The Andaman And Nicobar Islands

The Andaman and Nicobar islands are a small group of islands that lie between the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. They are closer to Myanmar and Thailand but they are a Union Territory of India. They are also home to the Sentinelese, an indigenous people who live on North Sentinel Island in voluntary isolation, who have refused contact with the modern world and defended, often by force, their protected isolation from the outside world. Travelling to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands requires a restricted area permit adding to your usual India Visa or an Inner Line Permit if you are an Indian citizen. Travelling to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a bit like the film "Trains, planes and automobiles" and you have to be determined to get there to make it, but it is definitely worth the effort. 

We started our Journey flying from the UK. to Chennai on the south East coast of India. A city of nearly 5 million people, its a vibrant and colourful city and home to St Thomas Cathedral Basilica, a place of pilgrimage for Christians in India. Chennai being by the sea also has fabulous beaches. We stayed in the City for a couple of nights but then took a flight, just over two hours to Port Blair, the capitol of the Andaman islands located on the south east coast of South Andaman Island. Port Blair is the main gateway to the Islands and has quite a few museums based on the history of the island, we visited Kala Pani Jail, a former British Colonial prison that now serves as a National Memorial Monument and museum. The Prison closed in 1939 apart from a brief stint at the end of WW2 when the Japanese captured it and used it as a prisoner of war camp for the British. The museum offered a few displays and the freedom to wander around the Jail, it gave a great insight into the brutality of this place, but we couldn`t help think what a beautiful place this was to be incarcerated!  

Port Blair itself is a busy port town with plenty of accommodation, a bazaar and shops, and offers a wide range of activities ranging from snorkeling and scuba diving to sea cruises, it also acts as the gateway to the many other pristine islands. We only stayed in Port Blair for one night which gave us enough time to visit the Jail and have a look around town. The following morning we took a government ferry from the Phoenix Bay jetty to Havelock Island. The 3 hour ferry is cheap but comfortable especially up on deck where you can escape the heat a little. A good tip would be to book your ferry in advance as they can get busy.

The ferry over to Havelock is smooth and you pass a few other boats going the other way, you also pass Neil Island, a smaller island south of Havelock. The ferry takes you to the north of the island to the Havelock Jetty where your restricted area permit is checked and you are recorded as being on the island, you are also given a guide to the do`s and don'ts of the island, about how to treat wildlife, flora and fauna and also respecting local laws ect. The main one we were surprised about was that all foreign tourists were on a curfew and had to be off the beaches and out of the see and jungle by sunset!

Arriving on Havelock island after the hustle and bustle of Chennai is like landing in paradise, the island covers over 35 square miles, but has only 6000 permanent inhabitants. The islands has a large focus on tourism and offers a variety of tourist accommodation.  We had pre booked a room at the Cross Bill Beach Resort which is less than a 2 mile tuk tuk ride from the Jetty, so in a relatively busy part (I use that term loosely) of Havelock as the jetty area is the busiest part of the island. The resort is only small hidden in the palm trees around 50m back from Govind Nagar Beach, a stunning white sand beach with a bay littered with local fishing boats.

Accommodation comprises of private beach apartments that are quite basic but clean and reasonably priced and close enough to the few shops and bars that make it easy to eat and shop but also easy to escape to a deserted beach on your own. We initially went to Havelock Island to swim with elephants on the beach however, as we were a little out of season for Havelock and the area was very quiet the company involved wanted us to fund the activity on our own (this is usually shared between a group) and we couldn't justify the cost between us, working out in excess of £500 each! So we settled for a tuk tuk ride and trek through the forest to Elephant beach where we spent a fantastic day literally on our own for free! We had also booked a three day dive package through DiveIndia and Andaman based dive company to be shared out between Havelock and Neil Island. 

Evenings on Havelock can be occupied by visiting the markets or a walk through town or finding a good cafe bar for your evening meal, but after sunset you are not allowed on the beaches or in the sea as a tourist. We found a nice place with an outlook over the sea to relax in the evenings that served good food at a great price. As you would expect food on the Andaman Islands is heavily influenced by Indian traditional cuisine, but also carries a distinct Andaman edge having come into contact with many different styles of food from travellers passing through over the generations.

We stayed on Havelock for 4 nights, basically chilling and exploring empty beaches around the Island, nowhere is much further than a short tug tug ride away and most drivers are happy to wait for you for a couple of hours guaranteeing themselves a tourist fare later on in the day. We also did a couple of days where we Scuba Dived local sites. The diving wasn't super impressive, but you did get large shoals of Barracuda, look for the link at the bottom of the page for a link to the dive pictures.The coastline of most of the Andaman Islands hold a stark reminder to the 2004 tsunami which was caused by the undersea Sumatra-Andaman earthquake as the beaches in parts are still littered with tree remains that were ripped up by the force of the tide waves that killed a total of over 220,000 people around the Indian Ocean.

Moving on from havelock we again caught the government ferry from Phoenix Jetty, but this time across to Neil Island. The ferry ride lasts about 2 hours and follows the east shoreline of Havelock. Again you go through the process of registering as a tourist on the island, but this is a brief process and does not hinder your trip. We had pre booked a two night stay in the Tango eco beach resort, again another small complex comprising of small beach apartments that all face out to the see, all set back around 50m from the beach. Tango Beach resort is another short tuk tuk ride from the jetty towards the northernmost tip of Neil Island. It is set back slightly from Laxmanpur Beach, a stunning beach that runs pretty much from Neil Island Jetty all the way up to Sunset Point, the northernmost tip of the island, the beach itself is lovely and sandy but out into the water there are some quite rocky areas where you need to be more careful.

We spent another of our days whilst on Neil Island scuba diving (see link at bottom) and also had a day out at Sitapur Beach, another stunning beach located at the eastern side of the island. Again like most other of the beaches we visited on both islands it was completely empty, we literally had it to ourselves! Neil Island is much less busy than Havelock and it feel like rush hour when a tuk tuk drives past on its own! 

The beaches on the south west side of the Island are also worth visiting, we went over for a couple of hours and though we had dropped into the land that time forgot, large otherworldly trees that hung over a thin strip of sand and rocky outcrops, simply stunning.

One of our most memorable moments on either of the islands however was on outlast evening on Neil Island. We walked the short walk up the beach to Sunset Point, the northernmost point of the island and the end of Laxmanpur beach to watch the sun set and spent a few hours watching the sun go down, joined by locals and Indian holidaymakers the experience was magical. Sunset point is a beautiful spot that completely lives up to its name and the locals were friendly and welcoming and enjoying the experience as mush as we did. We were even joined by a lovely local dog.

Finally we returned again to Port Blair via the government ferry and having stayed there for a further night we returned home back to the uk. A note worth mentioning is that international flight timings and the government ferry schedule do not really work for each other which usually forces you to stay at least one night in Port Blair either side of your island trips to make sure that you can make your flights. Click the link below for a few of our diving pictures form both Havelock and Neil islands.