Havelock: Having It All In India

Havelock Island is a paradise above and below the waves. It is up to us to ensure that its future is a sustainable one.

- Umeed Mistry

I moved to Havelock in January 2006 – a little more than a year after the 2004 tsunami brought the Andaman Islands much media and administrative attention. Over the last 13 years, I have explored the waters off this island and others in Ritchie’s Archipelago, which sits on the southeastern edge of the Andaman chain. The more we dived, the more we saw.

Deeper dive sites with astounding barrel sponges, gorgonians and pelagic visitors were discovered. The rare and remarkable stars of international muck diving sites started to become apparent – divers were spotting frogfish, razorfish, seahorses, ghost pipefish and coconut octopuses off the beaches and reefs just offshore.