First inland scuba diving school in India

The last thing you’d want to do while on holiday by the sea is waste precious time learning how to scuba dive. So better to learn before embarking on the trip.  At Bengaluru’s Planet Scuba, you can learn the ropes without ever leaving the city. Touting itself as India’s first inland scuba diving school, it offers a PADI Open Water Diver certificate course, involving three days of classroom learning and two three-hour pool sessions, letting you familiarise yourself with diving equipment and techniques within the safety of a swimming pool. After this the school takes participants for two-day training dives at a holiday location of their choice. The course fee is Rs 23,000, which includes the certification, study material, equipment, including a wetsuit, snorkel, mask, all of which you can keep. The price does not include expenses for on-site diving like airfares, accommodation and food. Planet Scuba also offers a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certificate course and a PADI Adventure Diver rating. Courses are held twice a month. The school also arranges diving holidays and sells equipment. Run by former journalist and diving enthusiast Madhava Reddy, the school has a technical partnership with Planet Scuba Malaysia. See www.planetscubaindia.com