Scuba Diving in Andaman: Costs, Courses, Dive Sites and Rules
Scuba diving in Andaman costs roughly ₹2,500 to ₹6,500 for a beginner dive and ₹28,000 to ₹35,000 for an entry-level certification. Havelock, Neil and Port Blair hold most dive sites. November to April gives the best conditions. Beginners and non-swimmers can dive to 12 metres with an instructor.
What a scuba dive actually is
Scuba means you breathe compressed air from a tank through a regulator, so you stay under for 30 to 45 minutes instead of holding your breath. A buoyancy jacket keeps you hanging mid-water. On an introductory dive the instructor controls that jacket for you and stays within arm’s reach throughout, so you are experiencing a dive rather than performing one. If you want the skill itself, you need a course.
What makes the Andamans good for scuba diving
The numbers, not the adjectives:
- Visibility. Commonly 15 to 30 metres from November to April. The Directorate of Tourism’s own low-risk threshold for a dive is visibility above 4 metres, so in-season conditions sit far above the regulatory floor.
- Water temperature. Roughly 26 to 29 degrees Celsius all year. A 3 mm shorty is usually enough, and many divers skip the wetsuit entirely.
- Depth of beginner sites. The shallow reefs sit between 3 and 12 metres, which is exactly where an uncertified diver is legally allowed to be.
- Boat times. Most dive sites around Havelock Island are 10 to 60 minutes from the jetty, and Neil’s Jetty Channel Marker is about 10 minutes out. You are not spending half a day in transit.
- Site count. Havelock alone has over 20 established, named dive sites, with more around Neil, Chidiyatapu and Rutland. The Directorate’s Annexure IV lists 18 permitted diving zones.
- Reef types. Fringing hard coral gardens close to shore, coral slopes and walls at intermediate depth, and rocky pinnacles and open-sea reefs such as Pilot Reef and Minerva Ledge for certified divers.
Types of diving in the Andamans
- Shore dives. You walk in from the beach. Nemo Reef at Beach No. 2 in Havelock is the standard one, shallow at around 6 metres and the cheapest option because no boat is involved.
- Boat dives. A 10-to-60-minute ride, then a back-roll entry. Better reef, more fish, higher price. Not ideal if you are anxious in open water or prone to seasickness.
- Introductory dives for uncertified divers. Known as Discover Scuba Diving with PADI or Try Scuba with SSI. Briefing, shallow-water skills, then one supervised dive to a maximum of 12 metres. No certification results from it. If breathing underwater is the part that worries you, snorkelling in the Andaman Islands shows you the same shallow reefs from the surface.
- Certified fun dives. For anyone holding an entry-level card. Single or double tank, 45 to 60 minutes underwater, and access to the deeper sites.
- Night dives. Offered mainly out of Havelock. The guidelines require every diver to carry a marker light and a backup torch.
- Liveaboards. Limited and seasonal. Charter expeditions must be booked three to six months ahead.
Scuba diving courses in the Andamans
Course content and limits come from the training agencies, not from the dive centre. Fees are indicative ranges from Havelock and Port Blair operator rate cards as of September 2026, before 18% GST.
| Course | Agency | Depth limit | Dives | Days | Prerequisites | Indicative fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discover Scuba Diving / Try Scuba | PADI, SSI | 12 m | 1 | Half day | Age 10+, medical questionnaire. No swimming test | ₹2,500 to ₹6,500 |
| Scuba Diver | PADI | 12 m | 2 | 1 to 2 | Age 10+, swim and float test | ₹16,000 to ₹19,000 |
| Open Water Diver | PADI, SSI | 18 m | 4 | 3 to 4 | Age 10+, 200 m swim or 300 m with mask, fins and snorkel, plus 10 minutes float or tread | ₹28,000 to ₹35,000 |
| Advanced Open Water / Advanced Adventurer | PADI, SSI | 30 m | 5 | 2 to 3 | Open Water certification. Age 12 for the deep dive, 15 for the full adult card with PADI | ₹24,000 to ₹26,000 |
| Rescue Diver | PADI, SSI | As per certification | 2 or more | 3 to 4 | Adventure Diver with navigation dive or Advanced, plus current first aid and CPR training within 24 months | ₹20,000 to ₹26,000 |
| Emergency First Response / First Aid and CPR | PADI, SSI | Non-diving | 0 | 1 | None | ₹10,000 to ₹12,000 |
Advanced Open Water is genuinely cheaper than Open Water at most island dive centres, which looks like an error and is not. Open Water carries a confined-water session, more classroom time and three to four days of instructor commitment. Advanced is five dives over two to three days with no confined-water block.
Best time for scuba diving in Andaman
| Months | Sea conditions | Typical visibility | What is open or closed | Price level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October to November | Settling after the monsoon, occasional swell | 15 to 25 m | Season restarting, some centres still reopening. Jolly Buoy opens in November | Lower, shoulder rates |
| December to February | Calmest of the year | 15 to 30 m | Everything is running. Manta sightings reported at Dixon’s Pinnacle in this window | Peak, book weeks ahead |
| March to April | Calm, warmest water | 15 to 30 m | Everything is running. Best window for Barren Island charters | Peak, slightly easier availability |
| May | Deteriorating, early pre-monsoon squalls | Variable | Red Skin opens, Jolly Buoy closes. Boat trips cancelled at short notice | Falling |
| June to September | Rough, southwest monsoon | Often below 10 m | Many centres shut or run shore dives only. Long boat rides mostly off | Lowest, but availability unreliable |
If you have one week and no flexibility, aim for December to March. If you want the same water with fewer people, late February to April is the better trade. Diving in June to September is possible on a sheltered shore site, but the odds of a cancelled or murky dive are high enough that you should not build a trip around it. Our guide to the best time to visit the Andamans covers how the same months affect ferries and beaches.
Conditions that affect a Scuba dive in Andaman
Depth. Deeper is not better. It shortens bottom time, and beyond 18 metres colours flatten and the reef often gets less busy, not more.
Visibility. Driven more by tide and plankton than by surface weather. Light rain rarely ruins a dive. A big tidal exchange over a sandy bottom will.
Current. The permitted-conditions benchmark is a current you can swim against with minimal effort. Anything stronger belongs to certified divers with good buoyancy control.
Weather and sea state. Swell above half a metre makes boat entries and exits difficult. Operators cancel on the morning when the sea is up, and a good one does exactly that rather than pushing the trip through.
Reef health. Shallow inshore patches carry more bleaching damage than the deeper open-sea reefs. Expect healthy coral, not perfect coral.
Marine life. Turtles, clownfish across five species, giant clams, stingrays, batfish, barracuda and white-tip reef sharks are all realistic. Mantas and dugongs are occasional, not scheduled.
Best dive sites in the Andamans
Sites below come from operator site guides and from Annexure IV of the Directorate guidelines, which defines where diving is legally permitted. Havelock carries the volume; the quieter reefs off Neil Island run deeper and see fewer boats.
Beginner and introductory dives, maximum 12 metres
| Site | Island | Depth range | What you see | What it needs from you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nemo Reef | Havelock | 3 to 6 m | Clownfish, anemones, shallow hard coral | Nothing. Shore entry, no swimming |
| Red Pillar | Havelock | 8 to 12 m | Coral pillar, schooling reef fish | Short boat ride, back-roll entry |
| Tribe Gate | Havelock | 8 to 12 m | Giant clams, all five local clownfish species | Comfort on a small boat |
| Lighthouse | Havelock | 3 to 12 m for beginners | Gentle coral slope, turtles | Nothing beyond a boat ride |
| Turtle Beach and Aquarium | Havelock | Up to 12 m | Staghorn gardens, stingrays | Longer boat ride, seasickness tolerance |
| Jetty Channel Marker | Neil | 8 to 12 m | Reef fish, calm conditions | About 10 minutes by boat |
| North Bay | Port Blair | 8 to 12 m | Sheltered reef, easy first dive | Patience with crowds in peak season |
Intermediate, certified divers
| Site | Island | Depth range | What you see | What it needs from you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Slope | Havelock | 12 to 25 m | Cleaning stations, mantis shrimp, batfish | Open Water card, steady buoyancy |
| The Wall | Havelock | 15 to 25 m | Wall profile, soft coral | Open Water card |
| Barracuda City | Havelock | 18 to 25 m | Hard and soft coral belts, barracuda | Open Water card, comfort at 18 m |
| Junction | Neil | 16 to 25 m | Coral bommies, dugong sightings reported | Open Water card |
| Margherita’s Mischief | Neil | 15 to 25 m | Macro life, nudibranchs | Good buoyancy for macro work |
| Corruption Rock | Chidiyatapu, South Andaman | 12 to 25 m | Rock formations, schooling fish | Open Water card, tolerance for current |
Advanced
| Site | Island | Depth range | What you see | What it needs from you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dixon’s Pinnacle | Off Havelock | 18 to 34 m | Pinnacles, barrel sponges, manta cleaning station November to February | Advanced certification, current experience |
| Johnny’s Gorge | Off Havelock | 26 to 30 m | Barracuda, snapper, grouper, jacks | Advanced certification, air discipline |
| Jackson’s Bar | Off Havelock | 20 to 30 m | Rocky bar, pelagics | Advanced certification, current experience |
| Minerva Ledge and Pilot Reef | Open sea near Havelock | 18 to 30 m | Open-sea reef, larger fish | Advanced certification, long boat ride |
| Cinque Island | South Andaman | 15 to 30 m | Sanctuary reef, low diver traffic | Advanced certification, forest permit and fee |
| Barren Island | Off Middle Andaman | 18 to 30 m | Volcanic black sand, unusual macro | Advanced minimum, charter or liveaboard only |
Restricted and seasonal access, worth knowing before you plan around a site
- Jolly Buoy and Red Skin rotate. Jolly Buoy opens roughly November to April, Red Skin roughly May to October. Only one is open at a time.
- Diving inside Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park needs prior permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden and a fee of ₹500 per person per day for Indian citizens, ₹1,000 for foreign nationals.
- Barren and Narcondam permit diving but no landing ashore.
- Radhanagar Beach and Havelock Jetty are excluded from the permitted diving areas, so nobody can legally sell you a dive there.
- Cinque, Inglis, North Brother and South Brother sit inside sanctuaries and need the same forest clearance.
Who can dive in the Andamans
| Requirement | Introductory dive | Open Water course | Advanced course |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum age | 10 with PADI and SSI. The Directorate sets 12 as the floor at non-WRSTC dive centres | 10, with 10- and 11-year-olds capped at 12 m | 12 for the deep dive, 15 for the full adult PADI card |
| Maximum age | None set by PADI, SSI or the Directorate for WRSTC-affiliated centres. Non-WRSTC centres apply an upper limit of 60 | None | None |
| Swimming | Not required | Required: 200 m swim, or 300 m with mask, fins and snorkel, plus 10 minutes floating or treading | Already met at Open Water |
| Medical clearance | Standard pre-dive medical questionnaire. Any YES answer needs a doctor’s sign-off before you dive | Same questionnaire and the same rule | Same questionnaire and the same rule |
| Parental consent | Required for anyone under 18 | Required | Required |
| Maximum depth | 12 m | 18 m | 30 m |
On fitness to dive, the process is the thing to understand. Every diver completes the standard medical questionnaire before entering the water. If you answer NO to every question you self-certify on the form and dive. If you answer YES to anything, you need a physician’s approval of fitness to dive first. That is the rule in the Directorate guidelines and in the WRSTC agency standards both. It is not decided by your age, and a birthday is not a disqualification. If you have a heart, lung, ear, sinus, neurological or pregnancy-related condition, or you are on medication, that is a conversation with a doctor and not something to settle by reading a website. If a doctor advises against diving, a sea walk in the Andamans keeps your head in a helmet at surface pressure and is a different proposition entirely.
Cost of scuba diving in Andaman
Indicative ranges as of September 2026, per person, before 18% GST. The guidelines require every centre to display its own rate card on the premises.
| What you are buying | Havelock | Neil | Port Blair and North Bay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introductory shore dive | ₹2,500 to ₹4,000 | ₹3,000 to ₹4,000 | ₹3,000 to ₹4,500 |
| Introductory boat dive | ₹3,500 to ₹6,800 | ₹3,500 to ₹5,500 | ₹4,000 to ₹6,000 |
| Certified fun dive, single tank | ₹3,000 to ₹5,000 | ₹3,000 to ₹4,500 | ₹3,500 to ₹5,000 |
| Two fun dives in a day | ₹5,000 to ₹9,000 | ₹5,000 to ₹7,000 | ₹5,500 to ₹8,000 |
| Night dive | ₹4,000 to ₹5,000 | Limited availability | Limited availability |
| Marine National Park diving fee | Not applicable | Not applicable | ₹500 Indian, ₹1,000 foreign, per person per day |
What moves the price: whether a boat is involved and how far it travels, how long you are actually underwater, whether photos are included or billed afterwards, and the instructor to diver ratio. That last one is worth asking about, because it is the easiest thing to leave out of a cheap quote.
Diving is almost always paid separately and is not built into a standard Andaman tour package. Most Havelock tour packages cover transfers, hotels and sightseeing only. Treat diving as an add-on and budget for it on top, because a package that quietly includes a dive is usually including the cheapest shore dive available.
Rules that govern diving in the Andamans
These come from the Guidelines for Scuba Diving Centres in Andaman Nicobar Islands, notified by the Directorate of Tourism in August 2025. Where they are stricter than agency standards, the guidelines apply.
Depth limits. Introductory dives are capped at 12 metres. Entry-level certified divers may not exceed 18 metres unless they are trained or in training for deep diving. Advanced certified divers dive to their agency limit.
Decompression diving is banned outright. Only no-stage decompression diving is permitted anywhere in the islands, including on liveaboards, with no exception for instructors or students.
The 24-hour no-fly rule. This is the one that catches people out. The guidelines prohibit any dive within 24 hours of boarding a pressurised aircraft. DAN and the certification agencies set a lower floor, a minimum surface interval of 12 hours after a single no-decompression dive and 18 hours after repetitive or multi-day diving, but in the Andamans the 24-hour figure is the operative rule. In practice: if your flight leaves Port Blair at 10 am on Sunday, your last dive should finish before 10 am on Saturday. Build that buffer in when you book the flight, not after.
Safety stop. Three minutes at 5 metres after every dive except short shallow ones, and recommended on anything deeper than 9 metres. You should still have at least 50 bar in the tank when you start it.
Solo diving is not permitted under any circumstances.
Permitted areas only. Diving is legal only in the 18 zones listed in Annexure IV. Anything outside them, including Radhanagar Beach and the Port Blair harbour channel, is prohibited.
Marine life. Collecting coral, shells or marine flora and fauna carries penal action under Section 29 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Boats may not anchor on dive sites.
How to check that an operator is legitimate
You cannot control the sea, but you can control who you dive with. Five checks, all required by the guidelines:
- Registration. The dive centre must hold a current Certificate of Registration from the Directorate of Tourism, renewed annually. Ask to see it.
- Instructor certification. At least one staff instructor must be certified by PADI, SSI, NAUI, CMAS, BSAC or another WRSTC member agency, and hold current emergency response certification. Certification numbers can be verified on the agency’s own website.
- Oxygen and an emergency action plan. Every centre must carry pure oxygen and a written Emergency Action Plan signed off by PADI, SSI or the National Institute of Water Sports. Every dive boat must carry a medical oxygen set, flares, first aid kit, life jackets and a dive flag.
- Insurance. Third-party cover of at least ₹10 lakh per person, plus a professional dive policy for the instructors.
- Displayed rate card and receipts. The guidelines require the full list of services and rates to be displayed on the premises and a proper receipt to be issued. A centre quoting verbally and refusing a receipt is not following the rules.
A pre-dive briefing covering depth limits, site characteristics, current, entry and exit technique and hazards is mandatory before every dive. If nobody briefs you, that is your signal to walk away.
Diving here is well run and the conditions are forgiving, which comes from certified instructors, registered operators, shallow beginner sites and a calm season. It holds only while those things hold. Nobody can promise you a safe dive, and an operator who does is telling you something about their standards.
Planning your Andaman trip with andamantourism.org
andamantourism.org is based in the islands, with a head office in Sri Vijaya Puram and working relationships with the hotels, ferry operators and activity providers you will be using. That matters for diving in a specific way. Ferry timings between Port Blair, Havelock and Neil shift with the season and the sea. Dive slots run early in the morning and fill up. The 24-hour no-fly window has to be designed into the itinerary rather than patched on afterwards. Tell us the day you fly out first, and we will build the diving backwards from it.
Frequently asked questions
Can non-swimmers do scuba diving in Andaman?
Yes, on an introductory dive. Your instructor stays with you, controls your buoyancy and manages the dive, and no swimming test applies. The limit is 12 metres. Certification courses are a different matter: PADI and SSI both require you to swim 200 metres, or 300 metres with mask, fins and snorkel, and float or tread water for 10 minutes.
What is the maximum depth for a beginner scuba dive in Andaman?
12 metres. That is the limit under PADI and SSI standards for an introductory dive and under the Directorate of Tourism guidelines, which explicitly prohibit introductory dives deeper than 12 metres. Once you hold an entry-level certification the limit rises to 18 metres, and Advanced certification takes it to 30 metres.
How long should I wait before flying after diving in Andaman?
24 hours. The Directorate guidelines prohibit diving within 24 hours of boarding a pressurised aircraft, which is stricter than the DAN minimum of 12 hours after a single dive and 18 hours after repetitive diving. Practically, do not dive on the last day of your trip if you are flying the next morning.
Is there an age limit for scuba diving in Andaman?
The minimum is 10 with PADI and SSI, and 12 at dive centres that are not WRSTC-affiliated. There is no upper age limit set by the agencies, and non-WRSTC centres apply a cap of 60. Fitness to dive is decided by the standard medical questionnaire, and any YES answer requires a doctor’s sign-off before you dive.
How much does scuba diving cost in Andaman?
An introductory shore dive runs about ₹2,500 to ₹4,000 and a boat dive ₹3,500 to ₹6,800 per person, before 18% GST. A certified fun dive is ₹3,000 to ₹5,000. An Open Water certification is ₹28,000 to ₹35,000. Rates vary by island, season and dive centre, so confirm what is included before you pay.
When is the best time for scuba diving in Andaman?
November to April, with December to March the most reliable. Visibility runs 15 to 30 metres and water sits at 26 to 29 degrees. June to September is monsoon: many centres close or run shore dives only, and cancellations are common.
Where is the best place to dive, Havelock or Neil?
Havelock has more dive sites, more operators and both shore and boat options, which makes it the better base for a first dive or a course. Neil is quieter, its sites run deeper and it suits certified divers. Port Blair and North Bay work if you are short on time, though North Bay gets very crowded in peak season.
Do I need a permit to scuba dive in Andaman?
Not for ordinary dives around Havelock, Neil or Port Blair. Diving inside Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park or a wildlife sanctuary needs prior permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden and a fee of ₹500 per person per day for Indians and ₹1,000 for foreign nationals. Foreign nationals also need the standard Restricted Area Permit for the islands.
Working out where diving fits into your dates? Send us your travel window and we will tell you which islands, which sites and which flight timing actually work together. Talk to us about your Andaman trip