The two natural elements of nature that add beauty to this world are the mountains and the oceans. Thus, people love to travel to places with high-rise appealing mountains or the calm and vast ocean. Andaman is a Union territory of India which is another fabulous example of the beauty of nature. Thus, tourists from all around the world come to witness this beautiful piece of nature’s work and enjoy the Islands and beaches of Andaman. Though Andaman holds more than 300 Islands with it, out of them only a few are inhabited.
Planning an Andaman trip is like a dream come true for people. And we hope if you are reading this blog, you are about to bring this dream of yours to life. To help you plan the best trip to the Andaman Islands here we are with another step-by-step guide to let you know everything about this amazing place and how you can reach, stay and enjoy to the fullest at this breathtaking island for a few days.
Andaman lies near the Bay of Bengal and is completely a part of India, thus this doubt must be cleared that it does not require any visa or passport for Indians to visit the Andaman Islands. All you need is identity proof and that’s it for your trip to these Islands.
How to reach Andaman?
Though Andaman is completely a part of India yet it is quite far from the major Indian land mass and thus you can reach Andaman by flight. Andaman has only one airport in it called the Port Blair Airport. You can reach here from almost all the major cities of India. The approximate cost of a flight to Andaman can be Rs 5000 which may vary from city to city.
Apart from the flight, there are no options to visit Andaman since the Island is quite far from the main land mass of India.
How to book a ship for visiting nearby Islands in Andaman?
If you are reaching Andaman in the morning before 9 o’clock, the first thing you should do is book a ticket for your trip to the nearby Islands which you can cover on day 3 and day 4 of your trip.
The most famous Islands near Port Blair are Neil Island and Havelock Island. To book the tickets for these Islands you can visit the place called “Marina Jetty”. Here you can find the “STARS ticket counter” in Port Blair where you can book cheap ships run by the government to visit the nearby islands of Port Blair.
Government ran ships are safer and cheaper as compared to private ships. The cost of these ships to visit Neil Island and Havelock Island is mentioned below.
Port Blair -> Neil Island: Rs 510
Neil Island -> Havelock Island: Rs 510
Havelock Island -> Port Blair: Rs 510
If you are reaching Port Blair at night, you can visit Marina Jetty the next day as early as possible and book your tickets before exploring Port Blair.
Note: Booking a government ship is a more beneficial option since these ships are cheap as well as you get access to go to the deck of the ship from where you can enjoy the beautiful view of the ocean whereas on a private ship you won’t be allowed access on the deck. In addition to this, a private ship will cost you at least three times more than the cost of a government ship.
Complete Itinerary for Andaman
After you have landed in Andaman, you can stay here in hotels which are very easily available. The best place to rent a hotel room and the cost of it will be covered later in the blog.
Day 1: All famous Places
On your first day in Port Blair visiting all the famous places here will be a great option to start. To roam around Port Blair, you can choose to explore the Island by auto or by car. The cheapest and the most enjoyable way to explore the Island is to hire a two-wheeler like a scooter or a bike which will be a lot of fun.
The cost of hiring a two-wheeler is around Rs 400 for a complete day.
On the first day, you can visit places like the Cellular Jail, Corbyn’s Cove Beach, Chidiya Tapu, Biological Park, Munda Pahad Beach, Joggers Park, Bathu Basti Market, and Anand Paradise Multiplex. The special things about some of these places are mentioned below.
Cellular Jail of Port Blair
The most famous and must-visit place in Port Blair is the Cellular Jail. The cellular jail is famous for its amazing architecture which initially contained 7 buildings in total but today when you visit this place you will find only 3 of them since the rest four were destroyed in the second world war. From the top of the cellular jail, you can also witness a great view of the island and beaches.
The entry fee at the cellular jail is Rs 30/person and the timings to visit are from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Along with this, you can also enjoy the night shows that happen at the cellular jail each day. The cost of these night shows is Rs 100 to Rs 150.
Chidiya Tapu
About 25 km away from the main town is the chidiya tapu around which are many other famous places of Port Blair. You can spend some time at the chidiya tapu and then visit nearby places including Biological Park and Munda Pahad Beach.
Joggers Park
By the evening Joggers park is another famous destination to visit where you can sit and relax for quite a long time enjoying the breathtaking view of the town.
Day 2: Visiting North of the Andaman Islands
At the start of day two, you can choose to visit the north side of the Andaman Island group along with other two famous Islands called Ross and Island and North Bay.
Aberdeen Jetty
Andaman is famous for a lot of fun water activities which includes scuba diving, rock bottom, sea walking, and many other. All these activities can be majorly found on the north side of the Andaman Islands. You can choose to go to Aberdeen Jetty on the second day of your trip from where you can take boats to take a full tour of the north side of Andaman.
The cost of a boat to explore the north is Rs 550 to Rs 750.
Ross Island
On day two of your trip, you can travel to Ross Island by boat to explore this beautiful place. Ross Island is a famous spot for beautiful beaches and clean water where you can also find deer roaming around you easily. All these experiences are fun and worth experiencing.
North Bay
Next, after Ross Island, you can visit the north bay or the north part of the Andaman as mentioned above. This part of the Andaman is famous for its extremely clean water and fun activities. Here you can try out multiple activities including Scuba Diving, sea walking, and rock bottom.
The cost of these activities can start from Rs 500 to Rs 3500 per person depending on what activities you choose to do.
Day 3: Visiting Neil Island
The third day of your trip will be completely dedicated to exploring Neil Island for which you have booked tickets on the first day. Inside Neil island, many other famous beaches are worth visiting the place and soothing places to the eye. At the start of day 3, you will have to reach Marina Jetty from where you will board your ship to visit Neil Island.
After you have reached Neil Island you can rent a hotel room near the port itself. After this to explore the island you can once again hire a scooter or bike as you did in Port Blair.
Neil Island has many famous and beautiful beaches to visit, some of which are mentioned below.
Bharatpur Beach: Bharatpur Beach can be the first place where you can visit the Neil Islands. Here you can enjoy the beach and do water activities like in the north of Andaman.
Laxmanpur 2 Beach: The Laxmanpur 2 beach is famous for its beautiful water life. Here you can witness a different kinds of sea creatures along with coral reefs and clean water.
Sitapur Beach: After the Laxmanpur 2 beach is Sitapur Beach which is famous for its beautiful sunrise view. Since the beach is famous for its sunrise view, you can choose to visit this place the next day in the morning at the time of sunrise before leaving for Havelock Islands.
Ram Nagar Beach: One of the cleanest, most amazing, and extremely beautiful beaches, ram Nagar beach is famous for its sunset view and thus this is the place you cannot miss when visiting Neil Island.
Laxmanpur 1 Beach: The Laxman Pur 1 beach is just another beautiful and quite an unknown beach where you will not find many people. So if you want to have a lonely time away from the crowd you can choose to visit this beach as well.
This is all you can visit on Neil Island and visiting all the above-mentioned beaches will take your entire day.
Day 4: Visiting the Havelock Island
On the fourth day, you are from the port you can visit Havelock Island by ship. Havelock Island is another great place to explore many beautiful beaches. Here once again you can hire a scooter for the best experience otherwise you can also choose to explore the Island with an auto if you are tired of traveling on a scooter.
Havelock Island although has quite less number of beaches as compared to Neil Island they are worth visiting. Mentioned below are some of the most famous beaches of this place which you must visit when going on the Havelock Island.
Radha Nagar Beach: The first place to visit at Havelock Island can be Radha Nagar beach which is quite a famous place at Havelock Island. At this beach, you might find a lot of gathering since the water here is clean to take a bath and thus it attracts many tourists. Although, this beach can be rated an average one as compared to the beach of Neil Island.
Kaala Patthar: This next place in the list is approximately 6 km away from the main town and is famous for its sunrise view.
Elephant Beach: The last one is the elephant beach although you would not find any elephants here. The beach is famous for water activities only.
Hotel and Food In Andaman
When you come to Andaman, you will land at Port Blair. Here the best location to rent a hotel room is at the Junglee ghat, Cellular Jail, or Ghanta Ghar. This is because these places are at the main spot from where every place to explore is at a reasonable distance.
When you visit Neil and Havelock Island, it is recommended to take the hotel near the port which is the best location.
Talking of food availability, there are many restaurants near the hotel locations in Port Blair and other Islands. There is both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food easily available at these restaurants.
Mobile Network In Andaman
When you visit Andaman, you won’t find a network on your phone. There is hardly any signal here and the only SIM card working can be of BSNL or Jio. So be prepared for a situation like this.
To avoid a bad experience, it is recommended to download offline maps before going to Andaman and mark your hotel location so that you don’t get lost any time.
Total Budget
Andaman is quite an expensive place to visit when compared with other Indian cities. The total budget calculated can be as mentioned below.
Flight: Rs 10000 (both sides)
Hotel: Rs 6000 (4 days)
Meals: Rs 2000 (4 days)
Transport: Rs 2000 (4 days)
Total: Rs 20000/person
Thus, you can assume a budget of approximately Rs 20000 per person when coming to Andaman.
Things to Remember For Andaman
Although Andaman doesn’t require any visa or passport you must carry identity proof with you. In addition to this, carry hard copies of every booking slip you have made in advance since you may not be able to access them on the internet.
ATMs are easily available at Port Blair but they are very crowded because of the high number of tourists. So it is recommended to carry enough cash everywhere you go.
The perfect time to visit the Andaman Islands is between November to March when the weather is quite suitable for exploration otherwise Andaman experiences very warm weather in the summer months.
We hope for your safe journey to this beautiful place.
