India Scuba Explorers

We are a professional dive operation based on the idyllic paradise of Neil island, which is one of the 576 drops of heaven, that make up the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India.

Our story begins many years ago. Having worked for dive shops in Goa, Lakshadweep, Thailand and Malaysia we decided to explore the Andaman Islands on a holiday. And so we headed off to Havelock, which was the only island with diving facilities in the Andamans. We got some dives in, and were seriously impressed.

As fate would have it, a few days before we left, we met a couple doing marine research on the islands, They shared a secret with us: that on a little known island called Neil island, they had spotted dugongs or sea cows, endangered across the world.

That was it. We were on the first ferry to Neil island the next day. Had we had our way, we'd have tried swimming across the same night from Havelock to Neil, but, well: we were told that it was a bad idea!

When we stepped off the ferry at Neil, it felt like we had stepped through a portal, back in time where everything was as it should be: real and natural, not an ersatz tourist destination. And when we discovered that there were no diving facilities on Neil, we wasted no time in trying to convince our new researcher friends to lend us two scuba sets. They reluctantly agreed only after much cajoling, pleading, and heart-rending entreaties. (There were even tears involved).

The diving that followed is hard to describe with mere words (take a look at our Gallery). It was one of those dives where you remember every breathtaking moment and never want it to end. The reef was a spectrum of brilliant hard and soft coral. The marine life was not just abundant but so biologically diverse. Knowing that only a handful of people had explored this reef before us made the dive all the more exhilarating.

In a land where spirituality is found on street corners, this was the closest we came to it.

After surfacing, both of us just knew we had to open a dive center here and share this amazing virgin and uncharted underwater paradise with everyone.........and hence was born Neil Islands first PADI dive shop India Scuba Explorers.

We have since successfully run the dive shop for a few seasons, explored and discovered 12 new dive sites, and dived with the dugongs numerous times especially Neil Islands resident dugong affectionately named Lunar.

And so we invite you to come and be among the first few divers to explore one of Poseidon's best kept secrets with us: India Scuba Explorers, the first PADI dive resort on Neil Island, where your safety and dive experience is our priority.