Take the social media detox in the Andaman Islands

You are tired, exhausted and tied up to the technology for every bit of life's need. And that's it, you need that social media detox that the whole social media is talking about. :-p

We planned a family vacay after almost a decade and what better than Andaman islands could make us happy. It offered everything, relaxation, adventure, suspense and happiness. After all the googling was done, we knew that there will be no high speed internet, so downloaded the offline maps of the places from Google. Contrary to the popular belief of not travelling with a travel agency, we got "packaged" with a tour operator from Andaman who offered customisable trip. So, hurray! win-win situation!!

We took a morning flight to Port-Blair from Chennai, reached there by noon, checked into our hotel rooms and freshened up to follow the itinerary. We landed up in Corbyn's Cove beach for a fun speed boat ride and jetski ride to kickstart the adventure.

The private ferry Green Ocean 1 was a fantastic experience as it allowed the passengers to experience the open deck with the in-house DJ facility. People danced around till they reached the island, made merry and we had a great fun watching them do it. We reached there by afternoon and had our lunch in the ferry.

We rushed to the Radhanagar beach before checking into our hotel. We were not ready to miss the magnificent sunset that the beach had to offer. The whole beach came alive straight out of a canvas painting during the sunset. We took a dip the sea and relaxed for sometime on the shore soaking in the dusk. We proceeded straight to the hotel which was nothing less than a piece of an art. The hotel 'Moonlit sands' was a beach facing bamboo cottage located at Govind nagar beach. We then hunted our pure vegetarian food (tough task!) which we got at a star hotel called ' Haywizz'. The food was delicious with a great ambience and of course with a bigger bill (phew!!). We then slept dreaming about the next day adventure, the star mark of the trip (yes, SCUBA diving!)

I woke up by 4 in the morning out of excitement. I walked upto the harbour and watched the day break open into bright canvas. I spotted few little boys who were fishing out squids from the sea. Clicked some pictures and then had my poori-sabji breakfast in the hotel. We had booked our morning slots for boat dive deep sea diving with Scubalov.in, where we started training near the shore for our dive.

We went boat diving with experienced dive-masters to a diving spot called "Purple Haze". I spotted 3 medium sized stingrays, lionfish, sparkling corals and many more beyond description. We spent more than an hour underwater and resurfaced back to a view surrounded by ocean. I went one step ahead where I couldn't control my urge to take a plunge. I informed my diving instructor and jumped off from the brink of the boat, experienced the cold water for few minutes before getting back into the boat. Finished the adventure and returned to shore with lots of engraved happy memories. We got back to the harbour to take our next ferry to Neil island.

We reached Neil island before the sunset and headed straight to the Laxmanpur beach II where one can see the hanging bridge aka Howrah bridge. One must cross the widespread dead corals before viewing the hanging bridge. We spotted star fish, sea cucumber, sea urchins, dead corals- brain coral and also the mighty sunset. We then headed to the Pearl Park resort which was located at Laxmanpur beach-I. The resort was yet again a wonderful place to relax and spend the night.

For dinner, we were directed to the only pure vegetarian restaurant "Shakahari restaurant" located at a few km from the resort. They gave us a free ride to the restaurant and we feasted on a scrumptious meal. We then headed back to the resort and walked to the beach and the family of four sat on a wooden bench to witness the most beautiful moon-rise on the planet. It was a full moon night and the moon's reflection on the water was glistening to meet our eye. An experience that could never be captured on our gadgets. Instead, we kept all of it aside and enjoyed the view as a family. The whole beach was deserted except for us.

The next morning I walked the entire Laxmanpur beach-I and got awe-struck by the vast expanse of the shore. It was the northern tip of the Island. After the breakfast, we went to Bharatpur beach for some water activities. My family took up a glass bottom boat ride and I did snorkelling in the beach. Completely enjoyed the new experience.

We got to the harbour to take ferry to Port Blair. We met a tender coconut vendor selling coconuts bigger than my head. Vegetarian's only resort to quench hunger and thirst at the same time. We boarded the ferry and relaxed inside the air-conditioned cabin with a view.

We got back to the same hotel at Port blair by 12 in the noon. Had lunch at the hotel and started to Chidiya Tapu sunset point. It is a bird sanctuary located at the southern most tip of the Andamans. The beach is famous for the sunset view with the a backdrop of mountains and mangroves together. The place also houses a mountain called Munda Pahar. We trekked for about 1.5 km to the peak of the mountain to view the unmanned beach from up top. The view from the hilltop was to live for. The color of the sea, the sun, the light house and the ambience, each of these competed for our attention. We trekked down the hill and got back to the hotel.

We woke up at 2 in the morning to reach the Middle strait, Jirkatang. It was colder than expexted for the morning. We were instructed about the Jarawa forests and the protected tribes living there. The 48 km forest route to the Jetty point to reach to Baratang was completely adventurous. We saw almost 7 tribals (5 men, 1 women and a child) totally when we drove through the forest. After reaching the jetty point, we took a govt steamer to Baratang. After reaching there, did a 30 minute speed boat ride to the Mangroves of the Baratang. Sun was not kind on us. We trekked another 1.2 km stretch inside the Mangrove forest (stilt plank) to reach the Limestone caves.

Inside the limestone caves, saw the spectacular live stalactites and stalagmites and experienced the water dripping inside. We got back to the ferry point and caught the steamer before the gate opened for the next convoy. We drove back to the city while the weather changed suddenly to rainy season. The horizon changed for every 10 km. Brand new experience altogether.

The last day of the trip and we had our flight to chennai scheduled in the afternoon. We planned to visit the Aquarium and Fisheries museum before heading to the Chatham Saw Mill. We saw few preserved corals and fishes stored in jars inside the Aquarium and museum.

Chatham saw mill was meant to meet the timber needs of the place. The famous padauk wood was cut and made into necessary wooden products here. It is the Asia's largest and oldest saw mill which has the biggest wood processors. In 1942, during World War II, the mill fell victim to the bomb attacks. The bomb pits are now filled with water. The wood being brought in ship, cut and processed into furniture could be seen as a story. We bought few wooden souvenirs from the store.