For the impatient reader:
It’s a beautiful place, don’t miss it.
Detailed comments
Andamans will always be a very sweet memory for me, as I went there on my honeymoon. The effort in this review would be to describe in general about the place along with some advice stuff.
#Why to go there?
Andamans are one of those rare places, where one finds the beauty of deep blue sea with extremely clean beaches, along with the scenic beauty of mountains. I had not imagined that the place would be so good. One has to visit there to believe it. Particularly Jolly buoy and Havelock Island were two places (described later), which were good enough to come to this place.
I quote from a book ’’Vraman Sangi- All India Travel Companion of Asia Publishing Company’’, which I had purchased to get some info on Andaman isles. The book says quote ’’ Let someone argue, but the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are a storehouse of peerless beauty. The days are bathed in bright sunshine, fresh gentle breeze all the time. Under the canopy of blue sky ......, nature has skilfully built the Andaman isles in the Bay of Bengal decorating it with forests and hills’’ unquote
#When to go?
October to February is the best season. I reached Port Blair on 22nd Feb. As per information that I gathered from locals, it was almost end of peak season, with the heat increasing slightly. Avoid monsoon months.
#How to go there?
Flight and sea are two options: I preferred air travel because from Kolkata, sea journey would have taken 3-4 days. Since it was honeymoon time I wanted to spend more time at the place itself rather than in the journey. Also, though a journey through sea might seem romantic, however, the rolling and pitching of sea voyage is not really worth it. Presently there is flight of Indian Airlines from Kolkata and one of Jet Airways from Chennai. The important thing to keep in mind is that you will have to book your tickets early. And by early I mean three to four months in advance. I had to go on 10the February and I had booked my tickets, in October (for Kolkata-Port Blair flight), and I was lucky to get a confirmed booking. Price: around Rs. 7500 per person one way Reminder: my information is of Oct’02- Feb’03. Do check up the latest details
A number of taxis, autos are available at Port Blair, and so local movement is no problem. Also one can get motorcycle on hire. I had hired one, and it gave me great flexibility.
#What about food & stay??
Don’t think about it. Veg, non-veg, Chinese, south Indian, seafood you name it, you can have it. Since I was a veggie, and I survived pretty well. For veggies I would like to recommend ’’Amigos’’ a nice pure veg joint. A number of nice hotels are there. I had thought of Andaman as a semi developed place.
But when I saw the hotels here, I had to change my opinion. Some nice ones are: Megapode nest, Hornbill nest, Bay island, Sinclairs. I had preferred a location slightly out of city, near the beautiful Carbin’s Cove beach. Peerless Inn was situated right there.
It is a good hotel and I really enjoyed my stay there. The only crucial point in stay is that as soon as you arrive at Andamans (or even before) make a booking at Dolphin Yatri Niwas at Havelock Island (or any other good hotel). Also make a booking for a deluxe cruise for Havelock Island (Depending on the time you have in your hand, you can plan for one or two days for Havelock island. Strongly recommended: keep at least one night stay at Havelock Island) I had booked my room in advance, as it was nearly season timings. If possible.
#Any language problem??
None whatsoever. Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, English anything would do.
#Expense??
Apart from Air travel, rates of Hotels are quite reasonable. Rs. 1000/- to 1500/- for an AC room with other facilities is charged. Honestly, the stay expense depends from person to person. In short all varieties of hotels are there.
(Check rates; Info is old)
#How many days should I stay??
I am specifying the minimum. Keep two days for Havelock island, one day for Jolly Buoy, one day for cellular jail and local city movements, one day for harbour cruise, visit to adjoining islands, with one day for simple lazying around, that makes it five days at least. I may add that we had stayed for 10 days, and were not at all bored
#Places to visit??
(a) Havelock Island Not to be missed. Two to three hours journey from Port Blair, on a deluxe cruise. Avoid a five-hour journey ordinary cruise. I have heard that the five-hour journey becomes too dull and boring in that. Book the deluxe cruise and Dolphin resort early. Beautiful place
(b) Jolly buoy One reason to decide firmly about Andamans. One can view breathtaking view of under sea corals. The sheer beauty and novel experience of the place made us feel totally out of this world. You catch a ferry to jolly buoy from a place called Vandoor. This is about as famous in Port Blair as the Taj in Agra, so no need to worry. You will get there.
(c) Harbour cruise: A visit to adjoining islands, Viper Island, Ross Island etc, organised by Tourism deptt. Nice trip, not to be missed
(d) Cellular Jail and city tour: Light and sound show at cellular jail is not to be missed. A bit serious though. City tour takes one to various museums and one very old Sawmill
(e) Carbyn’s Cove beach: Beautiful beach. Beautiful scenery.
Finally the pros and cons
Pros:
- Extremely beautiful place. 2. Not too commercialised 3. No language problem 4. Well developed tourism infrastructure 5. People are honest and helpful 6. Best choice for honeymooners. No extra chaos, with all usual desirable facilities of a civilized place.
Cons 1. Will have to plan early 2. Slightly expensive unless you enjoy LTC facility (I was!!) (Expensive by middle class standards)