(Australia-NewsWire.Com, November 11, 2012 ) Victoria, Australia -- Pakistan’s first Professional Association of Diving Instructors (Padi) certified diving center was opened in 2009. Indus Scuba was the center for Padi, which is the largest diver training organization and dates as far back as the 1960s.
Aatif Malik, diving instructor at Indus Scuba, has a passion to bring the sport he loves to anyone interested in the activity. He has dived all over the world, and still finds Karachi to be the most beautiful of all locations he has visited. One is sure to find Moray Eels, Batfish, Stingrays, Barracudas, and stonefish alike in the underwater world.
“Our best moment was when we saw a Whale Shark in the shallow waters near Charna Island,” he says. “Beneath the water is my own time. That’s what I do when I want to get away from things.” Malik says.
He states that Balochistan, just a short distance from Karachi, has even more to show potential divers. “Diving in Balochistan is amazing as there are huge corals and lots of sea life. Even the road routes are beautiful, but the security risks are high,” he says.
While he is a banker by trade, Malik says he could leave his job in a heartbeat if he could use it as a source of income. Unfortunately, Karachi is hardly known for its tourism, let alone its diving enthusiasts. This makes it difficult to get the sporting activity off the ground as a business.
Malik himself did not begin in his diving interest within Karachi, but instead in Singapore in 2000. He has been to Dubai, Oman, and Thailand. While touring such beautiful locations, he acquired certification for higher levels of diving.
“Every time you dive, you see a different terrain. You never know what you are going to see beneath the water.”
In Pakistan, women especially have inhibitions in regards to attempting diving. “But they would do if they were in another country,” he argues. “Most women actually come through word of mouth, when someone tells them ‘these guys are okay’.”
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