The water sport is holding out a potential of becoming a billion dollar industry in the country over the next five years.
Scuba diving is all set to make a huge splash in the Indian waters with the water sport holding out a potential of becoming a billion dollar industry in the country over the next five years.
"We believe the time has come for India to become a major player in the world of scuba diving. It has the potential of becoming a billion dollar industry over the next five years," said Rohaan Sulaiman, President Bangalore Dive Club, which will be launched on June 14.
Worldwide, the scuba diving industry, including the hospitality factor was estimated to be USD 47 billion, said Madhava Reddy, Founder Director of Planet Scuba India, a scuba diving inland centre, with a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) five star diving centre.
"Today the contribution of scuba diving may be minuscule, but in five years, with the plans under implementation, this adventure will be a significant contributor to sea-based tourism," he said.
Lack of resources and infrastructure could have been the reasons why the sport had not picked up earlier in India despite having a vast coastline, huge population and an economy that was growing, Reddy said.
India which had less less than five dive centres five years ago today boasts of 22 dive centres. "The number is expected to go upto 50 in three to five years" Reddy said.
Mumbai, Goa, Murdeshwar, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Mahabaleshwar and the Andamans are some of the diving centres that India offers.
Reddy said most of the growth would be seen in Lakshadweep, Andamans and the coast from Mangalore to Karwar in Karnataka as new dive centres are developed.
Globally over a million people are expected to take to scuba diving every year but the figure is 1,000 for Indians, he said.
Scuba diving was still an enigma to most. "Most of us have grown up watching scuba diving on television but today it is readily available," said Rohaan.
"Scuba diving is close to space travel", said David Parry, Operations Manager, Planet Scuba India. "It has the element of weightlessness," he said.
"Discovering shipwrecks" are an all-time favourite of Parry and he shortly plans to visit Maldives to have a look at World War II battleship in the waters there.
Scuba diving is roughly divided into different categories - an 18 metre dive is the entry level, followed by advanced open diving, rescue diving and diving master level.
The entry level can be learnt in three and a half days. The minimum requirement is that a person can swim in 200 metres of water and stay afloat for 10 minutes. "Age is no bar with enthusiasts beginning as young as 10 and going up to any age as long as they have no medical problems."
"Weight is also not an issue and in fact scuba diving ensures burning of 900 calories an hour," he said.
Cost wise, training and equipment could be in the range of Rs 22,000 for the entry level and Rs 2,000 to just witness the dive, says Reddy whose firm runs these courses.
"Scuba diving is as safe as sitting in a flying aeroplane as long as you follow the safety rules," said Gilles Gomis, a French Diving Officer at the Bangalore Dive Club.
Worldwide, the popular diving sites include those in Maldives, Philippines, Fiji and Egypt. In India, Andamans were rated among the top diving sites.
Scuba diving has no gender barrier with one out of every three new scuba divers being a woman.
On dangers involved in the sport, Parry says there is "no danger from the sea animals. Danger is from humans who refuse to follow rules."
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