Cinque Island Wall – Dive Site

35m Max

15-40m Vis

boat

Site Overview

Cinque Island Wall is the deepest and most challenging wall dive in the Cinque and Passage Island region offering an exhilarating deep drift dive along a dramatic vertical face where strong currents bring nutrients that attract impressive pelagic predators and support extraordinary deep-water coral communities in the clear Andaman Sea waters. The wall extends from 8 meters to beyond 35 meters with massive gorgonian sea fans, black coral trees, and deep-water soft corals creating a spectacular underwater landscape that few divers in India have experienced due to the remote offshore location and challenging access conditions. Grey reef sharks patrol the wall face in impressive numbers using the current corridor to travel between feeding grounds while dogtooth tuna hunt along the wall perimeter creating adrenaline-charged pelagic encounters on every dive. Blacktip reef sharks cruise the shallower sections and schooling barracuda form tight formations above the reef crest in spectacular numbers. The strong current that defines the site also creates the most rewarding encounters as pelagic species use the current corridor to travel between feeding grounds bringing them directly past divers positioned on the wall face. Giant barrel sponges and deep-water gorgonian fans reaching diameters of over 2 meters create extraordinary photographic opportunities in the filtered light of the deeper sections. The combination of challenging conditions, big animal encounters, and pristine deep-water coral ecosystems makes Cinque Island Wall the ultimate deep wall experience for advanced divers visiting the Andaman Islands.

Dive Briefing

"A typical dive at Cinque Island Wall begins with a timed entry from the dive boat at the wall top at approximately 8 meters allowing the group to orient and assess the current strength before beginning the drift along the dramatic vertical face. Once established on the wall divers should deploy reef hooks on the up-current side to maintain position while observing the pelagic action in the blue water or drift with the current along the wall visiting multiple sections during the dive. The most productive depth zone is between 18 and 30 meters where grey reef sharks, dogtooth tuna, and the largest gorgonian formations are concentrated along the wall face. Maintain close buddy contact and continuous communication as the current can change direction around wall corners and the deeper sections require careful NDL monitoring. Scan the blue water at regular intervals for approaching pelagic species including blacktip reef sharks and schooling barracuda that use the current corridor for travel. Monitor depth carefully particularly below 25 meters where nitrogen narcosis can become a factor and always maintain conservative ascent rates given the extended distance to the Port Blair hyperbaric chamber. The drift dive format means the dive boat will follow your DSMB so deploy it early and maintain surface signaling throughout the dive. Conclude the dive as the current carries you to shallower sections completing a generous safety stop at 5 meters before the boat collects the group."