hauteboy

My wife and I visited the Andaman Islands for 5 days recently as part of a month-long trip through southern India. The Andaman Islands are a Union Territory of India located about 850 miles east of Chennai. They are actually much closer to Phuket and Thailand with similar climate, but much less visited with only about 6000 foreign visitors (but close to 100,000 Indians) per year. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (off limits to foreigners) were affected by the tsunami, but some parts were less damaged than others. One of the beaches on Havelock Island was rated the best beach in Asia a few years ago and we wanted to check it out.

There are two options for getting to the Andamans. Either a two-day ferry from the mainland (yuck), or much easier via 2-hr flights from Kolkata or Chennai. Several airlines fly these routes now, including Indian Airlines, Jet, Air Sahara (CCU only) and Air Deccan. All foreign visitors to the Andamans require a permit (free). Flying has the advantage of acquiring the permit on arrival, taking the boat requires you to applying beforehand in Delhi. Since we were going to be in southern India, we chose to fly from Chennai. When I originally booked my tickets in October, Jet was sold out and Indian airlines only had business class available one way (econ return) for $445 each. The Indian airlines flights left at the inconvenient hour of 5:45 AM. After we arrived in India, the Jet flights opened up in econ and I ended up changing our flights, the new tickets were $325, so not much savings with the change/refund fees, but a much better flight time (9:50 AM).

The Andamans have only just started opening up to tourism, there aren't any major hotel chains or restaurants, booking online is difficult if not impossible especially around peak season (we were there from Jan 4th-9th). Havelock island is even more laid back, with a bunch of beach shack hotels. The towns don't even have names, but go by numbers. The same with beaches, beach No 7 (or Radhanagar) was voted #1 beach in Asia a few years ago. The best 'hotel' on the island is Barefoot at Havelock, which has the advantage of being right off Radhanagar. Most of the other hotels are on the other side of the island near the jetty. Barefoot luckily had a non-AC hut available for three nights, for the peak season price of $125 per night. The ferry to Havelock island doesn't always connect with the flights; this involves spending one night in Port Blair at either end. The plan was to fly from Chennai, spend one night in Port Blair, three in Havelock, then another night in Port Blair before going back to Chennai.

Pictures at (camera settings were off a bit):
http://homepage.mac.com/musick/South...oAlbum111.html

January 4, 2007
Flight: Chennai to Port Blair, Jet Airways 9W 613, economy, miles earned: 854 (NW)
Hotel: Fortune Park Bay Island Resort ($77)
We had hired a car+driver in Madurai 6 days earlier for our southern India trip. This morning he drove us the short distance from our Chennai hotel to the airport, then said our goodbyes. He was going to be driving all the way back to Madurai today, he said it would take a good 8-9 hrs. We were planning on coming back through Chennai and had bought several wood carvings, we planned to leave these in left luggage and pick them up on our way back through to Delhi. The domestic+international terminals are right next to each other in Chennai, the left luggage room was across from the international terminal. After dropping off three of our bags (25Rs each/day) we walked back to the domestic terminal. Indian airports were a lot less chaotic than I had been expecting; you can check in online for most Jet Airways flights. First you must scan your checkin bags through an X-ray, then drop them off at the counter. You get a tag for your carryon bag, which gets stamped when you go through security (mandatory frisking is printed on the boarding pass!). It only took about 15 minutes for the whole deal which left us over an hour to wait for our flight. The Chennai domestic terminal is very basic once past security, with few amenities. We soon started boarding for the flight via bus. The plane was a new 737-800 with winglets, boarding was efficient with stairs at front and rear. We were impressed with Jet's service, before takeoff they come and offer you candies, newspapers and a cool towel, even in economy! There were 6-7 rows of business class which was empty, but in economy the flight was completely full, mainly Indians but there were a few western tourists. The seat pitch was Ok, but my main problem is having broad shoulders, I overflow the seats 2-3 inches on either side. My wife had the chutzpah to ask if we could go and sit in biz class two rows ahead, the attendant said we could after takeoff! ^^ The flight about 20 minutes late departing and we soon moved up to biz class. Some other people tried the same and were told to go back. The Biz class seat was nice but nothing special (blue cloth). They served a small lunch, veg or non-veg (chicken) with rice and a dessert. Jet also provided a small bottle of water. The rest of the 2 hr flight was uneventful and we soon were descending into Port Blair. We disembarked via stairs and took a bus the short distance to the tiny terminal. On arrival, foreigners had to fill out the permit, which allowed us to stay for up to 30 days. We had to show this everywhere, checking into hotels, getting on and off the ferries, etc, so you must keep it with you! We had permit #50/60 on Jan 4th, so that meant only about 15 foreigners arrive per day (and this was high season). This was verified when I saw someone's permit who had arrived in late Dec, theirs was #59xx. We also received a separate Port Blair arrival stamp in our passports. I had booked the Fortune Park Bay Island hotel through http://india.makemytrip.com for $77, which included breakfast and airport transfer, as we left the terminal there was someone from the hotel there holding a sign with my name. The drive to the hotel took about 15 minutes, passing by several furniture factories. The Fortune Park hotel is on a hill overlooking the bay and there was a great breeze blowing in off the sea. The room was basic with air-con and cable TV. We asked the hotel travel desk about getting ferry tickets (300Rs) for the next day to Havelock. There are three daily ferries at 6:00, 10:00 and 14:00, but the morning ferries were already sold out!! That meant spending ~24 hrs in Port Blair. My wife had lost her hat so we decided to walk into town to buy one and find an ATM as Port Blair is the only place to withdraw money on the Andamans. It was about a 1.5 km walk through to Aberdeen Bazaar where I finally found an ATM that worked after three tries. Port Blair was a very laid back town without the chaos and tourist hassle of the mainland. Unfortunately that meant buying touristy things was difficult, all the hats were either baseball caps or were too small but we finally found an Air Mauritius straw hat for $1. We were close to the Cellular Jail by this point and walked over to check it out. The jail (Rs5 admission) was built by the British in the late 1800's and was used to house political prisoners in from the independence movements. It originally had 7 wings raidiating out from a central hub; only three wings remain today. There were two rooms filled with photos of the 'martyrs' that had died from force feeding while on hunger strike. There had been several jails on the Andamans as it was a sufficiently remote place to ship off troublemakers. There are other jails on Ross and Viper islands, though these are in a more ruined state. Unfortunately we had left our camera at the hotel and the jail was closing in a few minutes so don't have any photos from here! We caught a tuk-tuk (20Rs) back to the hotel and had dinner. Later that evening we got call from the travel desk saying that seats were available on the 6AM ferry! Since we would be leaving before breakfast, we had the hotel prepare a boxed breakfast for us.

January 5, 2007
Ferry: Port Blair to Havelock
Hotel: Barefoot at Havelock ($125)
An early start this morning to catch the ferry. The hotel charged us 100Rs for the very short ride down the hill (a tuk-tuk should have been 15-20Rs if that but there weren't any around). We got our ferry tickets, which said Dr. & Mrs. Rajiv and boarded the Jolly Buoy Ferry. The full ferry held maybe 60 seated people, with only 5-6 foreigners onboard. The boat was a roach motel, with bugs crawling all over the floor, walls, etc. Most people went upstairs after the boat left the port. The ferry ride itself was very smooth and lasted about 2 hrs, arriving into Havelock island just after 8 AM. After shaking out our bags throuroughly, we disembarked to the jetty where the police were checking foreigner permits. We caught a tuk-tuk (150Rs) for the 12km ride to the Barefoot resort. Havelock island was very rural, only a few small towns and hotels, the rest is farmland or jungle. The road was paved all the way but very narrow, little more than a single lane. We saw more tourists going about on motorbikes. There was a campground located back in the trees as we approached the resort. Apparently camping had been allowed on the beach until recently but it had affected turtle nesting and was now no longer allowed. We arrived at the resort by 8:45 and were shown down to the brick path to our Nicobar style hut, which was hidden in the trees. The hut had two single beds with mosquito nets, electricity and hot water and was made from local materials, palm frond walls, thatched roof, teak floors. They were still serving breakfast at the restaurant (we never ate our packed breakfast). The restaurant at Barefoot is open air, they have either traditional tables, or low-tables with pillow seats. They also have a trading library and several games available on a bookshelf. The food was very good, and they had a wide range of options, fresh fruit, pancakes, french toast, idly, etc. We headed down to the beach after breakfast. The sand was amazingly soft and white, the water a stunning blue and bathtub temperature. Ghost crabs ran along the sand everywhere. We spent awhile wandering down the beach, which was pretty much deserted down at this end. It's desolate but not really secluded, local fishermen walk up and down the beach, and stray dogs run about everywhere. We came back to the hut for a nap before a late lunch and heading out to the beach again. We hoped to catch the sunset, which occurs about 5PM here; the Andamans are on the same time zone as the rest of India despite being nearly 1500mi east of Mumbai. Unfortunately the horizon was cloudy and we left disappointed. It was soon pitch dark, the resort does not have lights along the trails and we needed to get a flashlight from reception! We spent awhile sitting in the restaurant area playing Scrabble before dinner started at 7:30. Several other hotel guests (mainly British or German) were also there reading or chatting. Dinner was a delicious fish curry. There wasn't much else to do at the resort after dark (no TV or internet), so we headed back to our hut. My wife got quite a surprise when she went into the bathroom; we were not alone! There was a huge 18-inch lizard sitting in the shower. I'm used to small pink geckoes in our hotel room but I'd never seen anything so big! The lizard crawled up into the ceiling as we approached, hoping he was eating all the mosquitoes. We crawled into bed underneath the mosquito net and crashed.

January 6, 2007
Hotel: Barefoot at Havelock ($125)
We spent most of the day out on the beach. After a yummy breakfast of fresh fruit, American pancakes and tea we grabbed some masks, fins and snorkel from the front desk and headed down to the beach. It was hard to believe this was high season, there were only people maybe every 100 yards along down the beach. We found a secluded spot under a tree and pitched our towels. We spent a few hours snorkeling right off the beach, there was quite a diversity of fish and bright blue clams and we didn't want to get out of the water. We ended up getting quite sunburned on the backs of our legs even with lotion! We walked down to the end of the beach where it gradually ended in a pile of rocks and driftwood. There was a trail through the forest right behind the beach, we decided to walk back to the hotel along the trail. The jungle had huge trees with rocketship roots, quite unique with the beach and blue water just alongside. After lunch and a nap we went back to the beach for more snorkeling. Ah the life! I am an Advanced Open water diver and I'd heard good things about scuba diving in the Andamans. I'm not the type to go somewhere just for the diving, but I'll go if I have the chance. I'd asked about diving trips at the front desk, but their phone wasn't working. That evening we took the car into town to check out the dive shops. There are three on the island, but the first two were full already for the next week! A group of marine biologists have been in the Andamans researching the effects of the tsunami, and they have been using all the diving shops here. Finally third time was a charm and Andaman Dive Club had availability for the next day, $60 or $80 for a two-tank dive leaving at 7:30 AM. Their BC vest was a little tight but it would do. My wife is certified diver as well but had a bad experience her first trip and now usually preferrs just to snorkel. They offered to take her along snorkeling while we dove. Since we were in town we wanted to check out one of the few restaurants, the book had recommended Wild Orchid. Our driver dropped us off there and we told him to come back in 90 minutes (ordering dinner always take a long time in India). To our dismay we found out the restaurant was closed and our driver had already left!! We started walking back down the road when our driver came by, whew! He took us to the Silversand Resort restaurant, where we were almost the only ones eating. The food there was Ok enough.. but where were all the people? This was high season and the place was empty except for one other couple. Good timing though, we finished eating just as our driver returned.

January 7, 2007
Hotel: Barefoot at Havelock ($125)
An early start for me this morning as I was going on my dive trip. There was also Finnish couple going along today, they had done several dives already that week. The plan today was to go to South Button. My wife had decided to go on the snorkeling trip organized by Barefoot resort, they were also going to South Button, but in a much nicer boat! Our dive boat was a dunghi, an open air longboat with a lawnmower motor attached to a propeller.. certainly not for the timid! The trip out to South Button was supposed to take two hours; after 15 minutes I wasn't sure I'd survive the trip without my teeth being shaken out of my head! I laid down on the floorboards in the middle of the boat which wasn't moving as much. The sky was overcast and the wind was blowing steadily as we started heading out into open water. The waves came splashing in over the side and the boat really started rocking! The going was pretty rough and finally we decided to try for another spot that was smoother. Another hour and a half later (3 hrs in the boat!) we arrived at Japanese reef where we started suiting up. It had been over a year since my last dive, and I can never remember which side the O-ring goes on, but luckily the boat driver set up all the kit! It was an awkward launch off the side of the boat, but once in the water things were much better. We spent about 50 minutes total on our first dive, which had an amazing array of fish and hard coral in some of the best shape I'd ever seen. The water clarity wasn't that great though as it was just past the full moon (plankton is at its worst). A quick lunch of sticky rice and a nap before we left for our next dive site, which was much clearer. The sun also came out which really brought out the colors of the fish. I had brought my underwater housing to India, hoping to get some good underwater shots in the Andamans, but unfortunately my digital camera had stopped working a few days before! We headed back to Havelock island, luckily the boat ride this time was only an hour and we arrived just after 4PM. After sitting around and chatting awhile, I caught a tuk-tuk back to the resort and it was almost dark. My wife had just arrived back from her snorkeling trip, they had made it all the way to South Button and she said the fish/coral variety was awesome there as well.

January 8, 2007
Ferry: Havelock Island to Port Blair
Hotel: Fortune Park Bay Island ($95)
Not much went on today. We had an early breakfast before walking down to the beach for the last time. We noticed some oddly shaped tracks in the sand and I realized that they were turtle tracks! The moon was just past full and turtles must had just been nesting the previous night! Unfortunately the stray dogs had already discovered the nest and had dug up several eggs. Our tuk-tuk was waiting for us as we checked out of the hotel and we went to the jetty to pick up our tickets. It was a bit of a chaotic scene, eventually someone just handed us some tickets (again with someone elses names on them). We were going back on the Jolly Buoy boat, this time we found the downstairs room which had reclining seats and was less busy. We arrived back at the Fortune hotel around 1 PM. We were going to Bahrain the next day and desperately needed to get laundry done, so we dropped ours off before heading to lunch. The hotel buffet was mobbed with a conference. It was worth the wait, the food was good and they had halwah, a sweet made from carrots, butter and sugar. Yummy with ice cream. We mainly hung around the hotel all afternoon.

January 9, 2007
Flight: Port Blair to Chennai, Jet Airways 9W 614, economy, miles earned: 854 (NW)
We had a few hours to kill this morning before our flight left back to Chennai. We decided to go visit the Anthropology museum in Port Blair, it was supposed to have a good overview of some of the local tribes that lived in the islands. We caught a tuk-tuk from our hotel, but he didn't understand very well and we ended up at the Naval museum instead. We weren't interested in that and finally he was able to find the right place. The museum (Rs50) was just Ok, it had three floors about the history of the islands and exhibits on local handicrafts, spears, musical instruments, etc. The Andamans have quite a diverse tribal population, some tribes have African ancestry, others are Asian. The Indian government tries to protect the tribal areas, they are difficult to get to or off limits altogether. Some of the tribes only have 10-40 people remaining, they will most likely not survive. We caught another tuk-tuk back to the hotel where our laundry was finally ready. Soon it was time to say goodbye to the Andamans as we headed back to the airport. I had checked in online again, so all we had to do was drop off the bags before going through security, we had to surrender our permits and get our passports stamped again. The Jet Airways flight was completely full in econ, and quite a few in biz class as well. This time they wouldn't let us move up front. Once we arrived in Chennai, I went to collect out bags from left luggage before our connecting flight to Delhi.

Joelle

This is excellent! Quite an "uncommon" trip report! ^

Cheetah_SA

Thanks for taking us off the beaten track. ^ I have toyed with diving in the Andamans but stopped thinking about it after the tsunami. Your report has opened up the temptation for me again.

milehighj

thanks for posting this. great stuff.

stuttflyer

Too Good report on an exotic destination (in my to-do list) and very well presented. Guess you had a nice time.

AJLondon

Great report. ^ I'm looking forward to visiting the Andamans soon!

Swanhunter

Excellent report - another destination to add to the list.

Fliar

Thanks for posting. All in all, would you recommend the Andamans?

hauteboy

I'd certainly recommend it.. if nothing else to see what Phuket might have been like 30 years ago. No tourist hassle, etc. But you have to be a little adventurous as transportation and hotels can be basic; it's not the place to go if you need pampering or fine dining! We saw lots of backpackers there. If you're into diving or snorkeling I'd highly recommend going.

I'm still working on our trip report for Southern India+Bahrain

Kiwi Flyer

Thanks hauteboy for a great report on an off the beaten track location. ^^