Port Blair

Snake Island

The reef off Wandoor nobody queues for

Depth
8 - 22 m
Visibility
10 - 22 m
Minimum level
Open Water Diver
Site type
Reef
Entry
Boat entry
Boat ride
25 min boat ride
Water
28 - 31°C
A boulder-and-coral reef off the Wandoor coast, dived on the way out to the marine park and a good deal quieter than the park itself.
  • Reef
  • Port Blair

Snake Island lies off the Wandoor shore on the west side of South Andaman, an hour’s drive from Port Blair. It is dived far less than the marine park water it sits beside, which is most of its appeal.

What you will see

Granite boulders with soft coral growing over them, swim-throughs at the north end, and the fish that like structure - snapper, sweetlips, a resident school of batfish and lionfish tucked under the overhangs. Sea kraits are seen often enough that the island earned the name; they are not interested in divers.

How it dives

The west coast picks up more swell than the east, so this is a site we call on the morning rather than the week before. When it is on, it is twenty-two metres of clean water on rock; when it is not, we move the day to North Bay and tell you why.

What you will see

  • Boulder reef and swim-throughs
  • Quiet compared with the marine park
  • Batfish and sweetlips on the structure
  • Conditions called on the morning

When to dive it

Best conditions: December - April

Outside those months the site still gets dived - visibility and sea state just move around, so ask us what the water is doing the week you are here.

What the water is doing

The figures our guides brief on. They are what the site usually gives you - the sea gets the final say on the morning, and the boat briefing always wins.

  • Depth8 - 22 m
  • Visibility10 - 22 m
  • Water temperature28 - 31°C
  • CurrentModerate current
    • No current
    • Mild current
    • Moderate current
    • Strong current

    Drift diving on the day it runs - stay with your guide and start the dive up-current.

Before you dive

The rules every diver on this site is held to, whichever trip brings you here. None of them are negotiable, and none of them are a surprise on the day.

  • Minimum age

    Ten years old for a first guided dive, twelve and above for certified diving. Ask us if you are travelling with younger children.

  • Medical declaration

    You will complete a diver medical questionnaire before entering the water. A "yes" to any question means a doctor has to sign you off first, so tell us early rather than on the boat.

  • Flying after diving

    Leave at least 18 hours between your last dive and your flight. Book your trip home with that gap already in it - we cannot shorten it for you.

  • Insurance

    Bring travel insurance that names recreational scuba diving, including chamber treatment and evacuation. We will ask to see it.

This is general guidance for recreational diving, not medical advice about you. If any of it is a question rather than a formality, speak to a doctor before you travel.

Questions divers ask about this site

  • Are there really sea snakes?

    Sea kraits, and you may well see one. They are venomous, entirely uninterested in divers, and the rule is the same as everywhere else on this page: look, do not touch, do not corner anything.

  • Why is it cancelled more often than the other sites?

    It is on the west coast, which takes the swell that the east side is sheltered from. We would rather move you to another site than put you in water that is not worth the trip.

More diving around Port Blair

Want this site on your log? Tell us when you are on the island and we will put you on the boat that goes there.

EnquireAll dive sites
From our divers

What people say once the boat is back in

  • Best first dive I could have asked for. The instructors were unbelievably patient - I panicked at four metres on the first attempt and nobody made me feel stupid about it. Second attempt went fine and I finished the course three days later.
    Rahul MenonOpen Water Diver
  • Only one of us dives. Every other operator we spoke to had a plan where the other one sat on a beach for four days. Aqua Nomads put the snorkel line off the same boat, so we were in the same water the whole week - and by day three I had done a Discover Scuba dive too. The sunset sailing on the last evening was the best hour of the trip.
    Priya and Arjun NairHoneymoon, February
  • They called the Dixon crossing on our first morning because of a swell, and I was quietly annoyed. We dived Jackson Bar twice instead and it turned out to be the best day of the week. Getting Dixon on day three in flat water made the point - they were right and I was wrong.
    Daniel OseiAdvanced Open Water Diver
  • Two teenagers, neither of whom had dived. The instructors worked one-to-one with both of them for the first two dives without us asking, and my daughter has since booked her Open Water for next December. Whatever they did, it worked.
    The Fernandes familyFour divers, two of them under fifteen
  • I cannot swim well and I said so when I booked. They ran the whole thing one instructor to one diver, stayed in the shallow half of the bay, and never once made it feel like a concession. I have since done the swim assessment and the full course.
    Aditi SharmaOpen Water Diver
Call +91 90000 00000