The Andaman Islands
Andaman dive and
sailing trips
Liveaboard: S/Y Siren and Sampai Jumpa
Have you always wanted to adventure to dive on remote
islands? Do you want to join us on our luxury liveaboard dive
boat, to explore the Andaman, dive, snorkel,
swim and discover something unique?
The Andaman Islands are in Indian territorial waters,
but due to the fact that they are far closer to Thailand (with Phuket
some 450 km to the southeast) than to India itself (with the mainland
well over 1000 km to the northwest), diving here has, so far been
pioneered by long-range liveaboard dive boats, such as ours!
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The Andaman Islands cover an area of just over 8,000
sq km, and with 500 islands, islets and rocky outcrops in the archipelago
(just 26 islands are currently inhabited), they are best discovered
by liveaboard diving.
The larger islands are fairly mountainous and blanketed with dense
rainforest. A high proportion of these forests are protected with
a confusing network of Tribal Reserves, six National Parks and Coastal
Belts, and no less than 94 wildlife sanctuaries.
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Many of the islands in the Andaman area are surrounded
by fringing reefs, really only accessible by liveaboard diving. The
reefs are often several hundred metres wide and separated from the
shore by a lagoon of similar width. There are also more steeply sloping
reef walls & coral pinnacles or knolls. Divers can follow
around the undulating hills of raven black volcanic lava, which makes
for some unusual diving. There are also plenty of shallow reefs suitable
for snorkeling.
Large pelagics are plentiful in these waters such as sharks, large schools of hammerheads often patrol the Andaman waters away from the reefs, Grey, Whitetip, Nurse and Leopard sharks are found closer inshore, and Silvertip and Oceanic Whitetips are sometimes glimpsed.
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Another feature of diving the Andaman Islands are
the impressive cleaning stations where giant barracuda hover silently,
waiting for their teeth to be picked. Enormous manta rays, bumphead
parrotfish and napoleon wrasse are also often seen, sometimes by
the dozen
