The real Poseidon adventure

There are few things that rival the experience of being suspended weightlessly underwater, while floating effortlessly along a colourful coral reef with shoals of fish keeping you company.

Unless, of course, it is the experience of hand-feeding sharks or exploring the ruins of an old shipwreck. Poseidon's world is an undiscovered parallel universe and only a few are fortunate enough to be invited. The guest pass demands only one thing "" basic training in scuba diving.

Unlike most other water sports, diving requires at least a basic beginner's certification before you can don your mask. The perils of being foolhardy are many.

Says an officer who teaches at the INS Venduruthy diving school in Kochi , "As you come to the surface from a dive, nitrogen gas can bubble up in your body. If you swim up too fast, decreasing pressure makes the bubbles expand, which can cause severe pain in your joints and create other problems in your body. Without immediate medical attention, the bends can be fatal."

Another possible consequence is called nitrogen narcosis. Below certain depths, confusion can set in. On one of my dives in the Andamans, I saw a 25-year-old start hallucinating that he had gills and tried to give his regulator to the fish.

The only safeguard is to have adequate training. One of the better known diving schools in the country is Lacadives in Lakshadweep , opened by ad-filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar. He was inspired to open the school after he discovered an ancient Koran on his first ever dive in Mauritius.

That, coupled with his mixed feelings of elation and awe, led him to his dream of opening up this experience for over 700 beginners to date and counting. The courses, lasting between 5-15 days, do not come cheap "" starting at Rs 15,000 and going up to Rs 45,000 for the course alone. For details visit www.lacadives.com.

If you happen to be in Goa , then there is Dive Goa, a training centre established by Ajey Patil (www.divegoa.com). Here you can actually get familiar with scuba diving in just one day for Rs 2,500. But that will allow you to only go to a depth of 12 metres.

The PADI-certified four-day course, costing Rs 15,000, is a better option. "The military would like to make scuba diving appear very macho and tough. On the other hand, PADI tries to show how easy and fun diving can be and that's why our courses are shorter," says Patil.

And the certificate you earn at the end of the course will allow you to dive up to 18 metres in any part of the world. Other courses may let you venture deeper. In addition, there are a variety of special courses you can avail of, such as rescue training, once you have earned your masters in diving. Ready to take the plunge?