You will have to only look thru the window of your flight, at the shallow waters of light blue sea and the beautiful islands to fall in love with this paradise.
One fine day in 2001, my wife and kid revolted against me saying that I am enjoying my official flights; but am not letting them have a flying experience. We ended up using our LTA and landed in Andaman and got mesmerized.
We took the daily Jet airways flight from Chennai to Port Blair for around 11000 Rs roundtrip (~20% costlier now). It takes around two hours and just the views during last half hour are really worth the ticket price. The cheaper option is to go by sea for around 7000 Rs round trip in a second class cabin. The journey takes a minimum of 50 hours. Max ? cannot say. There are also daily flights from Calcutta to Port Blair (which is the practical base). Some people take the ship one way and fly the other way.
Stay options ?
Andaman is a popular LTA / LTC destination. You will see a lot of government and semi government people everywhere on vacation. This (on the positive side) has resulted in all the government and tourism department maintained properties to be at their prime best.
So the best places to stay in Port Blair are the hotels and guest houses run by Andaman tourism. I do know they have an office in Chennai where bookings can be made. Similar options should be available at all major cities.
There are prime resorts (with prime rates) like the Welcome Group Bay Island, Peerless resorts and Sinclairs Bay view and Hornbill Nest
There are many more options. Just remember to bargain with the hotels as they publish high rates and normally give discounts depending on your bargaining.
We had a bad experience with Holiday resort (where we stayed) as their attitude to customers was not good and they were trying to make money from us by dodging away from providing the service. We had to walk away from the resort half way thru our stay.
The restaurants attached to the hotels generally seemed to be costly. However there are many options for good North Indian food everywhere.
How long ?
We stayed there for 5 days. Did not extend our stay (though we wanted to) as we ran out of cash (you are warned). Only a few establishments accept credit cards in Andaman (at least in 2001). However we saw an ICICI ATM coming up in the middle of Port Blair.
It is really worth to stay for a week. You could spend 3 days roaming around Port Blair, spend another 3 peaceful days in Havelock island with the final day for rest.
Heaven in Earth
Havelock Island is a small island around 6 hours away from Port Blair by boat. My wife became sea sick and started throwing up during this journey. At the end of it, we think it is worth the pain (she also agrees with me on this).
It has a virgin, clean and nice looking beach in Radha nagar, literally inviting you to come and enjoy. You also have the option to stay overnight in tents owned by Andaman tourism.
Dolphin Yatri Niwas run by Andaman tourism is the best place to stay. Each cottage in this resort is sea facing and gives you a wonderful view. We stayed in an A/C cottage for 800 Rs a night (really worth the price). The food served is simple and really tasty.
The sun rise and sun sets seen from here are picture perfect moments. They are really spectacular and make you feel you are in the lap of nature. You could just spend the time sitting around doing nothing and still enjoy the scenic beauty. Coral reefs and other underwater life can be explored around this island also.
A fascinating island; close to zero disturbances from outside world.
Around Port Blair :
There are around 10 standard tourist spots to see around Port Blair. You could hire a taxi for 3 days to complete this standard package (~ 2000 Rs – do bargain). You also have the cheaper and reliable option of choosing the Andaman tourism run vans (100 Rs per person /day ?)
1. Jolly Buoy / Red skin islands :
Both these islands are uninhabited. The tourism department contracted boats take you to one of these islands (for less than 100 Rs / trip) from a jetty located about 30 kms from Port Blair. The total trip from Port Blair takes around 5 to 6 hours. Do take your lunch packets (you will surely need them)
These scenic natural beauties have unimaginable amount of under water life. Coral reef’s of huge variety from being as soft as a sponge on one end to as hard as a rock can be seen. They also come with beautiful color combinations, making this a spectacular show of color and shapes to the eyes and a delight for snorkeling and scuba diving. You are also taken around on glass bottom boats to see the corals and as a bonus get to see fishes of all colors and sizes darting across making you think you are in a Aquarium.
We did not know all this; we boarded the boat and did not even have spare dresses.
Fortunately, all the boat operating folks are ready for people like us. They rented us the gear for snorkeling and also helped us dumb people (who do not know swimming) float with the help of tubes. Their experienced swimmers dragged us around as we were snorkeling to let us experience the remarkable natural phenomenon. All this for a very nominal charge (totally around 400 Rs for a couple)
This is the best part of Port Blair sight seeing and an unforgettable experience.
2. Cellular Jail :
This historical place referred to as Kala Pani; has an extraordinary collection of freedom movement memorabilia. I nearly had tears in my eyes when we had a tour of the jail. This jail was a terror among all the jails during the freedom struggle. The torture and the pain experienced by our freedom fighters are seen to be believed.
Only three of the seven original wings are remaining. Imagine each person being put in a 13 ft by 7 ft cell which is constructed with no chance of even looking at the outside world.
The sound and light show explaining all this is a MUST SEE.
Other spots :
3. Chattam saw mill : Largest saw mill in South Asia.
4. Mini Zoo : Good for children only
5. Anthropological museum : Excellent collection of tribal information
6. Navy museum : Large collection of data on Oceans
7. Aberdeen water sports complex : a la Dona Paula minus the statue.
8. Corbyn’s cove : Closest beach to Port Blair (a la Miramar beach in Goa)
9. Chidiya Thoppu : This is a very small island not far away from Port Blair, with lush green vegetation and a shallow beach.
10. Harbour cruise : Take this cruise to see a dilapidated island (Ross island) which was the erstwhile British HQ and another island (Viper island) which was a jail.
11. Cottage industries emporium : variety of interesting handicrafts available for sale.
Gandhi Park :A real joy for kids
http://www.indiatour.com is a very good starting point for info on Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Plan a trip to this Paradise in India, before it is spoiled