On April 11, a magnitude 8.6 earthquake struck off the island of Sumatra, followed by several powerful aftershocks. High-level tsunami warning were sent out by nations with Indian Ocean coastlines. Six southern Thai provinces were put on full alert _ Phuket, Krabi, Phangnga, Ranong, Trang and Satun _ but luckily for everyone involved, a massive wave didn't materialise this time around and the alerts were called off within a matter of hours.
Just north of South Bay on Barren Island, there is a very unusual landscape at a depth of 10 metres: an array of vertical stone columns that reminded us divers of ancient Mayan or Khmer ruins.
Just a day earlier, a group of eight Thai scuba divers had returned to Bangkok from Chennai, after waiting many hours there for a connection after flying in from Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a territory administered by India. We had just spent a wonderfully sunny week on board the luxury yacht Panunee, a Phuket-based craft, which we'd used as a base for diving expeditions in the Andaman Sea.
Anyone travelling to the Maldives or Sri Lanka will often hear the name Port Blair mentioned during inflight announcements. About an hour and a half after taking off from Bangkok, heading to any of the cities in southern India, you will probably have to overfly Port Blair.
The contrast between colourful soft coral formations and expanses of black sand is one of the unique features of a dive off Barren Island.
If it's a clear day, you'll be able to see a long archipelago stretching out below. These are the Andaman Islands and all of them have white-sand beaches fringed with palm trees, except for one very special spot which boasts black sand and is the site of an active volcano.
The captain of Panunee told us it took him ''one full day and another night'' to sail from Tap Lamu port in Phangnga province to Port Blair, a journey of about about 380 nautical miles or 700km. Port Blair has a long history of British rule and a brief chapter under Japanese occupation during World War II. When Calcutta was the capital of British India, political prisoners were sent to an infamous jail in Port Blair for ''rehabilitation'' (rather like the use to which Thailand's Tarutao Island was once put). That prison, a beautiful piece of architecture, is today a national museum.
The Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands, farther south, form an archipelago of about 600 tiny parcels of land. While they belong to India, they are in fact located much closer to Myanmar and Thailand. The expanse of ocean straddled by the Andaman Islands is about the same distance as the coastlines of Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan provinces combined. The Andaman Islands have a monsoon climate, with seasons similar to those in southern Thailand.
Port Blair has a population of about 100,000 and has a lively, colourful market, which is particularly busy late in the afternoon. The port is a major base for the Indian Navy. Although small, the town has a number of museums and historic landmarks. It is a good starting point for exploring this chain of islands and its many dive sites.
Leaving Port Blair, we sailed northeastwards for about 135km., heading for that active volcano mentioned earlier. It is located on Barren Island which occupies an isolated position in the middle of the Andaman Sea. This is the only active volcano in the Indian subcontinent, the only active, above-water volcano in the Andaman Sea and the nearest active volcano to Bangkok. A geological map reveals that is the last volcano along the infamous Ring of Fire that curves up from Indonesia.
At Cellular Jail in Port Blair, this Indian lady greeted our group by joining her hands to make a gesture that resembles our Thai wai.
The first recorded eruption there was in 1787. The volcano has erupted several times since then, most spectacularly in 1991, 1994 and in May 2005, just a few months after the Boxing Day tsunami that caused so much death and destruction in this region. The volcano remains active to this day with ash plumes, hot thermals and lava flows. On the same latitude as Pranburi in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Barren Island is 3km wide and uninhibited. The 1.6km-wide crater of the volcano is partially filled with lava, to a height of 354m.
For anyone who has never seen a volcanic island, the sight is pretty awesome, and the view below the surface of the water is equally remarkable.
On the morning of April 6, we prepare our scuba gear to explore the seascape in front of the main lava flows at the island's South Bay. The water is warm and and calm; lots of morning sun make for good photography. The conditions are clear enough to spot two large manta rays swimming above us. Yellow sea sponges contrast with black sand on a gentle slope before the wall drops off to a depth of several hundred metres.
The black sand creates an odd visual effect, whereby objects appear as if they are floating. At times, the landscape below resembles a Japanese garden with clean, neat lines and uncrowded spaces. Nearby, a school of barracuda hovers in clear blue water, a prime photo opportunity.
Just north of South Bay, more unusual dive sites are worth exploring for the abundant marine life along vertical walls with vibrant coral, large sea fans, coral shrimps, lobsters, bobtail squid, banded sea snakes, ghost pipefish, sweetlips and nudibranches. There is also a very unusual landscape at a depth of 10m which features an array of vertical stone columns so magical that it reminds us of ancient Mayan or Khmer ruins. It looks like a lost world. Excellent visibility combined with the late-afternoon sun makes the place highly appealing for taking photos.
Some of the most beautiful dive sites, however, are on the eastern side of Barren Island, at a place called Black Magic in particular. Here, the seabed features multiple levels of black sand teeming with garden eels, interspersed with vertical walls to which large sea fans are attached. Peering down towards the seemingly bottomless depths creates an anxious excitement. A large school of jacks swirl in a strong current. Above us, five more large manta rays swim graciously between the divers, along with some friendly Napoleon fish, occasional great barracudas and large groupers or potato cods.
The two days at Barren Island and the week we spend island-hopping ends beautifully with all the divers sharing their underwater photos over dinner on the upper deck of the Panunee.
The evening is made even more memorable by the clear sky, light sea breeze and a glorious full moon slowly rising up over the mighty cone of Barren Island. The exotic silhouette created by the full moon was picture-perfect. Being in such a unique spot was richly rewarding in and of itself.
TRAVEL TIPS
Getting there and getting around
The most convenient way to reach Port Blair is to fly Thai Airways to Chennai and then take an Air India connection to Port Blair. Alternatively, you can go via Kolkata.
All visa applicants should apply online at www.indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa. Applicants who wish to apply in Bangkok should submit their filled in forms at India Visa Application Centre, VFS (Thailand) Ltd, 15th Floor, Unit 1503, Glas Haus Building, Sukhumvit Soi 25.
Port Blair airport is small, but reasonably modern and it's only 2km from the town. Good accommodation choices there include Fortune Resort and the Hotel Sentinel. Visits to the Cellular Jail and the anthropological museums are a must.
On Havelock Island, a popular tourist destination northeast of Port Blair, there's a wider selection of resorts located on several different beaches. The best ones are Barefoot Resort, Munjoh Ocean Resort and Wild Orchid Resort. Things to do there include snorkelling, fishing trips, jungle treks and a mangrove safari.
The best time to visit the Andaman Islands is between January and May. The best way to explore the archipelago, including volcanic Barren Island, is to pay for an extended excursion on a live-aboard vessel. The Thai-owned yacht mentioned in this article (Panunee ) offers week-long, scuba-diving packages only in the months of March and April.
Approximately 750km southwest of Bangkok, Barren Island is a small and uninhibited speck of land made notable by the fact that it is the site of the only active volcano in the Andaman Sea. Rich in marine life, the waters around the island boast some spectacular dive sites.
During the ‘lucky’ first dive of our trip, just south of Port Blair, a school of devil rays unexpectedly swam overhead in a playful manner.
Off Barren Island, we spotted a number of manta rays in South Bay where lava from the volcano flows into the sea. This one was conducting a sharp U-turn, making an unusual elegant manoeuvre for a manta ray.
A school of barracuda hovers in clear blue water off Barren Island, a perfect photo opportunity.
Can you see the barramundi hiding near the wall? This slow-moving species of fish, which fetches a high price in restaurants abroad, has largely disappeared from Thai territorial waters.
On the eastern side of Barren Island, at a site called Black Magic, a spectacular area with soft corals and black sand, one of the divers in our group followed a large and seemingly friendly manta ray.
Sea fans attached to vertical walls of rock off Barren Island can be taller than the average diver.
The seascape at Black Magic, on the eastern side of Barren Island, features unusual, multi-level layers of black sand created by wave action.
With its clean lines and uncrowded spaces, the underwater landscape at Black Magic resembles a traditional Japanese garden. The black sand here creates an odd visual effect, whereby objects appear as if they are floating.
Deep waters off Barren Island is home to an abundance of marine life; a school of fish are spotted among the Andaman Islands.
One of the must-see places in Port Blair is the historic Cellular Jail, where the British once incarcerated political prisoners; today it is a national museum. A replica (inset) shows how the Cellular Jail was used as a place to ‘‘rehabilitate’’ political prisoners during the days of the British Raj.
