From Ancestral Waters to Professional Depths: The Andaman’s New Wave of Divers

How the Karen and Ranchi communities on Havelock Island are turning generational knowledge of the ocean into a thriving career in scuba diving.

On Havelock Island, the sea was never a tourist attraction; for the Karen and Ranchi communities, it was a language learned at the knee. For generations, their elders read the shifting clouds and the subtle pull of currents like a map, spotting reef fish where others saw only the vast blue. Today, that intimate, inherited relationship is undergoing a quiet, economic revolution. Descendants of traditional fishermen are stepping into a new role, trading nets for scuba gear as they become the islands' premier marine guides and instructors.

The Shift to the Blue Economy

This transformation is anchored by Gypsy Divers, a PADI-affiliated school on Beach No. 2, founded in 2016 by Poonam Darne—one of India’s pioneering female divers—and her husband, the theatre actor D. Santosh. Since its inception, the school has trained over 1,000 local divers, specifically targeting the Karen and Ranchi youth. By legitimising their ancestral skills through professional certification, the venture has provided a bridge from subsistence fishing to the lucrative blue economy.

The Ranchi community, in particular, carries a complex history. Descending from migrants who arrived during the British colonial era, they have settled across the South, Middle, and Little Andaman, as well as the Nicobar Islands. Numbering between 50,000 and 100,000, they currently exist in a state of political flux, actively lobbying for Scheduled Tribe status—the same constitutional protection they hold in their ancestral home of Jharkhand—to secure better access to government resources and education.

Why it Matters: The Bigger Picture

This shift is significant because it challenges the traditional "outsider" model of tourism in the Andamans. Usually, the high-end diving industry is staffed by transients; here, the industry is being built by those who are indigenous to the island’s culture. By professionalising local talent, communities gain a vested interest in marine conservation. When the ocean becomes a source of stable, dignified employment rather than just a place to catch dinner, the incentive to protect the reefs against degradation grows exponentially.

For the Karen and Ranchi youth, this is more than just a job; it is a reclamation of space. As the blue economy expands, similar models are being discussed across coastal India, with policy thinkers, including those in Kerala, looking at how to replicate this sustainable integration of local communities into the maritime workforce. On this World Oceans Day, the story of Havelock’s divers serves as a blueprint for how coastal livelihoods can evolve without losing their connection to the sea.