Off The Reef

Go off the beaten path with Umeed Mistry as he brings you on an eye-opening exploration of all the quirky and interesting creatures that live on the sand flats, silt beds and seagrass meadows of the Indian Ocean

- Umeed Mistry

A quick online search for scuba diving in India brings up the Andaman and Lakshadweep Islands as the top scuba holiday destinations in the country, with Netrani, Goa and Pondicherry also attracting some of the diving fraternity to these less clear, but no less interesting waters. And from these destinations, the top-rated dive sites tend to be coral reefs and a few artificial reefs (including shipwrecks) that are teeming with a variety of different fish and crustacean species, and with varying amounts of coral growth.

In my time spent photographing India’s waters, I have had the good fortune of being able to dive in some places where most recreational divers wouldn’t think to go. A cursory glance over these dive sites reveals very little. And with a few exceptional individuals whom I am grateful to, most dive operators aren’t interested enough to visit these sites and aren’t knowledgeable enough to make these sites interesting for their diving guests.

But the truth is that there is always something to see – as many of the guides from the meccas of muck diving will testify to. And if you’ve become familiar with reef creatures from around the world, then you are likely to find some very alien and very surprising life off the reef. Some of these habitats include seagrass beds, sand flats, silt beds adjacent to mangrove forests and a variety of jetties that range from being somewhat clean to completely overrun with trash.

Many creatures choose to live off the reef. One reason for this may be that there is less competition for territory and food in these other, seemingly desolate habitats. However, the “decision” to live off the reef comes with its own set of challenges, for which many creatures have evolved certain adaptations and have fostered certain relationships that allow them to thrive in what might otherwise be considered comparatively inhospitable spaces.