Red Pillar — Drift Diving & Artificial Reef at Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep)
Tucked into the channel between Havelock Island and neighbouring Peel Island, Red Pillar is a compact but remarkably rich reef despite its size. Located just 1.5km north of Havelock, this site is known for its strong yet manageable currents, a diverse population of reef fish, and an unusual artificial reef built from deliberately sunken objects — including old scuba tanks, compressor frames, and even a bicycle and a scooter.
Whether you're a first-time diver working through an Open Water course or an experienced diver looking for a lively drift dive, Red Pillar offers an accessible, current-driven dive experience that's hard to find elsewhere on Havelock.
Overview of Red Pillar (Quick Facts)
About Red Pillar Dive Site
Red Pillar takes its name from a red-painted channel marker pillar fixed at the center of the reef, which also serves as a visual landmark for divers navigating the site. Sitting directly in the channel between Havelock and Peel Island, the site experiences noticeable currents on most days, making it one of Havelock's better spots for drift diving — a style of diving where you move with the current rather than against it, covering more reef with less effort.
Beneath the surface, Red Pillar rewards divers with a dense mix of soft and hard corals, bathtub-sized barrel sponges, and a steady procession of reef fish, snappers, and stingrays. It's also an artificial reef — a scattered collection of sunken tanks, compressor frames, bottles, a bicycle, and a scooter, deliberately placed to give smaller fish and micro-marine life somewhere to shelter and colonize.
Topography
Red Pillar is a shallow reef with depths ranging from 2.5 to 14 metres, making it workable for both beginner and experienced divers within a single dive. Visibility holds fairly consistently between 5 and 9 metres throughout the day. Currents are a defining feature of this site — expect mild to strong long-shore currents on most dives, which is what makes Red Pillar well suited to drift diving. At the center of the reef stands the red-colored channel marker pillar, used both as a navigational aid for boats and as a recognizable underwater landmark for divers.
Best Time to Dive
Red Pillar is best diveable from October to April, when conditions are most favourable for visibility and current management. During this period, underwater visibility opens up to 9 metres, temperatures stay pleasant between 25–29°C, and weather conditions are mostly calm, clear, and predictable for underwater activities.
Marine Life at Red Pillar
On the shallower section of the reef (2.5–8 metres), divers can spot yellow snappers, pipefish, Lion fish, and fusiliers gliding in formation over the coral structures. Clownfish occupy multiple sea anemone habitats, angelfish and triggerfish hover effortlessly on the outer edges of the reef, and sergeant major fish — small, active damselfish — occupy the shallow fringes in groups.
On the bottom section, scorpionfish are famous for their flawless camouflage, spotted resting motionless on the reef floor or hiding under coral ledges. Stingrays rest on the sandy bottom, while lobsters and other crustaceans occupy crevices, rocky bottoms, and reef ledges. The reef is also home to huge barrel sponges, staghorn coral, fan coral, cauliflower coral, valley coral, mushroom coral, and sea urchins — a dense, colorful backdrop that makes Red Pillar a strong choice for underwater photography as well as general reef exploration.
Cost & What's Included
Included:
- Full scuba equipment (tank, regulator, BCD, wetsuit, mask, booties, weight belt, SPG)
- Certified SSI dive guide throughout (1:1 for non-certified divers/non-swimmers)
Bring yourself:
- Certification card if certified (digital is fine)
- Swimsuit to wear under the wetsuit
- Small towel
- Reef-safe sunscreen
- Optional extras: underwater camera, surface marker buoy, rash guard, dive computer
Getting There
Red Pillar Dive Reef is easily accessible via a short boat ride from Nemo Beach (1.5km) and from Beach-03, Govind Nagar Beach (3km). We offer complimentary pickup and drop-off within a 5km radius of our dive shop.
Emergency & Safety Information
DAN Global Emergency: +1-919-684-9111
FAQs
Yes. Despite the current, Red Pillar is commonly used for Open Water and Scuba Diver certification courses, and beginners or non-swimmers can dive here with a personal instructor, since it's a guided drift dive at a shallow, manageable depth (2.5 to 14 metres).
Yes, sunken scuba tanks, compressor frames, bottles, a bicycle, and a scooter form an artificial reef that shelters smaller fish and marine life.
Red Pillar is located in the channel between Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep) and Peel Island, roughly 1.5 kilometres north of Havelock, and easily accessible by a short boat ride from Govind Nagar beach.
The site is named after a red-painted channel marker pillar located at the center of the reef. The pillar is used as a maritime channel marker for incoming and outgoing passenger ferries, marking the edges of safe, navigable waters, and also serves as a visual landmark for divers navigating the site.
Certified divers (Open Water or above) pay INR 2,500 + 18% GST per person. Non-certified divers and non-swimmers pay INR 4,500 + 18% GST per person.
Your dive includes a scuba tank, weight belt, regulator, submersible pressure gauge, buoyancy compensator, wetsuit, mask, and booties. Bring your own swimwear to wear under the wetsuit, a small towel, and reef-safe sunscreen. An underwater camera, surface marker buoy, rash guard, and dive computer are optional extras worth carrying if you have them.
Ready to Dive Red Pillar?
A current-driven drift dive with an artificial reef unlike anywhere else on Havelock — sunken tanks, a bicycle, and a scooter, all colonised by reef life.