Water Sports India

---

Scuba Diving
Best season for diving: December to April

The 2 main destinations in India which have scuba diving activities as well as courses in the sport are the Andamans and Lakshadweep.

The Andamans have some fascinating underwater marine life, varieties of colourful fishes, ship wrecks and exotic coral reefs. The best way to explore this is scuba diving. The coastal water surrounding these islands is the abode of one of the richest coral reef ecosystem is the world. Many of the islands are surrounded by fringing reefs, often several hundred metres wide and separated from the shore by a lagoon of similar width. There are also steeply sloping reef walls, and coral pinnacles or knolls.

Island Water Sports is a private water sports operator at Port Blair providing Speed Boats, Jet Skies, Tube Ride, Wake Board Ride, Knee Board Ride, etc. The Andaman Water Sports Complex at Port Blair is a unique water ports centre run by The Directorate of tourism. It offers adventure water sports like Sailing, Skiing, Para-Sailing (subject to wind/weather conditions), water scooters and speedboats. Trips for coral and shipwreck viewing are operated from here.

Angling and Fishing
There are opportunities for anglers in Bhalukpung in Assam. The river Jia Bhoroli, Kapili and Manas are the best places for Golden Mahseer angling since the days of the British.

The Jia Bhoroli of Assam has a long and glorious history of Mahseer angling

The state of Himachal Pradesh with its many snow-fed rivers are an angler's haven. The upper reaches of the river Beas in the Kullu valley are also great for this sport. The picturesque Kangra valley has several spots that offer mahaseer- river carp.

Trout Fishing: 1st November to 31st January

In Kashmir, trout fishing is a lucrative business and the ideal season is from April to October. The British introduced the brown and rainbow trout to the streams of Kashmir, where they have thrived. Only artificial flies are allowed and each licence entitles the angler to keep six fish a day, none being shorter than 7.5 cm. The common rivers for fishing here are Sindh & Wangat.

Sailing
For those who love sailing, yachting and wind-surfing, there are facilities in Goa as well as at Kovalam beach in Kerala. Mumbai, too, has several opportunities for sailing and other water sports.

---

Adventure In India