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Hikkaduwa, a paradise for divers again
Hikkaduwa, on the South Coast, has again become a much sought after destination of international divers. There are several diving centres of international standard at Hikkaduwa, catering to all requirements of divers. The diving centres are fully equipped with diving gear and comprise experienced and qualified divers having PADI licence conducting theoretical and practical lessons on diving for foreign and local diving enthusiasts.
Some of the diving centres in Hikkaduwa even obtain foreign expertise in their training programs. International diving trainers having PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) licence reach some of these diving centres at Hikkaduwa to provide their services in collaboration with their local counterparts.
Licence holding divers of PADI, which is the largest diver training organisation in the world, provide diving training at these diving training centres in Hikkaduwa.
The PADI Open Water Diver Course is divided into three segments – Academic Training, Confined Water Training and Open Water Training.
Hikkaduwa automatically became the first beach destination in Sri Lanka and remained so for more than a century, mainly due to the existence of underwater ‘Coral Gardens’ now known as the Marine Sanctuary. The Coral Gardens at Hikkaduwa could entice hundreds of foreign holiday-makers to Sri Lanka.
Even internationally renowned marine biologists, naturalists, conservationists and scientists frequented the Hikkaduwa Coral Gardens Marine Sanctuary from time immemorial.
Dr. Ransonnet, a Viennese, was one of the earliest divers to come in search of the Coral Gardens at Hikkaduwa, to enjoy the enchanting beauty and marvels of this underwater fairyland.
In the past, long before the advent of tourism as an industry in Sri Lanka, there was a tiny rest house at Hikkaduwa, in the middle of a sprawling coconut land bordering the sea. There were only a few rooms in this old rest house which were mostly occupied by British nationals during the heyday of horse racing at the Boossa Race Course.
Multi-coloured corals
The main occupations of the people who lived close to the Hikkaduwa sea stretch during those days were fishing and coral mining. Some fishermen had cited a garden of multi-coloured corals in the rocky sea just behind Hikkaduwa Rest House.
In the past, before the introduction of hundreds of glass bottomed boats, there was less tourist traffic. That, as well as the simple lifestyles of the coastal community, had hardly any harmful impact on this sensitive ecosystem and the corals were preserved.
A primitive device, a glass fixed to the bottom of a wooden box, was used then to have a view of the underwater corals from a dugout canoe.
Realising the potential of the coral formations as a tourist attraction, the then Minister of Tourism R.G. Senanayake had donated the first glass bottomed boat to the Hikkaduwa Rest House. Thus, the Hikkaduwa Rest House, which was later taken over by a private company, changed over from the old rest house and changed its name to ‘Coral Garden Hotel’, in tune with its location, marking the presence of the underwater garden of coral.
Adapting to the underwater world, divers experience a new sensation such as being almost weightless. According to the divers, it is an entirely new world where seeing and hearing things, staying warm and moving are totally different from the same activities carried out on land. This is because water is 800 times denser than air and underwater sounds travel about four times faster than in the atmosphere. When you are under water, sound comes in all directions at once.
The human eye cannot focus without an air space and the mask worn by the diver provides such a space.
“Once the basic equipment is worn, and training is given about its use, the diver, like a space traveller, would enter another world; a world full of fantasy and mystery, of new colours, of diverse forms of life, new shapes and a world where one can even fly. When a diver is under water, he/she gets a strange feeling that he/she is part of the marine ecosystem which has been hardly experienced on land,” some of the divers of Hikkaduwa revealed.
more and source
Hikkaduwa, on the South Coast, has again become a much sought after destination of international divers. There are several diving centres of international standard at Hikkaduwa, catering to all requirements of divers. The diving centres are fully equipped with diving gear and comprise experienced and qualified divers having PADI licence conducting theoretical and practical lessons on diving for foreign and local diving enthusiasts.
Licence holding divers of PADI, which is the largest diver training organisation in the world, provide diving training at these diving training centres in Hikkaduwa.
The PADI Open Water Diver Course is divided into three segments – Academic Training, Confined Water Training and Open Water Training.
Hikkaduwa automatically became the first beach destination in Sri Lanka and remained so for more than a century, mainly due to the existence of underwater ‘Coral Gardens’ now known as the Marine Sanctuary. The Coral Gardens at Hikkaduwa could entice hundreds of foreign holiday-makers to Sri Lanka.
Even internationally renowned marine biologists, naturalists, conservationists and scientists frequented the Hikkaduwa Coral Gardens Marine Sanctuary from time immemorial.
Dr. Ransonnet, a Viennese, was one of the earliest divers to come in search of the Coral Gardens at Hikkaduwa, to enjoy the enchanting beauty and marvels of this underwater fairyland.
In the past, long before the advent of tourism as an industry in Sri Lanka, there was a tiny rest house at Hikkaduwa, in the middle of a sprawling coconut land bordering the sea. There were only a few rooms in this old rest house which were mostly occupied by British nationals during the heyday of horse racing at the Boossa Race Course.
Multi-coloured corals
The main occupations of the people who lived close to the Hikkaduwa sea stretch during those days were fishing and coral mining. Some fishermen had cited a garden of multi-coloured corals in the rocky sea just behind Hikkaduwa Rest House.
A primitive device, a glass fixed to the bottom of a wooden box, was used then to have a view of the underwater corals from a dugout canoe.
Realising the potential of the coral formations as a tourist attraction, the then Minister of Tourism R.G. Senanayake had donated the first glass bottomed boat to the Hikkaduwa Rest House. Thus, the Hikkaduwa Rest House, which was later taken over by a private company, changed over from the old rest house and changed its name to ‘Coral Garden Hotel’, in tune with its location, marking the presence of the underwater garden of coral.
Adapting to the underwater world, divers experience a new sensation such as being almost weightless. According to the divers, it is an entirely new world where seeing and hearing things, staying warm and moving are totally different from the same activities carried out on land. This is because water is 800 times denser than air and underwater sounds travel about four times faster than in the atmosphere. When you are under water, sound comes in all directions at once.
The human eye cannot focus without an air space and the mask worn by the diver provides such a space.
“Once the basic equipment is worn, and training is given about its use, the diver, like a space traveller, would enter another world; a world full of fantasy and mystery, of new colours, of diverse forms of life, new shapes and a world where one can even fly. When a diver is under water, he/she gets a strange feeling that he/she is part of the marine ecosystem which has been hardly experienced on land,” some of the divers of Hikkaduwa revealed.
more and source