Thrills and chills (Clockwise)People enjoying powered paraglider and hovercrafit rides at Rushikonda; Neil Francis with scuba diving team | Photo Credit: K_R_DEEPAK
Strap your jackets, wear your head gear and hold your paddles tight! Adrenaline junkies can enjoy thrilling adventure experiences in the city with many new attractions introduced at Rushikonda beach. Inching towards being one of the top watersports destinations of the country, Visakhapatnam’s seafront is bustling with exciting activities.The scenic Rushikonda beach has seen soaring footfalls after activities like hovercraft rides, powered paragliders and speed boat rides were recently started.
Hovercraft and more
Three Russian-make hovercrafts are already zooming over the waters of the coast, taking people on a ride to remember! Also known as an air-cushion vehicle, this special craft has amphibious capabilities of traveling over land, water, ice and other surfaces. “We have seen very good response for it with tourists across the country trying their first hovercraft experience here. Depending on favourable sea conditions, a ride lasts for about five to seven minutes. The hovercraft goes till about one kilometre inside the sea,” says Sujit B, administrative manager of Hoverdock, the firm that introduced the watersport in the city.
Unlike the bumpy rides of the regular speed boats, hovercrafts is exceptionally smooth. In an ideal weather condition, it can go at a speed of 30 kilometre per hour. “We will be starting the hovercrafts rides shortly at RK Beach as well,” Sujit adds.
This apart, SkySchool India has also recently started powered paraglider rides at Rushikonda recently. The eight-10 minutes ride gives people a panoramic view of the coast.
Scuba diving
Adding more fun factor to the watersports experience, Scuba Schools International (SSI), the world’s leading scuba and free-diving certification body, has joined hands with Livein Adventures to offer SSI certified courses in Visakhapatnam. As part of this, for the first time a 12-day instructor-training course will be offered in March next year. “People who have dive master certification can take up the course,” says Balaram Naidu of Livein Adventures.
To assess the scuba diving potentials of Visakhapatnam, Neil Francis, the Business Development and Training head from Thailand, visited the city. “I am floored by the beauty and potential of Visakhapatnam. The ship-wreck site which was discovered last year in the seabed is one of the best scuba diving locations of the world. We want to turn Visakhapatnam into a leading scuba diving hub by offering SSI certified courses,” says Neil Francis, who has done 4,000 dives till now across the world. During his recent visit, he assisted a small team with tri diving session in Rushikonda wherein they went to a limited depth of five metres under sea.
“The scuba diving market in India is till very fledgling. But the opportunities are huge. Now SSI has 26 business partnerships across India and we are looking to tap in to newer spots like Visakhapatnam which show a lot of promise,” Neil adds. In addition to the scuba diving courses being offered by SSI in the city, a free marine ecology course will be offered to every one. “This gives a better understanding of the local marine ecology before venturing into the waters,” says Neil.
The scuba diving activities are on at Rushikonda at present.