Andaman Islands India | Visiting the beautiful and pristine Islands

Andaman Islands India | Visiting the beautiful and pristine Islands

This was a long pending repeat trip to the beautiful Andaman Islands, India after a gap of 9 years. We visited Andamans in the year 2016 and fell in love with the place and decided to come back again.

We had plans for the Christmas – New Year holidays and therefore, Booked our flight tickets and hotel reservations in advance. It is recommended to book hotels or resorts in advance because the number hotels are limited and to get a decent place to stay, one must book in advance to avoid last minute dissappointment.

How to reach Portblair | the capital of Andaman Islands | India

The Delhi to Portblair flight takes about three and a half hours. There are flights from all other major cities of India. Other option include taking cruise ship from Chennai or Kolkata which take 2-3 days to reach PortBlair.

Veer Savarkar International Airport, Portblair, India

We reached Portblair on 29th of December 2024.According the Itinerary, we were to head towards the islands and visit Portblair while returning from the islands and concluding our trip in Portblair.

Portblair to Havelock Island

Ferry from Portblair starts from haddo Jetty and takes around one and a half hours to reach Havelock Island. The tickets were booked online well in advance. There are three ferry service one by the government and two run privately. We chose Makruzz and boarded from Haddo Jetty at 9 in the morning.

Havelock Island, Andaman Islands India

Day 1. Reached Havelock Island at around 10:30 and took an auto rickshaw for Green Imperial Resrt which was two kilometer away from the Jetty. After a good lunch we had an afternoon nap as there was nothing to do in the blazing sun outside. In the evening we walked to the nearby market and ended the day with dinner at the resort. This resort had decent cottages separately located at a distance from each other and were well kept. The in house restaurant was good enough for having decent meals. In fact, some walk-in guests were also visiting for food.

Exploring Havelock Island

Day 2. Next day morning we took an auto rickshaw from our resort to wards Kala Pathar beach which was at a distance of 5-6 kilometers. The driver charged us 500/ rupees for the return trip. The visit to the place for sunrise was worth it. Clear turquoise water, blue sky and white sand made the picturesque settings for a perfect scenery. We spent an hour here reflecting upon the beauty of the place. There were not many people visiting in the early hours. Few shops were selling coconut water and snacks. This beach is not for swimming.

Kala Pathar Beach, Havelock Island, Andaman Islands India

Radhanagar Beach

Day 3. Since we got booking in this resort only for a day, next day we shifted to another property near the radhanagar beach. This is the most beautiful place of Havelock island and the best in whole of Andaman. It is swimming friendly, in fact it is shallow for quite a distance and therefore even kids can have a nice time in the water. While swimming, one can easily spot showls of white and colourful fishes underwater.

Radhanagar Beach, havelock Island, Andaman Islands India

Elephant Beach

Since we were staying close to radhanagar beach, we were just few kilometers from the serene Elephant Beach. There are two ways to visit the Elephant Beach. One is to take a ferry from the jetty and reaching directly. The other option is to do some hiking to reach the Elephant Beach. The hike starts few kilometers before the Radhanagar Beach. This is the starting point and can be reached by Scooty, auto rickshaw, or even a local bus.

We took a bus from the Radhanagar Beach and got down at the point. Here one has to register his/her name at the forest check post as this is a forest area. One has to report back at this place while returning back. There is no entry fee but you can hire a guide for your hike which is not mandatory. The trek is moderate in difficulty and passes through the forest and even through shallow waters. It took around one hour to reach the Elephant Beach. We enjoyed and felt the route aws worth taking. It started raining when we were returning back which made the trip a bit risky but adventurous. We reported bach at the forest checkpoint and took bus for our hotel.

Activities at Elephant Beach

Things to do at Elephant Beach:

Snorkeling

Scuba Diving

Submarine ride

Banana ride

Water Scooters

Speed Boats etc.

The rates of all the activities are almost fixed and generally displayed on board there. One can book at the counters and enjoy spending whole day at the elephant beach. The shacks selling food items sell fruit chaat and coconut water. The overall scene at the beach is enjoyable. The water is turquoise may change with season and the scenery is beautiful.

There are lot of fruit vendors here who will serve you freshly cut fruits on the banana leaf on reasonable price. Mostly natural food is available here and the coconut water is not to be missed.

Day 4: After spending 3 nights in Havelock we left for Neil Island. Took 8 am Makruzz ferry from Havelock to Neil Island. In about an hour, we touched the Neil Island and checked in to the Exotic Square Resort located near natural bridge.

Things to do at Neil Island

Natural Bridge (evening time)

Bharatpur Beach (all day)

Laxmanpur beach for sunset (evening time)

Market area ( evening time/ all time)

Bharatpur Beach and Sita Beach

Day 5: After breakfast visited Sitapur Beach and then went to Bharat pur beach which is located right near the Jetty. had lunch at the hotel and in the evening visited the natural bridge which becomes active right after the high tide starts. Water reaches the small puddles. These puddles and small water catchments have rich biodiversity of marine life visible with naked eye. Colourful corals of various colours and shades are easily visible. Tourists visit the place to experience this small marine life present in the rock crevices which comes out when water starts flooding the crevices and fill up the pool outside.

Day 6: Checked out and visited the Bharatpur beach again before catching the ferry towards Port Blair. We deposited the luggage in a restaurant near the jetty on a nominal fee of rupees 30 for each bag. After spending time at the Bharatpur beach, it was time to board the ferry to Port Blair.

We reached Portblair by afternoon and had lunch at the popular restaurant Annapoorna located in the Market area.

Chidiya Tapu

Visited the Chidiya Tapu in the evening for sunset. The place is very beautiful and people visit the place especially to experience the sunset at this point. Although it is located at the southernmost end of Port blair, but it is worth visiting during the evening time. It is a combination of dense forest and a clean beach. All this is part of a biological park. The scenic beauty is breathtaking especially during the sunset. The name itself suggests that it is a bird watcher’s paradise. Variety of birds can be spotted at various locations of Chidiya Tapu.

Zonal Anthropological Museum

Day 7: Had breakfast at Annapoorna again and headed towards the Zonal Anthropological Museum located on a walking distance from our hotel. that was quite an interesting place to visit, especially with kids. all the tribes found on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, their life and culture, teh types of homes they make, the types of handicrafts they make the boat they ride all the equipments they use in their daily life to collect food from the forest and catching fish. everything is displayed in the galleries. There are lefe size models of the types of houses they build. The types of dresses they make and the jewellery they make all is displayed in the dedicated galleries in the museum.

Cellular Jail

After having lunch break and some siesta, we moved to cellular jail in the evening time.

Day 8: After breakfast, we left for the airport to board the flight to Delhi.

Best time to visit Andaman & Nicobar Islands

The best time to visit the Andaman Islands India is from October to May when the weather is pleasant. After May the weather is hot and humid followed by disturbances during Monsoon season. Therefore, it is better to plan before the Summer season.

Andaman Tourists Places

Among the most popular places to visit in Andaman Islands India is the Havelock Island. Here you can find the crystal clear waters and beautiful radhanagar beach. There is short day trip for Elephant Beach. Morning Sunrise can be experienced at kala pathar beach.

Neil Island is another small but beautiful island where you can witness marine life in shallow waters near the natural bridge beach. There is a natural bridge formed out of rocks at this place. Many types of corals and marine life is visible here at low tides in the afternoon till the sunset.

On the other hand Portblair has options of visiting the historical Cellular Jail. Evening can be spent at Chidiya Tapu where you can witness the beautiful sunset from a jungle setting.

Ross Island and Viper Island are day trip options from Port Blair. Regular ferries take tourists from Portblair to these small but interesting islands. For more information visit the official site: https://www.andamantourism.gov.in/

How much the Andaman Trip costs?

It all depends upon the type of tourist. Like for example you are flying to Andaman Islands India you have to spend about 30-35 thousand indian rupees one way. Or the cheaper option is taking a cruise ship form Kolkata or Chennai which takes about 2-3 days to reach Portblair.

Similarly, to travel between Portblair to Havelock island and neil island, there are cheaper options of travelling in standard class. We booked in Deluxe class and it costed us rupees 750/ per person from portblair to Havelock and about similar fare from Havelock to Neil island and further to Portblair. This can be booked online on https://makruzz.com/

The accommodation prices fluctuates and one can get cheap accommodation in non peak season after the New Year and holiday season. Room rent starts from 2000-2500 for decent enough rooms with attached bath.

Where to stay in Andaman

There are quite a lot decent hotels in Andaman Islands, but limited number of good resorts to book accomodation at Portblair, Havelock Island and Neil Island. It all depends on the budget but it is always better to book In advance through trusted online sites like http://makemytrip.com

For more such informative articles visit https://muddyshoe.in/

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