Andaman needs no introduction. The relaxing beaches, blue waters and lots of water sports and activities sums it all. We spent 5 nights in Andaman. Here is a quick guide to what we did and what alternatives you can explore.
Day 1
Andaman has a small airport in Port Blair. To commute to your hotel, you can even take a three-wheeler at nominal price. However, if you want to avoid hustle bustle with drivers related to money negotiations you can also request a pick-up service from your hotel.
After arriving, checking-in and having lunch, more than half of the day was gone. So, we left to see the night show of cellular jail. It is a very good experience to know the culture, heritage and the struggles endured around colonial era. Please Pre-book as the seats are limited and check for language preference (English and Hindi).
Sea shell hotel has beautiful roof top with live music, good food and drinks. However, if you are on budget trip there are less expensive options as well.
You can also try Sinclairs Bay View’s Restaurant.
Day 2 : Jolly Buoy Island
Jolly buoy is a part of Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park along with Red skin and is accessed via Wandoor beach which is 30 kms from Port Blair. It is a must see for its rich coral and marine life. However, it is not easy to get the tickets as the ticket window only opens few days before scheduled departure and a limited number of people are allowed. So, we took the help of local agent who purchased the tickets for us. The ferry starts by 9 a.m. You can reach Wandoor beach by bus or drive by car. We hired a car (arranged by our hotel) to avoid any confusion or changes in schedule of public transport system. Jolly Buoy is a no plastic zone so all your belongings like plastic bottle etc. are submitted at Wandoor beach. You can rent Jute bottles here and fill them with water. In the island there was a small vendor selling coconut water and some biscuits.
The best activity to do here is snorkeling. You can also go for glass boat. It is of varying duration and I will recommend taking the longer one. There were also changing rooms made of Bamboo here.
Alternatively, if you cannot get tickets to Jolly Buoy, you can visit Ross Island and Bird Island near Port Blair.
We left for Havelock via an early morning ferry. The ferries are limited and it is better to book in advance. After checking in at our hotel, we left for elephant island which is 20 min ride by boat. You can do snorkeling and sea walk there. While snorkeling is cheaper, sea walk cost us around Rs. 3000 per person and you walk at a depth of 7 meters. However, both activities have different experience and cannot be compared. You can easily return by 3-4 km from the activities to your hotel and relax.
Anju Coco restaurant is a must go. Food was fresh and amazing. They had good variety but I would recommend sea food. They have good options for vegetarians as well.
Day 4 : Havelock Island
We got up early morning for scuba diving experience. I must admit I was scared but it turned out well. Experiencing sea-life so close to you was amazing and a memory for life time.
We returned to our hotel and after breakfast started to explore Havelock. We rented a two-wheeler for a day and went to Radha Nagar beach which is ranked as one of the best beaches in Asia and I cannot agree more. It was very calm and clean. A small walk from Radha Nagar beach takes you to Neil’s cove. You can also visit Kalapathar beach.
Day 5 : Neil Island
We decided to do only a day tour and took early morning ferry to Neil Island. However, there are no private ferries which return in the evening so usually tourists have to spend a night in the Island.But we got to know that government ferries do depart for Port Blair in the evening so we managed to arrange a ticket (without a reserved seat, but got a place to sit luckily) through our local agent. They are not very cozy but at least we manage to squeeze a 6-night Itinerary in 5 nights.
There are many beaches in Neil Island like Laxamnpur, sitapur and Bharatpur beach. I would not recommend a snorkeling here as marine fauna and flora is deeper and seeing that through snorkeling(which is a surface activity) is not very interesting. It is better to do scuba in Neil Island.
But the most important here is visiting Natural Bridge here. It is like a marine life museum in open. You will see plenty of live corals and sea creatures here especially in low tide when they can be seen in water collected between dead corals. We even managed to see an octopus which squirted blue ink on us. Thankfully none of the creatures are harmed and are left on their own here.
BY: TRAVELOONA | COUNTRY: INDIA
TRAVEL BLOGGER
It's my dream to go
ReplyDeleteWow it looks amazing, a place than I wanna know in India
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