|
Pakistan Underwater Photo Sites
Shores of Karachi
Korangi creek
This is the only beach in the whole Karachi which is safe to use for water sports round the year. Its protected shallow water, the beautiful surrounding mangroves forest makes it look like a paradise.
During the time of British Empire “Dogs and locals” were not allowed. Ironically still even after the so called independence locals are not allowed to go to the beach yet. In early 90’s the Pakistan Air force spent millions of dollars to set up wind surfing club. One of the hangers was converted into storage facilities for wind surfers, Catamarans and rescue boats. Special slip way (ramp) was constructed for convenient of loading and off loading boats and boards. Since the excess was restricted t Karachites. The club with its all glory did not survive more then couple of years.
DHA Encroachment wall.
This wall is artificially created to grab the land from the nature; this swampy land was nesting ground for migratory birds, and the home for fishing communities. Fisherman’s families were living for centuries had been slowly evicted in order to build a colony for soldiers, large inter tidal area and the sandy beaches had been converted in to prize land for obscene profit making schemes with total disregard for ecology, and environment. Consequently, to day Bunder Island is under the threat of sinking, Gizri Creek entrance had been blocked, not far in future mangroves will pay the ultimate price. Some expert said “that over a period of time, The Landhi and Korangi industrial area could come under the threat of flooding by sea water”.
The second largest marina club was design to provide water sports for karachiits. Unfortunately the major investment of building and operating this club was phenomenal cost. along this DHA marina club there were 40 other plots were designs for general public to built there sea front water sports club. But the position of the plots never handed over to the civilians. Ironically this marina club did not have floating marina.
Clifton Beach
Clifton is the safest beach of Karachi city, the gentile slope takes hundreds of meters before it gets four feet deep, even during the monsoon people can play around safely and have fun.
This beach has blackish soft sand; the Oysters rocks consist of three islands use to be a paradise for scuba divers, the rich fauna and flora around the islands was attractive site for safe diving and bottom fishing... In early fifties and sixties we could see a flourishing colony of Sea horses. Over the period the pollution slowly destroyed the habitats of the marine life, the underwater visibility use to be 30 feet has reduced to 5ft. after the disaster of Tasman Sprit it not safe for scuba diving in this area.
The two sources of the pollutions which brings millions of gallons of polluted water to the Clifton beach are, One from the west, the entrance of Keamari harbor with each out going tide every day. The source is Neher-e- Khayam of Boat Basin pouring millions of gallons of raw sewage every day, which mixes up with the industrial pollutant from Layari River ends up on the Clifton beach and the other source is Gizri creek pouring millions of gallons of industrial pollutant from Landhi, Korangi industrial area, and the Bhance colony, through Malir River, and the Korangi creek.
Manora Island
Manora Island and the connecting road to the sand-pit should have been a pride tourist attraction, earning millions of $ for the city, it is off limit to the civilians the old fishing communities has been systematically genocide. The sandy beaches on the south of the island and the connecting belt one side and on Northern side the forest of lash green Mangroves forest. A pool of biodiversity, had been fenced out for the karachiites
Baba-Bhit & Shamsh-Pir
The two famous and historical Islands who were the backbone of the fishing communities are in wretched condition. The resident of those Island are treated like 2nd class citizens in thei...
| Facts about Shores of Karachi It is in Pakistan- Shores of Karachi is in the Arabian Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-40 Metres 0-130 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 3-10 Metres 10-30 Feet.
|
|
KARACHI, Nov 19: The Pakistan government should declare the Astola Island a marine national park and take urgent steps to conserve what is left of this precious natural resource having a great ecological and economical value.
The co-director of Marine Conservation International, Edinburgh, Scotland and DelPHE coordinator Pakistan, Dr Rupert Ormond, made this point at a seminar, Marine biodiversity conservation: a key to the human livelihood, organised by the Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology, Karachi University, in collaboration with the British Council, Karachi, on Monday.
The seminar marked the launch of a DelPHE project, designed to enhance the capacity of participating institutions from Pakistan and Bangladesh to asses, monitor and manage biodiversity for conservation and develop eco-friendly aquaculture and fisheries technology by utilising the UK expertise. The project is funded by the Department for International Development, the UK.
Narrating his account of the hard corals and reef fish assemblage in Pakistan, Dr Ormond said older scientific literature usually showed no existence of coral or coral reefs in Pakistani waters, though these were abundantly found in the adjacent areas like the Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat, India and Oman.
| Facts about ASTOLA ISLAND- It is in Pakistan
- ASTOLA ISLAND is in the Arabian Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-10 Metres 0-30 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 0-3 Metres 0-10 Feet.
|
|
Karachi Scuba Diving Center (KSDC)
Established in 1989 by Yousuf Ali
Master Instructor from
PADI Ca.
KSDC Provides a complete range of instructions through training programs with information, advice and assistance
With an objective of promoting Swimming, lifesaving, Scuba Diving, skin diving and other water sports
• Jiwani
o Exploring the fossilize coral reef on the top of the Plato 200meters above the sea level, a total of 30 different species of the corals were found
o Observed the rehabilitation of the mangroves in the Delta of Dasht River supervised by IUCN Jiwani station.
o The three high cliff turtle’s beaches protected by WWF-Pakistan, last year only they have released. Over 100,000. Baby turtles in to the sea.
o Survey the underwater cost of Jiwani hopping to sea some sort of coral formation but to our surprise, no concentration of corals were found under the sea near (Jiwani harbor, turtle beaches, Turtle watching cliff in the east of Jiwani) but lot of sponges, burgundies, ferns and fans, soft corals some hard corals but small patches grown under the rocks where they were protected by the harsh monsoon weather condition.
• Astola Island
The island is situated in the northern Arabian Sea, approximately 25 kilometers off the mainland coast, 40 kilometers East-Southeast of Pasni Harbor, in Balochistan province.
Geographical coordinates: 25°07'N, 63°52'E
Length approximately 6 kilometers
Width approximately 500 meters
Altitude: (average and/or max. & min.) 0 - 200 m
The island is subject to strong wave attack during the southwest monsoons, when wave height exceeds 3.5 meters. The coastline therefore suffers from severe erosion and most of the littoral material is lost to the sea.
The island supports some rare and vulnerable species of animals such as endanger species Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and quite possibly critically endanger species Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbracata)
The site is of special value for maintaining the genetic and ecological diversity of the area. The beauty of Astola is that several different ecosystems can be seen on the island. The ecosystems and the plants and animals found there are no longer common elsewhere in Pakistan.
The gorgeous under water world is amazing different forms of cnidarians, Molluscs, Worms, Fishes, Echinoderms, Crustaceans, and other Vertebrates and invertebrates were found in abundance.
Coral reefs are a vital natural resource found in tropical waters throughout the world (Spalding et al. 2001). They are important not only to adjacent coastal communities, where they are often a source of livelihood, but also to national and international communities, where they contribute in various ways to oceanic production and deliver other significant benefits related to their role in tourism, recreation and coastal protection, and as indicators for climate change and waste treatment,. As more research findings indicate that the species richness and biodiversity contained in reef ecosystems may not regenerate once destroyed, the conservation of coral reefs has become a major concern, people dependent on coral reefs are some of the most vulnerable groups in many coastal and island communities, because reef and reef-based resources are often their primary means of food production, source of income and livelihood
KSDC’S
LIBRARY
The Plant and Animals of Karachi Coast
Molluscs
Snails
Bivalves
Clams
Oysters
Squids
Cuttlefish
Octopuses
Slugs and Snails without Shell
Sear hares
Nudibranchs
Worms
Flatworm
Bristleworm
Tubeworm
Fan worm
Peanut worm
Acorn worm
Fishes
Plants
Echinoderms
Sea Stars
Sea Cucumbers
Sand Dollars
Sea Urchins
Brittle Star
Other Invertebrates
Horseshoe crab
Crab
Spiders
Sponges
Ascidians
Bryozoans
Cnidarians
Anemones
Sea Pens
Corals
Crustaceans
Crabs
Hermit crab
Shrimps
Lobster
Mantis shrimp
Sea slaters
Barnacles
Vertebrates
Snakes
Tsunami 2004
As ...
| Facts about CHERNA ISLAND- It is in Pakistan
- CHERNA ISLAND is in the Arabian Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-10 Metres 0-30 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 3-10 Metres 10-30 Feet.
|
|
Astolla (Haft Talar) Island
Overview
Despite the name given to the island by the locals (Haft Talar-meaning 'seven rocks'), the island appears to form a single block roughly 3 miles in length and one mile in width with an estimated height of two hundred feet at its highest point. An isolated rocky area has broken away from the main block towards the south end. Given that the island is not sheltered from the open sea, it is subject to strong wave attack during the southwest monsoons, when wave height exceeds 3.5 meters. The coastline therefore suffers from severe erosion and most of the littoral material is lost to the sea.
Geographical coordinates: 25°07'N, 63°52'E.
Altitude: (average and/or max. & min.) 0-200 m
Area: (in hectares) c. 5,000
A small solar operated beacon has been constructed on the top of one of the island's cliffs for the safety of passing vessels.
General location:
The island is situated in the northern Arabian Sea, approximately 25 kilometers off the mainland coast, 40 kilometers East-Southeast of Pasni Harbor, in Blochistan province. It comes under the Pasni subdivision of Gawader district.
The island supports some rare and vulnerable species of animals such as endanger species Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and quite possibly critically endanger species Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbracata)
The site is of special value for maintaining the genetic and ecological diversity of the area. There is a considerable convergence of plant and animal species that inhabit the island and the surrounding waters.
The area is of special value as the nesting ground of Green turtles and possibly the Hawksbill turtle. As well as, the site is of special value for at least one endemic animal species, Echis carinatus astoli, and viper
Ecological features:
The natural vegetation is composed of zeromorphic type able to survive the arid climate. It does not only suffer from extreme drought but also from wind carrying saline particles. Salt sprays coupled with sand particles clog the respiratory mechanism of plants, affecting growth. Prosopis juliflora is the most significant widespread species distributed in the island. Indigofera oblongifolia and Hycium depressum are also prevalent forming large bushes. Other types of vegetation found include Sueda fruticosa, Aerua persica.
Noteworthy fauna:
The island is reported to support a large number of breeding seabirds including Larus hemprichii and several species of terns. Avifauna includes: Ardeola cinerea, Egretta gularis, Pluvialis squatarola, Numenius arquata, Limosa limosa, Calidris minutus, Larus argentatus, Larus genei, Cursorius coromandelius, Galerida cristata, Oenanthe deserti, and Prinia spp.
Sightings of cetaceans such as dolphins and to a lesser extent, whales have also been reported. In fact, in December 1994, a large whale (possibly sperm whale) carcass washed up on the shores of Ganz, Balochistan. Recent evidence indicates that significant, previously undocumented populations of up to 20 species of whale and dolphin occur within the Pakistani Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Studies in neighboring Oman, combined with newly available data on illegal Soviet and Japanese whaling off Pakistan in the 1960s, verbal reports of sightings by fishermen, and records of beach-cast specimens, suggest large numbers of many species of whale and dolphin spend part of the year in Pakistani waters. It can be surmised that these cetaceans, which are primarily dependent on the highly productive Southern Arabian upwelling system, use parts of the Pakistani EEZ for both calving and feeding.
| Facts about Astola Coral Reef- It is in Pakistan
- Astola Coral Reef is in the Arabian Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-30 Metres 0-100 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 3-10 Metres 10-30 Feet.
|
|
| Photo facilities |  |
|
Karachi has not been on world map as far as Scuba Diving is concerned, this port city of Pakistan offers various type of scuba diving. Two major areas provide interesting opportunities to explore at Coordinate: - (24°47′46.07″ N 67°02′38.44″E) …
1 Ship wrecks
Karachi is known as a graveyard of Ships, which sank during the last 40 years and are still laying submerged beyond the Manora break water within a radius of six miles. They pose a potential threat to the visiting Vessels approaching KPT entrance buoy.
A short history of some of the ships followed: -
MV ABASIN-
Pakistani flag vessel, MV Abbasin, had sunk after hitting the wreckage of a Panamanian carrier, MV Isebina, 1972. The wreckage of Isebina was removed by a foreign salvage company hired by the Government of Pakistan but the wreckage of MV Abbasin is still lying submerged four miles southeast of the Manora breakwaters.
Dynamic Venture-
27th July, 1972
Depth 8 meters
Dynamic Venture, sank in the Karachi waters in 1977 and is laying submerged northwest of the Manora breakwaters. This Panamanian ship was deliberately sunk by the crew of the vessel in protest against the non-payment of their wages by the owner. The crew was rescued by another foreign ship which also towed Dynamic Venture some distance away to her sub-aqua grave
MV Munir-
10th March, 1977
Depth 15 meters
MV Munir, belonged to a Gulf State (UAE), sunk in 1977, and is laying about a quarter mile southeast of the Manora breakwaters
MV Nanda Devi-
23rd March, 1977
Depth 14 meters
MV Nanda Devi, belonging to India, sank in 1980 and is laying 3.5 miles west of the Manora breakwaters
MV Regal Sun –
15th Oct, 1979
Depth 13 meters
MV Regal Sun, sank 2.2 miles off the Manora breakwaters when it broke in two parts and sank…
MV Dia Hatim –
27th June, 1980
Depth 15 meters
MV Dia Hatim, is laying submerged eight miles south-east of the Manora breakwaters
MV Amir- laying on her port-side opposite Himalya, but is not considered dangerous for shipping traffic, and many more interesting wrecks inviting scuba divers to explore them.
As the topography near the Karachi is mostly sandy and gentle slope, these ships wrecks have attracted marine life over the period and formed artificial reef with lots of cnidarians, crustaceans, echinoderms, mollusks, worms, invertebrates.
Tsunami 2004
As you know healthy coral reefs provide their adjacent coasts with substantially more protection from destructive tsunami waves than do unhealthy or dead reefs, a Princeton University study suggests.
The tsunami 2004.Devastated the coastlines of the Indian Ocean, but in Pakistan the effect of tsunami were quit different it brought new spawn of different new species of corals from neighboring coral reefs, the mass migrated offspring started cloning and forming new reefs at incredible speed. During last two years over 30+ new species has been noticed so far and serious effort required observing and documenting this new Eon.
This will be golden opportunity for divers of the world to peep into the history of millions of years ago and witness some of the fact about the process of evaluation.
| Facts about Karachi- It is in Pakistan
- Karachi is in the Arabian Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-30 Metres 0-100 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 3-10 Metres 10-30 Feet.
|
|
| Dive types |   |
| Photo facilities | |
|
Cherna Island
The majestic Cherna Island, a solitary rock bravely faces 50 years of target practice by the Nay this is the only place in vicinity of Karachi city where we find coral reef. Cherna Island is a popular place, for fishing, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling. But often the villager are creates problems for picnickers.
“Our valuable Marine Life”
Jan 15th Divers from “Karachi Scuba Diving Center” were diving at Bachum Reef near Cherna Island, the visibility was 40 to 60ft. normal for the month of January. The reef was full of life the color full fishes were busy swimming in and around the rocky formation. This is one of the best dive sites we have near Karachi shore, where the 40 ft drop from the top of the Plato, which is already 50 ft. deep, to the bottom reaches at a depth of 90 ft makes this dive site perfect location for a deep dive training site.
The Second dive was planned at Cherna Island north-west point, 40 ft deep dive, the visibility was excellent, and water current was pretty strong, moving westerly. Due to the strong current boat anchor could not hold properly and the boat drifted while we were gearing up we decided to make drift dive and discover new ground. We descended on anchor line and started swimming across the current towards the island. Suddenly we notice small patches of coral about 6 to 18 inches diameter and 10 t0 12 inches high approximately 20 ft. apart. And the density increases as we moved towards the island and to our surprise we landed in a good size of coral reef.
There have been small patches of reef existing earlier but this one was gorgeous. A variety of corals we found were simply astonishing, The biodiversity on the reef was remarkable; we noticed different types of Sponges, Anemones, Worms, Crustaceans, Bryozoans, Molluscs, Echinoderms, and a large selection of coral fishes we explore the new found reef for good 40 minutes the maximum time we were allowed to stay at that depth before getting into decompression problems. After surfacing we marked the reef site into our GPS and from January onwards we made 10 dives to explore the reef and documented the following marine life in the form of pictures and video clips.
Corals: - Brain Coral, Disk corals, Brown boulder corals, gorgonian, Orange Daisy coral, Tentacle coral, Flex coral and many more Varity of coral.
Fishes: - Long fin Banner fish, Blue-ring fish, Sergeant fish, Chevron Barracuda, Parrotfish, and Black spotted Puffer, Blue-spotted Fantail Stingray, Yellow Snapper, Sweet lips, Coronation Grouper, Coral Grouper, and Giant grouper, many verity of Scorpion fish, Moray eels, were documented.
Anemone & Jellyfish:- Tube Anemones, Bulb-tentacle Sea anemones, Anemone coral, Upside down jellyfish, Stinging Hydrozoan etc.
Worms: - Striped Ribbon Worm, Fan Tube Worm, Bristle Worm, Spaghetti Worm, Christmas Tree Worm, Flat worm. and Peacock worm.
| Facts about Churna Island- It is in Pakistan
- Churna Island is in the Arabian Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-20 Metres 0-60 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 3-10 Metres 10-30 Feet.
|
|
| Photo facilities |  |
|
Please see Astola NW as how to get to Astola.
This is a small rock jutting out vertically about 1.4km south of the main Astola island-GPS co-ord 25° 6'24.86"N, 63°51'9.00"E.
Lots of Groupers, Snappers and coral. Its a nice dive to circumnavigets the rock. Also lobsters
| Facts about Astola-Anda Rock- It is in Pakistan
- Astola-Anda Rock is in the Arabian Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-20 Metres 0-60 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 10-30 Metres 30-100 Feet.
|
|
| Dive types |   |
|
Please also see Astola-NW for details as how to get there.
Along the south west face are Caves. One can snorkel to them. visibility is not good due to surge.
Astola Island is pristine and uninhabited. We have to try and make it into a marine reserve.
| Facts about Astola-SW-Cave- It is in Pakistan
- Astola-SW-Cave is in the Arabian Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-10 Metres 0-30 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 10-30 Metres 30-100 Feet.
|
|
Astola island is an adventure dive. It is located about 25 km south of the Balochistan Coast and is 40 km south east of Pasni. it is the largest island of Pakistan but is uninhabited except for feral cats.
To get to Astola, drive all the way from Karachi to Pasni on the Mekran Coastal Highway-about 8hrs , then hire a small fishing boat which will get you to Astola. the boat will take about 5 hrs to get there. We camped there for 3 nights and had brought our own aircompressor. The boat stayed with us for 4 days and cost about Rs 20,000=$350.
The north west cove near a Hindu temple has a lot of sea urchins and sea slugs. depth from 6m to 20m.Visibility is 10m +.
See also dives on the west, south,Anda rock around Astola
| |
| Dive types | |
|
We the Aqua Diving Services based at Karachi Pakistan provides underwater and diving services with Professional and experienced staff of divers with latest and best diving equipments to Ships, Power Plant, Barrages, Dams, Water Heads, Gas and Oil Fields, etc. We also provide group Swimming, Diving, Fishing guide/training services with the facilities of underwater CCTV, Still/Video Photography, Boat Service, Spot/Sea Dive Please contact: AQUA DIVING SERVICES
Address: 3, Nagina Centre, P.O.Box. 7016, Keamari, Karachi-75620 PAKISTAN
Telephone: 92-21-2856446, 92-21-2857407
Fax: 92-21-2856450
Mobile contact : Tasleem Pervez 0300-8297358, Ch. Farrukh Shahbaz 0300-8299492
Email: click here to email
| Facts about Oyster Rock, Paradise Point, Churna Rock, and Open Sea- It is in Pakistan
- Oyster Rock, Paradise Point, Churna Rock, and Open Sea is in the Arabian Sea.
- The typical depth is 0-10 Metres 0-30 Feet.
- The typical visibility is 10-30 Metres 30-100 Feet.
|
|
|
|