Underneath the surface of the deep blue exists a marine world, much of which waits to be discovered. While deep sea diving has become a popular pastime along India’s 7,516-kilometre coastline, exploring sunken vessels in the ocean depths is a rare rush. However, myriad domestic diving sites offer a heady cocktail of legends, mysteries, and history that swirl around the wreckage. The once lively crafts are reduced to rusty skeletal remains sleeping on the seabed, where schools of fish play peek-a-boo in their abandoned corners.
We handpick five Indian destinations where you can drop anchor and plunge into the underwater world of shipwrecks.
A 425-foot cargo ship popularly known as Suzy’s Wreck, which rests near Grande Island, is the site of the submerged SS Rita. The U.K.-built vessel was believed to be carrying railroad tracks when it got caught in a storm and capsized sometime in the mid-20th century. Today, the structure is studded with molluscs and corals and its residents include the likes of squid, ray, baby lobster, moorish idol, and moray eel. The shallow depth goes up to a maximum of 40-43 feet, making Suzy’s Wreck ideal for beginners. More challenging is a trip to the nearby yet deeper Davy Jones Locker wreckage—the unnamed ship titled after an idiom for the seabed—though only the location of the stern and propeller is known. barracudadiving.com
Read the full feature in the print edition of National Geographic Traveller India January-February 2022.
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Pooja Naik is Senior Sub-Editor at National Geographic Traveller India. She likes to take long leisurely walks with both hands in her pocket; channeling her inner Gil Pender at Marine Drive since Paris is a continent away.
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