Reef Etiquette: How Freedivers Can Protect India's Coral

Reef etiquette for freedivers comes down to a handful of habits: don’t touch, stand on or hold the coral; keep your long fins clear of the reef; don’t feed, chase or touch marine life; cover up so you need less sunscreen; and follow the rules of the marine park you’re in. India’s reefs have been through repeated bleaching and rising visitor numbers. Freedivers don’t leave bubbles or clang tanks on coral, but long fins and a lot of duck dives can do their own damage.

Why India’s reefs need careful visitors

India’s main coral reefs are in four areas: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, the Gulf of Mannar and the Gulf of Kutch, with patchier coral elsewhere, such as around Netrani and Malvan. All of them have been hit by mass bleaching during marine heatwaves, including the global bleaching events of 1998 and 2016 and the most recent global event, declared in 2024. Some areas recovered well. Some didn’t.

Bleached coral is stressed, not necessarily dead, and stressed coral copes badly with extra damage. A snapped branch, a fin-kick of sand or a hand placed on a coral head adds up when hundreds of snorkellers visit the same reef every day in peak season.

Coral also has legal protection. Many coral species are listed under India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, and collecting coral or shells from protected areas is illegal.

Fin control: the freediver’s biggest reef risk

Freediving fins are long, often close to a metre including the foot pocket, and most of the damage freedivers do comes from them. Typical moments:

• Duck dives in shallow water. As your legs lift, long blades swing high and then kick down. Over a reef at 3 m, that first kick lands on coral.
• Finning along the bottom. Bifins kicking a metre above the reef send a wash of sand over it.
• Turning near the reef. A sharp turn with straight legs sweeps the blades sideways.
• Standing up. Tired snorkellers stand on coral to fix a mask. Freedivers do it too.

What to do instead:

1. Duck dive over sand or open water, not directly over coral.
2. In shallow reef areas, use short, gentle kicks, or switch to shorter fins for the day.
3. Keep a fin’s length of clear water between your blades and the reef when finning near the bottom.
4. Glance back at your fins now and then. Most people have no idea where their blade tips are.
5. Fix your mask while floating on your back or holding the buoy.

Hands off: don’t touch, stand or hold on

Coral is a thin layer of living animals over a limestone skeleton. A touch strips its protective mucus and can introduce infection, and what looks like bare rock is often living coral.

Keeping your hands off protects you too. Fire coral stings, many corals cut, and shallow reefs hide sea urchins and the occasional well-camouflaged stonefish. Coral cuts get infected easily in warm tropical water.

For freedivers, the temptation is to grab a rock at the bottom to hang for a moment. If you want to practise hangs, do them on the line or over sand.

Wildlife: turtles, dolphins, dugongs and fish

• Don’t feed fish. Bread and biscuits change fish behaviour and upset the reef’s balance. It still happens on some day-trip boats; you don’t have to join in.
• Don’t chase or touch turtles. They need to surface to breathe, and a freediver following one around a lagoon is stressing it. Stay still and let it decide how close to come.
• Dolphins: watch from the boat or from a calm distance in the water. Don’t swim at them or reach out.
• Dugongs are extremely rare in Indian waters and strictly protected. If you’re lucky enough to see one, keep well back and report the sighting to local forest or wildlife officials.
• Photography: never move an animal or break coral for a better shot. Our guide to underwater photography for freedivers covers shooting without disturbing the reef.

The sunscreen question

Some laboratory studies have linked certain chemical UV filters, particularly oxybenzone and octinoxate, to harm in corals, and a few places, Hawaii among them, have restricted their sale. The science is still debated, and how much sunscreen actually affects reefs in open water is uncertain.

The simplest answer sidesteps most of the debate: cover up. A long-sleeved rash guard, leggings and a hood or cap protect you better than any cream, and Indian sun on a boat at noon is brutal. Use sunscreen on your face, hands and feet, pick a mineral-based product if you can, and apply it well before getting in so it isn’t washing straight off. A thin wetsuit doubles as sun protection; see our wetsuit guide for Indian waters.

Ghost nets and rubbish

Lost or abandoned fishing nets, known as ghost nets, drift onto reefs around India’s islands and keep catching fish, turtles and coral for years. Plastic bags, bottles and rubber slippers turn up on the remotest beaches.

If you find a ghost net, note the location, take photos if you safely can, and report it to your operator, the forest department or fisheries officials. Pick up loose plastic floating at the surface, and take all your own rubbish back to the mainland; waste disposal on small islands is limited.

Safety: Never try to free or cut a large net on a breath-hold. Nets snag fins, straps and lanyards, and an entangled freediver can black out within seconds. Report it and let a properly equipped team deal with it. Always dive with a buddy watching, and never freedive alone.

Marine parks and local rules

Several of India’s best reefs sit inside protected areas, each with its own rules:

• Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park near Wandoor, South Andaman, which includes snorkelling islands such as Jolly Buoy and Red Skin. Our Andaman freediving guide covers how visits usually work.
• Rani Jhansi Marine National Park in Ritchie’s Archipelago, Andamans.
• Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, Tamil Nadu, where most islands are off-limits to visitors.
• Malvan Marine Sanctuary, off Sindhudurg in Maharashtra.
• Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat.

Rules usually cover permits and entry fees, restricted zones, plastic bans, and bans on fishing and collecting. Fishing of any kind, spearfishing included, is generally prohibited inside marine national parks, and rules outside them vary by state; read our post on spearfishing and freediving before taking a speargun anywhere near a reef. Rules change, so check them locally each trip.

Reef habits to take on your next trip

1. Pick duck-dive spots over sand.
2. Know where your fin tips are.
3. Rest on the buoy, never on the reef.
4. Watch wildlife; don’t chase it.
5. Cover up with a rash guard and use less sunscreen.
6. Bring your rubbish home, plus a bit of someone else’s.
7. Read the park rules before you step onto the boat.

Good habits are easier to build on land than to remember mid-dive. We’re building an online community for Indian freedivers. It’s coming soon, so stay tuned.