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Water Sports in India
Water
babies rejoice. India is a land of pulsating coastlines, golden beaches and
swift rivers and thus can offer you every kind of water sport you can desire.
The Himalayas offer you some of the toughest and most exciting river runs in
the world. River sports in the rapids are the most popular, throughout the summers
and can really get your adrenaline pumping. The innumerable fresh water streams
and lakes in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are ideal
for angling and trout fishing. The coastal regions provide excellent opportunities
for water sports like water skiing, wind surfing, yatching, snorkelling and
scuba diving.
Further South you can enjoy water adventures along both the west and the east
coasts of India. The islands of Andaman and Nicobar in the Bay of Bengal and
Lakshadweep in the Indian Ocean are virtually untouched and are some of the
best spots for scuba diving and snorkelling. The beaches of Goa and Kerala also
offer other sporting opportunities like water skiing, wind surfing and sailing.
The West coast offers sailing in Mumbai, Goa and the lakes around Pune.
The best months for water sports are October and March.
White water rafting
For the white water rafting enthusiast, the early stages of the Ganga offer
the exhilarating Alakananda and Bhagirathi rivers. The Indus snaking through
Ladakh and the Zanskar and Chenab in Kashmir are very different river running
experiences. Other rivers like the Sutlej, Beas (in Himachal Pradesh), Teetsa
(in Sikkim), and Yamuna also offer sporting challenges.
The best season for river rafting is from April to September. The most popular
stretch for this sport is on the Ganges, near Rishikesh in Uttaranchal.
Scuba Diving
Best season for diving: December to April
The 2 main destinations in India which have scuba diving activities as well
as courses in the sport are the Andamans and Lakshadweep.
The Andamans have some fascinating underwater marine life, varieties of colourful
fishes, ship wrecks and exotic coral reefs. The best way to explore this is
scuba diving. The coastal water surrounding these islands is the abode of one
of the richest coral reef ecosystem is the world. Many of the islands are surrounded
by fringing reefs, often several hundred metres wide and separated from the
shore by a lagoon of similar width. There are also steeply sloping reef walls,
and coral pinnacles or knolls.
Island Water Sports is a private water sports operator at Port Blair providing
Speed Boats, Jet Skies, Tube Ride, Wake Board Ride, Knee Board Ride, etc. The
Andaman Water Sports Complex at Port Blair is a unique water ports centre run
by The Directorate of tourism. It offers adventure water sports like Sailing,
Skiing, Para-Sailing (subject to wind/weather conditions), water scooters and
speedboats. Trips for coral and shipwreck viewing are operated from here.
Angling and Fishing
There are opportunities for anglers in Bhalukpung in Assam. The river Jia Bhoroli,
Kapili and Manas are the best places for Golden Mahseer angling since the days
of the British.
The
Jia Bhoroli of Assam has a long and glorious history of Mahseer angling
The state of Himachal Pradesh with its many snow-fed rivers are an angler's
haven. The upper reaches of the river Beas in the Kullu valley are also great
for this sport. The picturesque Kangra valley has several spots that offer mahaseer-
river carp.
Trout Fishing: 1st November to 31st January
In Kashmir, trout fishing is a lucrative business and the ideal season is from
April to October. The British introduced the brown and rainbow trout to the
streams of Kashmir, where they have thrived. Only artificial flies are allowed
and each licence entitles the angler to keep six fish a day, none being shorter
than 7.5 cm. The common rivers for fishing here are Sindh & Wangat.
Sailing
For those who love sailing, yachting and wind-surfing, there are facilities
in Goa as well as at Kovalam beach in Kerala. Mumbai, too, has several opportunities
for sailing and other water sports.
