Andaman - Port Blair and Havelock Island

There were many locations my wife Jyoti and I considered for our honeymoon in December 2008 including Shimla, Manali, Leh, Lakshadweep, Singapore. But finally we both agreed to go where we would have really loved to spend the beautiful time together away from city life. And we chose Andaman. I started planning for this trip at least 5 months in advance and got good help from my friends who have been there before. I contacted Andaman tourism and after some discussions over email, finalized my itinerary and hotel reservations.

Andaman and Nicobar are group of many islands, some of which are now commercially developed. But rest are still residents for the local tribes. There is a legend that Lord Hanuman once reached these Islands and stayed here for some time. And the name Andaman actually derived from Hanuman. Our 8 day journey in December, 2008 was limited to Andaman Islands. One needs longer stay to reach and explore Nicobar Islands as they are farther away from Port Blair, the main Airport on these islands. In eight days, we explored Port Blair city, Ross Island, North bay, Chatham, Chidiya tapu and Havelock. 

Port Blair Jetty

Port Blair
How to reach: Regular flights from Chennai and Kolkata airports, Chennai-Port Blair cruise service

Places of Interest: Cellular Jail, Sagarika emporium, Samudrika Marine museum, Mini Zoo, Corbyns Cove beach, Chatham saw mill, Chidiya tapu, Science Museum

Nearest Islands: Ross, North Bay

Food: For a non-vegetarian, there are plenty of options. For vegetarian like us, options are limited but they are very good. Annapurna restaurant in Aberdeen Bazar was our preferred choice.

We reached Port Blair Airport from Chennai in a 3 hr flight. We were received by our driver Mr Sanjay at the airport and for the remaining journey he used to become an important part of our stay there. Port Blair is a beautiful city, the most beautiful city of India in my opinion! Nicely constructed almost empty roads and easiness in the air was a welcome change from busy metro life. Looking at its current development, it becomes hard to imagine that a century ago this place was a synonymous for one of the most brutal punishments. 

The place which was feared by many was the very popular Cellular Jail. It was a home to many Indian Freedom fighters who were sent to these Islands to crush their enthusiasm. Post-independence, Cellular Jail has been converted into the National Memorial to pay tribute to all those Freedom fighters who once lived here. We attended the Sound-and-Light show at the Cellular Jail at night and came to know about the struggle our Freedom fighters faced here. 



During day time, we visited the Jail again and this time we went inside to see the cells and gallows. The jail is a huge structure, originally having 7 wings. Four of which were destructed by Japanese Air strike during World War II and remaining three still exists today. There is a special cell in one corner on second floor of one of the wings, just opposite to gallows. There lived a special prisoner who made a significant impact on Indian Freedom Struggle. His name was: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Savarkar wrote poems in Marathi on the walls of his cell and some of this work can still be observed today. The Cellular Jail is located very near to the sea and nice breeze of air is felt when you reach top of the jail. There is a museum inside the jail which depicts lives of prisoners and message of patriotism.

Port Blair has a very well constructed jetty and harbor to reach different surrounding islands via boats and ships. We visited Ross Island and North bay in small boats. Ross island used to be a home for British officers in pre-Independence era. It was destructed to a great extent during Tsunami in December, 2004. There are still some houses, offices and church left on the island. We also encountered some deer roaming in the open area during our stay there. North bay is a very small island, mainly thrives on snorkeling and scuba diving activities. The island is surrounded by very beautiful coral reef and doing snorkeling there was a life-time memorable experience.

During our stay at Port Blair we also visited Samudrika marine museum, Mini Zoo, Corbyns Cove beach and Science museum. Sagarika emporium is an official store to purchase handicraft and spices for which Andaman Islands are famous.   We also drove to Chidiya tapu, around 2 hr journey from Port Blair. It was famous for water sports but was destroyed in 2004 Tsunami. It was being redeveloped when we were there. On our last day, we went to Chatham Saw Mill. It is considered to be one of the biggest saw mills of Asia and it’s a heritage. It was attacked by Japanese fighter planes in World War II and Post-independence it was rebuilt. 

On the way to Havelock

Havelock

How to reach: Small passenger ships from Port Blair, 2-3 hrs

Places of Interest: Radhanagar Beach

Food: Hotels do provide good food but there is a restaurant named Royal Palace in the market especially for people who prefer north-Indian style food

 Mangroves

Port Blair is a beautiful city, but it does not have any popular beaches. To explore the sea, we decided to go to Havelock. Havelock is a small Island situated at around 57 km North East of Port Blair. It comprises of 5 very small villages and there is single main road of appx 11 km which runs through the Island. We started at 6 am in the morning from Port Blair and reached at around 10 am. Our hotel was adjacent to a small beach and we can see mangroves from our cottage. After spending some time at our hotel, we headed straight to Radhanagar beach. Despite being a small isolated island, one can find auto rickshaw easily there. Recently ATMs of few banks have also been set up there. 

After crossing the market, we reached Radhanagar beach. And the very first impression was that nothing can be more beautiful and peaceful than this in this world! Radhanagar beach is considered the most beautiful beach of Asia, and should be very close to being best in the world. There is clean sky blue water, not too deep for few hundred meters. There is very soft sand on the beach, and the beach itself is surrounded by green forest from one side. Unlike many beaches in India, there is ample of space available for you to relax.  

Havelock has been a preferred destination for many Europeans and Israelis and we found many on Radhanagar beach. The blue water was so tempting that we directly jumped into it and spent entire afternoon there. The beach is on the western side of Havelock and provided the best view of sunset. As with other Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Havelock follows Indian Standard Time (IST). But being on the eastern side of the country, day begins early and ends early. We witnessed the marvelous sunset at around 5pm and returned back to hotel. Next morning, we again reached Havelock and enjoyed elephant ride on the beach. At Radhanagar beach, we also tasted the sweetest coconut water.  

We couldn’t manage to go to the Elephant beach which is known for snorkeling due to lack of time. There are also Islands around Havelock having very beautiful coral life and one can enjoy snorkeling and scuba diving there. After filling our hearts with the beauty and simplicity of Havelock, We returned to Port Blair on second day evening. I would also like to thank our friends whom we met in Port Blair and who made our Christmas special.