They are off limits even for the original inhabitants who have been trying to return for many years.

The middle archipelago of islands, are the Maldives—an island nation well known to divers. At the northern end are the Lakshadweep islands, formerly known as the Laccadives. All of the islands rising out of the sea from this plateau are low lying coral atolls with associated sand banks and other coralline structures.

The coral growth has kept pace with land sinking and sea level rises, which have been happening for thousands of years giving, for divers, sheer vertical walls, shallow inter atoll bridges along with sandy lagoons to enjoy. Of course, the coral doesn’t grow above the level of the sea surface; for island formation, storms or earthquake uplift are needed. Storms wash coral debris onto the top of underwater coral, but storms also mean some islands periodically disappear. The Chagos-Maldives-Lakshadweep Archipelagos are in a dynamic state of flux.

I went diving in the Lakshadweep archipelago on Bangaram Island. India has been very cautious in allowing “outside” influences in this archipelago—firstly, to protect the local native culture, and secondly,to protect the fragile ecosystems.

India—to visit or just dive?