, during and after the trip. She lent me a dive computer when mine cooked to death in the sun..lent me parts of demand valve when a hose burst on mine and was more of a host than a dive centre owner. Bala the boatman and George the house taxi driver were also worthy of honorable mention.

While there, we had many memorable dives : Fish Rock, our first introduction to Manavi's Classification of Currents..this was classified as "Slight Current", thereafter referred to as 2 Manavis.
As a rule of thumb:

MANAVI RATING	SPEED	DIVER DESCRIPTION
No current here (1 Manavi)	0.5 - 1 knot	Good drift, tough against the current
Slight current (2 Manavis)	1 - 2 knot	Need a rope to get to anchor, drag to the bottom and take off like a reverse bungee when you let go
Bit of a current (3 Manavis)	2 - 3+ Knot	YAHOO! Don't leave the reef or it is "next stop Thailand". Use a fast film speed.

We had a great night sleeping on the beach after a nice lobster barbecue and fish curry..the Burmese pirates on the next island stayed there and we had some brilliant dives at Cinque Island..I would have to recommend Gordon Reef!

Manavi had some good sites off Wandoor and Rutland Island, a great mix of rock dives round small reef islands. She made the best use of time and conditions to give us a good mix of diving.

While there, we met and Dived with Michel and Ineke from The Hague in Holland..they are the tall ones in the photos, Michel made me feel like a midget - I don't know what they feed the Dutch on - but it works! It is one of the great things about diving that you meet interesting people and have a good time over a beer or two in the evenings.

If you plan to go diving in the Andamans, follow some of the links for hints..and don't encourage elephant swimming.