Hikkaduwa, a paradise for divers again

by W.T.J.S. Kaviratne, Ambalangoda special Cor

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.

Aquatic, terrestrial animals

Comparing the aquatic animals to terrestrial animals, they said that the fish the divers might come across while diving become friendly with the divers and sometimes follow them, unlike land animals who usually keep away from human beings.

ady to dive

Divers across the world are great advocates of conservation and marine ecosystems are considered as unspoilt parts of the natural world. Divers said that it was a great tragedy to observe that even the ocean depths at Hikkaduwa were being polluted and destroyed as a result of unsustainable methods of fishing and numerous other human activities.

“Look but don’t touch” is the general rule that had to be followed by snorkelers and divers, but it appeared that even some local divers violated this rule.

In addition, the increase of sea surface temperature which started occurring around 1998 due to the phenomenon known as ‘El Nino’, bleached the shallow water coral formations in the sea stretch of Hikkaduwa at an alarming rate. Internationally recognised diver, ardent conservationist and owner of the International Diving Centre of Hikkaduwa, Somadasa de Silva successfully launched a program of re-planting corals, but it had to be abandoned due to lack of funds.

Two Germans, Milan and Maya have joined the team of local diving trainers at the Hikkaduwa International Diving Centre in conducting practical and theoretical diving lessons for foreign and local diving enthusiasts.These international divers, who had just returned from their diving tours, revealed that Hikkaduwa had vast potential to expand as one of the hotspots of the world for diving due to the existence of the Marine Sanctuary and the large number of shipwrecks found on the ocean bed in and around Hikkaduwa.