My Epic Goa Story

It all began on one lazy weekend when my friend had a sudden urge to explore underwater life , Scuba diving is what she wanted. But my bank balance did not permit me to go to Spain for a world-class diving experience, so finally we zeroed in on our very own Goa.

Just the mention of Goa had a few of my other friends pitching in. Whatsapp group created , people added , lots of brain storming , some last minute cancellations and the plan was finally in place.

 I left office early as I had to catch my bus from Jayanagar but my friend was not lucky enough , he was late. We got into a Ola cab and got on our mission to catch the bus which was scheduled to depart in 10 minutes while we still had to cover a distance of 30 minutes in typical Bangalore traffic. Every time the bus driver called we told him we would reach in 5mins. Finally the driver gave up on us and left us behind and asked us to get into the bus from majestic. The Ola guy asked us to go to Majestic by an auto , We hopped into an auto and went on our mission to catch the bus. This time we luckily got into the bus with merely 2 mins to spare for departure. We thought that this was the only adventure we would face on this trip and the rest of it would be normal. Little did we realize what was in store for us. 

We reached Margao in the morning. Hired 4 scooters , I wanted a pink one but had to settle for a black. The ride from Margao to Calangute was beautiful. The sun who had just woken up , the roads that were empty , fields on both sides of the road , Portuguese architecture and the smiling faces were really welcoming. 

One of our friend went out of sight for a little while on the highway , may be he took a wrong turn , he got away from the group. We tried calling him but his phone was not reachable , we had no idea if he was ahead of us or behind us so we kept following the map towards Calangute. After a while he called us up , apparently he went ahead of us and was waiting for us but when we passed that spot he did not see us and so did we. God bless Cafe coffee days on the highways , where he recharged his phone and called us up.

After all this we reached our villa. It was a few meters away from the Calangute beach and I could see the beach from my balcony. When you are so close to the beach , you cannot resist the urge of walking nearer. We went to the beach , It was beautiful. The sand under my feet , the wind in my hair and the smell of the sea were irresistible. I was disturbed in my romance with the sea by the thought that I had my diving class in an hour. I bid good bye to the sea with a promise to meet again.




We reached Goa aquatics . We are all excited for our diving training in the swimming pool. They handed us some papers on which they needed our signatures. It was a long read, so I asked what is all this about, He said " If you die, this paper goes back home with you". That was the scariest thing I had ever heard. That did shake my confidence for a while but later the excitement took over. They familiarized us with the diving instruments and the underwater sign language as well. I had to carry a tank and some weights on my back while diving , it was pretty difficult to carry it but I could not feel the weight underwater. For almost an hour we practiced breathing,staying and moving underwater with diving instruments. We were ready for the big day.

After the practice sessions , we went to the beach to try some water sports. Para-sailing was fun. I am scared of heights but it always thrills me to challenge my fear. I opted for dip in the sea as well. One end of the canopy wing which looked like a parachute was tied around my waist and just while I was expecting to ascend in the sky , I was dipped in the water. Initially the dips were easy but with time it got really deep. I could feel the water in my nose and mouth. Just when I thought that I might end up drinking half the Arabian sea, I started ascending up in the sky. What a relief ! I coughed out a little water while I was still ascending. Up there , it was very peaceful. I was at a height from where humans appeared like Lilliputs. It was only blue that my eyes could see in all the directions. It was heavenly. Next was the bumper ride, which almost got my heart in my mouth but was worth the risk.



In the evening was the most awaited match of the season. India vs Pakistan world cup match. And this time I would be witnessing it at one of the beaches. All the shacks on the Baga beach had put up huge screen for the maddening crowd gathered there. After a long stroll across the beach, checking at every shack we managed to get a table in one of the shacks. By then we had already watched a little part of the match while sitting on one of the fisher-men's boat which was on the shore. India won the match. Indiaaaa Indiaaa chants were so loud that it was deafening , the crowd was out of control. A match I will always cherish.



We woke up early the next day as we had to be present at a place where our boats were waiting for us. There were few other enthusiasts with us who had come for diving. The boat journey to the the diving spot was almost an hour long. On the way we passed many beautiful islands, many cargo and navy ships and few cute dolphins. The first diving batch was chosen. I was little skeptical and opted out of the first batch and joined the second. We reached the diving spot. While the first batch went under water , we were asked to get into the water for a leisurely swim. One of them who went underwater came out within 10 minutes as he was uncomfortable there. He was puking all the way. That scared me a little and I was nervous. 





Now it was my turn. Tank mounted, regulator checked, gauge adjusted, mask worn. I was almost thrown into the water from the boat. It was difficult to breath through the octo in my mouth. I was trying my best. With the help of a rope and my trainer Gautham , I went under water. I had to go 12mtrs deep. I followed my trainers instructions blindly, every time he asked me to equalize my ears, I did. I was at the bottom of the sea now. There was a ship wreck there , the ship had sunk in 1942 during the World War. My hands appeared magnified. School of fishes passed beside me. When I tried touching them they went away. I entered the ship wreck, there were old tools, tyres and rail tracks in the wreck. I stepped on the ground under the sea. I took some sand in my hand, the sand particles looked huge and clear. The life deep there was different but beautiful. There were no voices, only the movement of the water and the hum,grunts and purrs of the fishes. I was still struggling to breathe through octo but I was lost in the magical reality of the sea that I had forgotten everything else. My mouth and throat were dry now after all the breathing and my instincts told me to take out the octo. Water gushed into my mouth and I realized octo was a safer option and pushed it into my mouth. The visibility though the water was not as clear as I had seen in the pictures in google but still for first time diving this was worth it. It was time to go back to the boat.




I saw that everyone were already seated in the boat and waiting for me. None of them spoke a word. I looked into each of their eyes and it spoke volumes. Words were not needed. I sat down, relaxed and did not take my eyes off the sea while we went back. It was after noon now, the sun was shining bright and the rays were falling on my face. Now I was feeling uncomfortable outside water. It took a while to adjust my breathing but the high of the sea never went down. This experience has given me one more wander goals , Scuba diving in Spain. Some day I will.




After a scrumptious goan lunch, we were supposed to head back to Margao to catch our bus to Bangalore. When we came out of our shack after lunch , we realized that one of our scooters were missing. We checked around but it was no where. We panicked. Few locals came to help us but we could not find the scooter. Finally few of us who had to catch the bus left while the others stayed back to search the scooter. After almost half an hour they called us and told us that they found the scooter parked in-front of one of the shops nearby. They took it from there without asking anyone around. Thus the mystery of the missing scooter remains a mystery. This time we were on time and did not miss our bus back.

This was my Goa story. I bet even you have your Goa story which must be better. Tell me about it in the comments section. I cant wait to hear.