The amazing Andaman adventure

The Planning :


What was once a location dreaded by all Indians, during the freedom struggle, has now turned into a bustling tourist spot. Andaman attracts tourists from all over the globe due to the crystal clear waters, awesome beaches and wide spectrum of underwater sea life; making it a great location for snorkeling, scuba diving and just relaxing on the sandy beaches. The best times are April - July and October - January according to websites. Port Blair, Havelock, Neil, Diglipur and Baratang are some of the famous tourist locations.

I'll share my experiences of a week's vacation to the Andaman islands with two of my colleagues. 
We decided on the destination based on a few hours of googling. The prospect of diving in the clear waters was the one thing that interested us the most. We were not too keen on visiting the regular museums, travelling long distances for different spots flocked by hundreds of generic tourists. I also need to mention that the isles are effectively in a different time zone. Sun rises at 5 and sets at around 4 30. 

Andaman can be reached from the mainland only through Chennai and Kolkatta. The air route is the preferred option with all major airlines offering flights to Port Blair. The naval route takes about 60 hours from what i heard. All flights are in the morning and the airfare is lesser mid week than the weekends (2X price differential). We booked flights from Chennai with Spicejet. The return journey cost us ~ 12,000. Our planned journey was from Oct 18 - Oct 24. 

My colleague found a brilliant tour organizer - Andaman Excursion. Mr. Mohammed Wasim and Mr. Ganesh customized the package as per our requests. They took care of our travel on the islands, ferries between islands, accommodation, entry tickets etc. They planned the journey perfectly, we were at the right places at the right time. This package cost us 23k for the three of us, which is a pretty good deal. We never had to go through the hassles of standing in queues, finding taxis etc. The accommodation, transport provided was great. Get in touch with this guy if you are planning a vacation to the Andamans.

As it happened, we missed the flight from Chennai on 18th. Torrential rains in Chennai left the city flooded, our train from Bangalore was delayed 4 hours and even the roads to the airport were jammed due to knee high water logging. (At the outset. I'd like to express my dislike towards the swindling taxi drivers of Chennai and the city in general :-/ ). We ended up booking the Air India flight for the 19th. (We also ended up spending a day in a shady lodge in "Pallavaram"). Due to this our travel around Port Blair was cut short.

On to the journey itself : 



When I saw this through the airplane window, I knew that the extra we spent on the flight would be worth it. I have not seen such clear ocean water anywhere in India. I think the Lakshadweep is the only other place.

We got down at Veer Savarkar airport, and went straight to Hotel Marine View. Average accommodation, courteous staff and okay-ish food. Located close to the jetty and the market. 

We went ahead to the two islands near Port Blair - North Bay Island and Ross Island. This engaged us for the entire day. 

North Bay Island 

North Bay island is featured on the Rs. 20 currency. You get the regular water sports over here - banana boat ride, bumpy ride, jet ski ride, speed boat etc.  Good corals and fishes make it good for snorkeling. Water is not the clearest though, due to the number of footfalls this place gets. You can also try Oceanwalk. We didn't as we were going to dive at Havelock.



Ross Island 

The highlight of the day. This was the administrative base for the British, and was also subject to bombing during WWII. It is a small island, but has beautiful landscape. Deer and peacocks roam free over here and are very friendly. The dilapidated buildings from the British rule make for a great sight. Spend as much time here as you can. 





Neil Island

Early on the second day, we started our 2 hour journey to Neil Island on a government ferry. Neil turned out my pick of the islands ahead of all other, mainly because of the pristine nature throughout the island. 

It has a small population of only 5000 and everyone knows everyone else. This is a village and infrastructure is developing. Do not expect great restaurants (you'll get good food, but not proper restaurants) , smooth roads etc.

We stayed at "Coconhuts beach reosrt" on Bharatpur beach. Good place, with a great beach. Food was good and the service was up to the mark.


Three beaches are must visit over here :

Bharatpur : Water sports, snorkeling and relaxing.



Laxmanpur : Rock bridge, Sunset



 
Sitapur : Sunrise



Mr. Hemanto was our contact at Neil, and was of great help. Neil typically doesn't fit in many travel packages, but make sure you spend at least a day here.

Havelock Island 

On day 4, we headed out to Havelock island on a government ferry again. Havelock is famous for the Radhanagar beach which was voted the best beach in India in 2011. 





We stayed at Gold coast beach resort on Vijaynagar beach. Good accommodation, but the food takes a long time after the order. Many resorts are situated on this stretch of the beach. 




The next day we visited Elephant beach for snorkeling and back to Vijaynagar for the scuba dive. Elephant beach is great for snorkeling. You can see great corals at a shallow 4 ft. of water during low tide. The water is clear, but there are far too many people on this stretch for my liking.



Scuba diving is the highlight of havelock, and there are many groups which offer recreational dives. Dive India and Barefoot diving are two established scuba groups. We went on our scuba experience with Ocean tribe. They are up and coming group with divers from Dive India and Barefoot. Their gear is new and the divers are credited with the discovery of at least three dive spots. We paid 3.5k per person for the dive and it was worth every paisa. We were taken to a depth of 10m where we saw the diverse marine life. It should figure on every ones bucket list. 







After this great experience, we headed back to Port Blair. We traveled back on a private cruise ship "Makruzz". BMTC : Volvo :: Govt. ferry : Makruzz.

Back to Port Blair




Back on Port Blair, we visited the Cellular Jail and had our history refreshed. After that we roamed around the market, did some souvenir shopping and boarded our flight back to Chennai. 

So that's about it on our Andaman experience. I've tried to keep it brief. You can look for more detail at these places.
Location: Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Comments

  1. AbhiOctober 27, 2012 at 2:04 AM

    Good capture Abhijit

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nakul PSOctober 27, 2012 at 11:16 AM

    Nice one da Abhi! On the must-travel list now!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJune 30, 2013 at 4:06 PM

    Awesome one abhi ! Which camera brvv ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Abhijith KashyapJune 30, 2013 at 5:19 PM

      Sony HX - 100V.
      Underwater pics by divers - Nikon waterproof

      Delete
  4. SHYAMOctober 10, 2013 at 12:24 PM


    Report Bugs Topic tells about the bug reports of this blogs....



    Neil Island Andaman

    ReplyDelete

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