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 Andaman
Bubbles is a 5 Star PADI Dive Centre located at Beach #5, at the Wild
Orchid Resort on Havelock Island in the Andaman Islands. We are a
small, friendly dive shop operating since December 2008 . With a
strong emphasis placed on safety, we offer professional quality
service, but in a flexible relaxed manner. We here at Andaman Bubbles
have a strong passion for the island and the sea that surrounds it. We
look forward to sharing that passion with you, not just as our
customers but also as our friends. Jeremy
Blake known as Jez has been working in Havelock as a diveshop manager
for the past three years and has now joined us to help open Andaman
Bubbles and to run the dive centre as a partner/manager. His
experience teaching diving here in Havelock and his unique style has
created a Dive Center that has raised the standard of service, quality
of equipment, and safety. This has produced a very friendly, flexible
and well organized dive centre.
Equipment and Compressor
We have new and
well-maintained equipment and have taken the step to have equipment
quality above that of standard rental gear you find with most dive
centers. We hope this will offer our customers as well as experienced
divers the opportunity to consider if they really need to bring their
own equipment. We stock Apeks fully balanced regulators, Seaquest BCDs,
open heel fins, shoes, masks and a selection of short/long wetsuits.
Also Suunto dive computers/compasses and digital cameras are available
for rent. We also have 72 12-liter cylinders with yoke valve and 10
with din inserts for customers with Din first stage. For those that
tend to be a bit heavy on air, we have four 15 liter cylinders and for
the smaller divers four 10 liter cylinders. We have a German built L&W
300 Nautic compressor with digital maintenance system to prevent any
contamination in the cylinders. We have recently purchased a Nitrox
Membrane System with an L&W 280 3 phase compressor.
Boats
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Speed Boats -
"Wave Dancer" is the only dive boat of its
kind on the island. Built in Phuket, Thailand, she is a 36 foot
fiber glass speed boat with 2 x 250 HP Yamaha 4 stroke engines and
can carry upto 20 guests.
 Her
maximum speed is 30 Knots. With lovely interiors and a nice open
area in the forward part of the boat for sun bathing. We organize
dive trips and safari’s subject to a minimum number of guests using
this boat due to its speed and comfort.
"Sagari" is a locally made fiberglass boat that can hold up to
eight divers. It’s run with a 4-stroke 115 hp Yamaha outboard
engine. This will be used primary for local dive sites and in good
calm sea more far out dive locations.
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Local Fishing Boats - Dungie -
Rock N Rolla and T-Kay: these type
of boats are the popular mode of ocean transport in the Andamans.
These are very durable and parts are easy to obtain, hence they are
use extensively. We have converted them so they are suitable for
diving and will be running them this season as our main dive boats.
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Local Cargo Boat - Carman -
Similar to a dungie but bigger, used for
snorkeling and diving when needed.
Dive Sites
The Andaman Islands
are a kaleidoscope of colors and coral, pristine reefs and a
mind-boggling array of fish. The seas around the Andamans are some of
the world's most unspoilt. Marine life is abundant and many species of
fish and coral are unique to the area.
From the depths of
Johnny’s Gorge to the gardens of Minerva ledge, there is something
here for everyone. But what makes the Andamans so special is not only
the amazing treasures you’ll find with in her. The Andaman Islands
have managed to escape the mass amount of divers you’ll find at other
dive locations. Here diver impact is minimal and you’ll always see
more fish than divers.
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South Button - 6-25 meters, all
levels - This is one of our popular places to
dive, however the farthest away but full of fish and coral (soup),
also the best place to snorkel, it has something for everyone with a
Manta Ray or even the odd little Devil Ray passing by, it’s a great
place to see Barracuda watching the Big Eyed Trevally below, Batfish
as well as Crocodile Fish, Moray Eels, turtles, Angelfish, Blue Fin
Trevally and Nudibranch, these are all on a large list of things
that can be seen here, even above the water the sea is alive with
Sweepers being chased from below as well as the White Bellied Sea
Eagle from above.
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The Wall - 10-30 meters, all levels
- A small wall 50 meters long that drops in
to the shipping channel near the jetty on Havelock, this is the best
local site and is visited by a very large Napoleon Wrasse called
Pierre, who’s very friendly to divers. The top of the wall is very
colorful with purple, red and yellow soft corals, alone the wall has
many beautiful fans with Puffer Fish and Lionfish peering out at you
and Nudibranchs trying to race around the wall. We see many
octopuses and Scorpion Fish here and even Anglerfish are seen tucked
into holes. On the sandy parts Kulhs Rays are spotted with or
without their tails.
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Dixon's Pinncale - 18-30 meters,
Advanced - Three large pinnacles are
surrounded with excitement from all the active feeding frenzy from
the pelagics, Barracuda, Giant Trevally, Giant Groupers, Tuna and
Mackerel. Beautiful Big Barrel Sponges perch on the edges of the
larger pinnacle that is covered with Glass Fish that make it hard at
times to look out at the schools of Batfish floating in the currents
and then suddenly a shadow appears from the deep, it’s a Manta Ray
cruising by to take a look at the commotion. There are many colors
here with lots of juvenile Emperor Angelfish and shy Red-Toothed
Triggerfish looking for holes to hide from the glares from the
Napoleon Wrasse circling the reef.
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Johnny Gorge's - 20-30 meters,
Advanced - Just 3 minutes from Minerva ledge
also visited by dolphin is the famous Johnny’s gorge, divers fight
to dive here, its not a big reef but most diver don’t notice the
beautiful colored coral because they are surround by a kaleidoscope
of swirling Barracuda, giant friendly Grouper, Unicorn Fish and
Snappers, not to forget one of the few place to see shark on a
regular basis and groups of Eagle Rays often drop in to add to the
experience.
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Light House - 6-20 meters, all
levels - A sloped reef about 30 minutes away
from the dive shop , the coral tends to be better in the shallows
with lots of Fusiliers, Lionfish, octopus and if divers are lucky a
big gang of Humpback Parrotfish. This site is a great place to do
night dives; we see lots of macro life as well as very small
Lionfish, sleeping Parrotfish in their bubbles and of course
lobsters.
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Elephant Beach - 6-25 meters, all
levels - A popular reef for snorkeling and
dive training, it’s the only dive site where you can walk straight
of the beach. It has a large open sand area with several rocks and
coral patches with lots of small macro life, like Pipefish, many
different shrimps and porcelain crabs. We’ve also seen young Eagle
Rays, Scorpionfish lazing around in the sand. The reef itself has
colorful hard coral including Staghorn as well as Feather/Basket/Sea
Stars, juvenile Harlequin Sweetlips, Groupers and many more common
reef fish busy on their daily routine.
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MV Mars - 7-15 meters, all levels -
This small wooden local cargo ship went down
during a storm 2006, it sits upright and has become a new home to
many fish which inhabited the near by reef ten meters away. It a
short dive around the wreck, then on to the reef and finish back at
the wreck, visibility tends to be not so good but great when it
appears through the gloom.
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Neil's Cove - 12-18 meters, all
levels - This site is a extension of another
very similar dive site called the aquarium, both gentle slope out to
sea with the reef running from a beautiful cove almost Elephant
Beach, mainly hard coral and hosts a large array of fish, Stingrays
are often spotted in the sand as well as big schools of Blue
Stripped Snappers. It’s a great place to find Humpback Parrotfish
crunching away at the coral.
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7th Heaven - 6-12 meters, all
levels - Just 300 meters off Number Seven
Beach is a small coral patch that is a great place to see many
anemones with several different Damselfish including the famous Nemo
(Clown Fish). Also Ornate Ghost Pipefish have been spotted around
the mooring line and keep looking out on to the sand so as not to
miss the passing stingrays, On rare occasions its possible a Dugong
might even pass on his way to graze in his garden.
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Minerva Ledge - 10-18 meters, all
levels- A large plateau of colorful coral,
you need more than one dive to cover this place, with abundance of
life, we never really know what we see from one dive to the next,
With a gentle current (sometimes strong) you could pass by Napoleon
Wrasse, Eagle Rays, White Tip Sharks, an uncommon Tiger Shark was
recently seen by another dive shop but this is Minerva ledge. Even
on the quiet days there’s lots to see.
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Pilot Reef - 8 - 20 meters, all
levels - The closest dive site to the dive
centre, a large reef sister to Minerva ledge. This site has lots of
small Reef Fish with Napoleon Wrasse, occasional young Manta Ray and
Leopard Shark have been spotted at times alone with big Stingrays,
turtles, Scorpionfish, sea snakes and Trevally.
Dive Crew
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Jeremy Blake (Jez) -
Dive shop Manager/Instructor
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Helene Schreiner -
Instructor
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Eric Malan -
Instructor
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Jonathan Dsouza -
Instructor
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Steve Scanlon -
Divemaster
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Xander - Divemaster
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Rizwan Jadwet -
Divemaster
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Gouddu - Divemaster
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Shruti Rao - Office
Administration/Sales and Marketing
Contact Details
Andaman Bubbles
Havelock Island
(At the Wild Orchid Resort)
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
India
Phone:+91-3192-282140
+91 94490 36747
+91 94742 71295
+91 94742 74908
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