Manta Bay Found at Volcanic Barren Island by the Infiniti Live-Aboard

• Barren Island is a remote island in the Andaman Islands of India
• It has the only active volcano in South Asia
• Surrounding waters make for beautiful diving
• The Infiniti Live-aboard conducts scuba diving trips in the Andaman
  Islands, including exclusive diving at Barren Island

Andaman Islands, India, Feb. 4, 2014: The Infiniti Live-aboard has discovered a “Manta Bay” at Barren Island during a recent scuba diving trip.

Barren Island, which has the only active volcano in South Asia, is a remote island in the Andaman Islands. It is a 67-nautical-miles journey into the open sea from Port Blair. The Infiniti is the only live-aboard in the area, and offers exclusive live-aboard scuba diving trips, including to Barren Island. The surrounding waters around Barren are known to make unique and spectacular diving with superb visibility, unique underwater black sand landscape, walls and drop offs, gorgonian fans and pelagics.

During a recent trip to Barren Island, the divers onboard the Infiniti Live-Aboard were fortunate to discover a “Manta Bay” near a beach with black volcanic sand. Groups of four or more mantas were seen on every one of the eight dives that the divers did over two days. The waters here are crystal clear with 35-meter visibility, and mantas appear to come here to play and use the “cleaning stations” of cleaner wrasse and cleaner shrimp that are mostly located over large coral heads.

Sunil Bakshi, founder and CEO of the Infiniti Live-aboard said: “It was an awesome experience to go to the imposing Barren Island and find this incredible Manta Bay! Our divers had magical, long encounters with these creatures, even on “Discover Scuba” dives as shallow as 5 meters. The manta rays had a wingspan of about 15 feet, and there were groups of four or more dancing and playing.”

Manta rays are large eagle rays in the ocean, one of the most dramatic sights in the ocean. These large pelagics are filter feeders and eat plankton as they swim. They are considered vulnerable and are protected in international waters. Areas where mantas congregate are popular with tourists. Only a few aquariums are large enough to house them. In general, these large fish are a rare, fascinating sight.

This video of the mantas at Barren taken by the Infiniti team:
http://youtu.be/9W2lAUxXP54

February to May are the best months for diving in the Andaman Islands, and this is when the Infiniti offers trips to Barren Island and other remote destinations. The Infiniti also recently completed an incredible circumventing of the Greater Andaman island, including the low sister islands, in ten days.

The Infiniti is India’s pioneering scuba diving “live-aboard” – a passenger vessel fully equipped for comfortable and luxurious onboard stay and sail around the sea. The Infiniti is a brand new live-aboard that sets new global benchmarks for design, engineering and onboard facilities. It takes passengers to the doorstep of the best dive spots in the Andaman Islands waters, including remote islands such as Barren and Narcondam.

The Infiniti features guest rooms with en-suite bathrooms, a kitchen, a diving platform, an indoor dining room and relaxation areas, including a large sun deck, an indoor lounge and an outdoor lounge. The vessel has been built to IACS class, and is RINA-certified to reflect its highest quality and standards.

Andaman Islands, off the coast of India, is emerging as the world’s new favorite dive destination. It features several unique diving attractions, including volcanic diving, frontier diving, bioluminescent night diving, etc. The Infiniti Live-Aboard facilitates peaceful and exclusive diving here for enthusiasts of the underwater world.

For more information, visit:

• www.INFINITILiveAboard.com
• facebook.com/InfinitiLiveAboard
• twitter: @InfinitiDiving

About Karina Tourism & Adventures Pvt. Ltd.

Karina Tourism & Adventures Pvt. Ltd. is a Mumbai-based company with a mission to offer interesting and innovative opportunities in India’s travel and tourism sector. The company aims to open new ways to explore all that India has to offer to domestic and international tourists.

For further details, please contact: Rigveda Consultancy & Services' Sunil Ramakrishnan / Claire George (sunil@rigvedaconsultancy.com / claire@rigvedaconsultancy.com)

Phone numbers:

+91 9870110525

+91 9619443888