Actor Nidhi Subbaiah completed her open water scuba certification during a solo trip to Havelock Island — and the experience she says left her awestruck. The course included theory sessions, pool training, and multiple open-water dives, including a boat dive nearly 18 metres (about 60 feet) underwater. “I had done watersports before, but breathing under water is a completely different experience,” she says. “The colours of the reefs, the fish — it felt like entering another world.” One of the highlights came within minutes of her first dive.
“Within the first four minutes, I spotted a seahorse. My instructor had been diving there for eight or nine years, and it was his first sighting,” she recalls. The trip also marked her first solo adventure. “I wanted to challenge myself and do something new for my birthday,” she says. “More than the certification, the experience gave me perspective. When you’re underwater in that silence, you realise how vast and beautiful the world really is.” Coming back to the surface after her deepest dive felt almost surreal. “It felt like waking up from a dream,” she says with a smile. “Now I know why diving is addictive — I’m already thinking about my next one,” she says.
