On the open waters

AdventureTour amp TasteRelaxingEducationalAncient amp HistoricalThe year was 2015 ldquoItrsquos their summer holidays and I need to get them out of the house Can they come diving with usrdquo asked our friend Jayram He was talking about Kunal 16 and Keerthana 14 and was entirely oblivious to the wild journey of discovery his kids were about to embark onFast forward nearly a decade to 2024 and Kunal who is 26 and his sister Keerthana 24 are now certified Advanced Open Water divers with over 500 dives between the two of them Irsquom writing this while on a weeklong diving trip with them and their five friendsmdashdoing three dives a day But Irsquom getting ahead of myselfLetrsquos rewind for a second to the early rsquo90s when the Berlin Wall was coming down in Germany entirely unconnected and my brother Nitish and I were growing up in middleclass India The economy was opening up but middleclass India hadnrsquot begun to unleash its travelthirsty millions on the world and they certainly didnrsquot indulge in activities like swimming with sharks turtles or mantas But my brother Nitish and I didA group of teenagers being led on an open water dive Pic CourtesyFleetfoot Adventures right Nikhil Chinapa and Nitish ChengappaNitish and I learnt to dive in Thailand and by the early 2000s had been certified as Open Water Divers in the Maldives As we continued our diving adventures around the regionmdashit didnrsquot escape our friendsrsquo attention Some of them asked if they could come along and learn to dive with us ldquoThe more the merrierrdquo was our normal reaction and we introduced dozens of them and their friends to our fascinating world beneath the waves Over the past decade wersquove helped certify over 2000 Open Water Divers in India through our company Fleetfoot Adventures But the real epiphany in our lives happened when our friends started bringing their kids along to dive with themDiving and discovering the underwater world leaves an indelible impression on peoplersquos minds especially kids aged 1015 It creates awareness about the delicate nature of life on our planet but most importantly creates an everlasting bond between them and the world we live in Diving also creates a shared experience with their friends that stays with them for lifemdashregardless of the future career choices they go on to embrace I have no doubt that it also positively impacts mental health and promotes wellness amongst its participantsTo understand the profound impact diving has on the young mind yoursquove only got to be around a group of kids surfacing after a dive You have to listen to the unbridled excitement in their voicesmdashwhich can only be compared to a group of Taylor Swift fans discovering that the star is coming over for a playdatehellip and it might just turn into a sleepover YupmdashTHAT level of excitement when they describe the things theyrsquove seen underwater Things that yoursquove seen a hundred times beforemdashbut theyrsquove just seen for the first timeA ldquogiant striderdquo entry into the water from the dive boatldquoThe shark It came towards merdquo squealed 11yearold Anika ldquoI wasnrsquot afraid and it was so cute Can I go back inrdquo she asked ldquoI want to see more sharksrdquoldquoWhat do you think this is an aquariumrdquo laughed Keerthana who by now was 23 last year and had brought her younger cousins to dive with us Being out in the open ocean with people you love is an amazing feeling and creates a close bond between friends and family Add that to incredible underwater life sunsets that will take your breath away and a trillion stars at night and you begin to understand that these diving trips are a lot more than just getting into the water and swimming around with Scuba gear and spandexThen there are the conversations Things you witness on dive boats and underwater that become memories for life Kids clownfish and turtles are a particularly heady combination that will yield you hours of delightful stories and anecdotes ldquoThat turtle was so closerdquo exclaimed Meera ldquoIt looked right at me and then went back to munching coralrdquo Yup those turtles are super chilled and as for the clownfishmdashhow many ways can you say ldquotheyrsquore sooooo cuuuuuute yardquo in a kids voiceWersquove seen these excited conversations and scenes play out dozens of times and the kids who came diving with us are kids no more Some have completed over 150 dives with us and are certified Advanced and Rescue divers today All this while pursuing careers in business management finance engineering digital media law and more And it isnrsquot just the kidsOver the years wersquove noticed a dramatic uptick in solo travellers especially women whorsquove taken to scuba diving Itrsquos a unique activity which empowers you with a new skill set and itrsquos a skill set you can learn at any age The oldest person whorsquos come diving with us was 74 Our own mother dived with us when she was 70mdashand she loved itRajani 54 was introduced to diving by her son Shreyas ldquoShe used to go trekking a lotrdquo he says ldquoThis is her new trekking Her meditation almostrdquo he smilesldquoIrsquove taken care of my family and our home all my liferdquo said Rajani ldquoNow that my kids are studying abroad I wanted to learn a new skill and do my own thing Something I didnrsquot need to ask anyonersquos permission forrdquoThe thing about diving is that it selfselects a cool happygolucky crowd Over the years Irsquove met dozens of solo travellers on dive trips Without exception everyonersquos become a friend and wersquove exchanged diving stories phone numbers and emails by the end of the dive trip wersquore on On a few occasions wersquove even planned other trips with these strangersturnedfriendsSo the next time yoursquore wondering what to do with that fiveday break or just wondering what yoursquore doing in lifemdashpop your head around at a scuba diving shop Whatever your reasons for getting into diving the reasons why people stay are always the same Itrsquos therapeutic has a great community of people and every dive trip always feels like a brand new adventuremdasheven if itrsquos to a place yoursquove been to beforeWhere and WhatMaldives on a Liveaboard boat A ldquoliveaboardrdquo is a floating hotel on a yacht Ours had 13 double bedrooms with attached bathroomsshowers a full crew of chefs housekeeping staff boat crew and dive crew a fully stocked bar and buffet meals We also had one dive guide to every fourfive divers We dived at North Maleacute Atoll Rasdhoo North and South Ari atolls and Vaavu atoll A beach BBQ on one night was also included Cost For this trip organised by Fleetfoot Adventures the cost was 2000 for 17 dives all meals and teacoffee We paid extra for equipment hire approx 150 for the week and for extra drinks tips Mumbai runs two direct flights to Male every day Connect with fleetfootadventures on InstagramWant to hear from youWe are looking to visit and write about interesting places of stay and travel near and far If you wish to host us for a fair engaging experience review write to us at smdmailmiddaycom