All About Andaman

I just opened the shade and looked down from window to see the vast blue ocean scenes intermittently through the clouds with plane flying over bay of bengal With 800 km/hr. It was mesmerizing !!

It was November month and we were thinking of planning a trip but destination wasn’t yet fixed with kerala, kashmir, Andaman to choose from. All of them have their USP. But we chose Andaman to have some relax time on serene & clean beaches. With warm temperatures throughout day & night along with sea breezes.

It was a 7D/6N trip in first week of December. We came to know during the trip that tourist season is from October to March. And in remaining months due to heavy rainfall tourists are rare. Only explorers visit during these months.

4 islands are mainly famous for main land india tourists that visit here i.e. South andaman, Baratang, havelock, Neil. And general itinerary is south andaman (port blair), baratang, havelock, Neil in sequence. As the ferries operate in these above directions.

We have 1,2 stay at Port blair, 3,4 stay at havelock island, 5 stay at neil island & 6 stay at port blair.

Day 1

All british names were changed by Indian government in 2024. Port blair to Sri vijaya puram, Havelock island to Swaraj dweep, Neil island to Shaheed dweep. Please read like that in whole article.

Mainly flights operate early morning from Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai to Port blair. So you will reach in afternoon at port blair. After checking in, freshen up and having lunch our trip started. We visited cellular jail with light & sound show and corbyn's cove beach. Cellular jail is monument preserved by indian government as a symbol of freedom fighters struggle and tyranny of british. Sound & light show was very well directed and made use of the walls and cells of jail for projecting visuals on it in a very creative way which directly pierces through all hearts and ignites the nationalism hidden beneath.

Corbyn's cove beach is around 6 km from city centre and is famous both among tourists as well as city people living there. It's just chilling place with snacks beside you in lazy evening with pretty sunset.

Day 2

We had planned to visit Baratang island. This island has mangrooves, limestone caves & mud volcano. We have to go through Jarwa tribe reserve forest to reach there. So we have to start the day early morning at 3 AM. In order to have minimum disturbance to 400 odd tribals living there, all vehicles are sent in convoys only starting at 6 AM from Jirkatang checkpost. On this day we have to cover approx 200 km distance to & fro. Taxi reaches upto middle strait and then we have to board ferry for island. After reaching there small boats in group of 10 is allotted to visit mangrooves, limestone caves & mud volcano. Also due to unified timezone across india, the sunrise & sunset are both early by an hour or so. Be ready to get sunlight at 5 AM & moonlight by 5 PM :).

Day 3

On this day at early morning 0630 hrs, ferry departs from port blair to havelock island. There are multiple options of ferrys both government and private. Private ferrys depart from Hado jetty. Only green ocean ferry has open deck to explore sea during your travel. We have to reach at least 1 hour early for boarding. It takes around 0230 hrs to reach havelock island.

We have Kala patthar beach & Radhanagar beach visit planned today. Kala pathhar beach is eastern side of island with broken stems of trees fallen on sand providing serene landscape for photography. Also the beach has some black stones on other side. Some shopping & snacks stalls are also there.

Radhanagar beach is considered to be one of the best beach in Asia. It's located on western side of island. Also it's best for photography with crystal clear water on one side and lush green forest on other. Brown sand below your feet & clear sky blue hue above your head. Also neil's cove is a secret place with walkable distance along the beach where very few people go. You can go there to visit the secluded place.

Day 4

We are under 12 m sea water at 6 AM today. We did SCUBA diving today woooohooooo. Nemo beach at havelock island is supposed to be best beach in india for scuba diving. It was a mesmerizing experience to see the marine life & coral reefs. You should definitely try this. I did it although i don't know swimming. It's all done with world class safety standards.

After this adventurous morning elephant beach is waiting for us. We have to go by small boats in a group of 10 allotted by boat association and also return with same group. The beach is reachable by either boat or trekking. The forest behind the beach is reserved for elephants and tourists are prohibited from visiting the forest. The beach has various activities like snorkelling, banana ride, dragon ride, sofa ride etc.

Day 5

Today we have to leave for Neil Island at 0915 hrs. Neil island is a small island with Laxmanpur I&II, Bharatpur beach to plan your visit. Laxmanpur beach II is famous for dead coral reefs and their natural bridge like formations. We have to plan your visit during low tide to experience walking over dead corals. Laxman pur I is famous for it's breathtaking sunset. While my most favourite beach in whole trip Bharatpur beach is not a beach but feels like a big swimming pool. It's only 4-5 ft deep upto around 400-500 m. Also did mandatory fort building from beach sand.