Not everyone's idea of a perfect vacation : Visiting Andamans in monsoon season!

I got this somewhat "crazy" idea of visiting Andamans in August, the mid of low season. My idea of the trip was to spend 1 week in the south Andamans, exploring some nice snorkelling spots. I got a really good deal from Air Deccan (ex Chennai) to Port Blair which helped to firm up my fickle mind .

(I must warn here that my experiences are from a perspective of a single independant traveller trying to do things cheap)

Getting there:

I would chose flying to Andamans anyday over taking so called "Ships" from the Indian ports. Unfortunately for the travellers, Shipping Corporation of India is the only service provider and there are no alternatives. They have regular boats to Port Blair from Chennai, Vizag and Kolkata. SCI's passenger ships are decades old, but they are kept in sea-going condition. The Ship themselves are alright and service is bearable. But I am not a big fan of them as they are painfully slow. They can do only 15 knots per hour and take good 50-60 hours to reach Port Blair from Indian shores. If you want to fly into Port Blair, you can chose Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Air Deccan from Chennai and Kolkata. The flying time is two hours.



Its always a good idea to book in advance as fares in this route tends to go high near the date of departure. See my post about experience of flying Air Deccan in this route!


Weather in August:


Contrary to my expectations, I encountered rain only on two days out of seven days that I spent. Infact, the rest of the five days were warm, nice and sunny. The rain in Andamans really means business, but its not a continous deluge. It is advisable to carry a small foldable umbrella or a nice rain-proof jacket with a hat. Rains also mean Mosquitoes. So it is required to have a repellent. Insists for a coil or a electrical mat with your lodgers.


Arriving and getting around:


The "Veer Savarkar" airport is conveniently located about 5 KMs south from the center of Port Blair. You can get taxis and autos into the town. Autos would cost about Rs.50. Negotiate before hiring. If you really want to hold on dearly to the purse, you can simply walk out of the airport (ignoring the touts) and catch a bus into the town, which will cost Rs.5. If you arrive by the Ship, you will land at "Phoenix Bay" Jetty.


Port Blair town itself is fairly simple to move around. The heart of the town is made of Aberdeen Bazaar, Bus Stand and Phoenix Bay which are next to each other. All the buses orginate either from Bus Stand or from "Medical" (G B Pant hospital, next to Cellular jail) and head out to different parts of Port Blair.




One can hire two wheelers or catch autos to move around. I would recommend walking (if you are fit) as most of the touristic places are within 5 KM radius. Cycling may not be an option as the town is quite hilly.


Places to stay:


I stayed at Central Lodge located at "Gol ghar". It is a small lodge with a nice open verandah and a garden. The rooms were dirty and full of mosquitoes. Thanks to LP guide book, almost all of its customers are foreigners who stay there overnight, to catch their boats to Havelock and Neil islands. I could spot few Israelis and Englishmen occupying few rooms. The rest were filled with labourers from Jharkhand waiting for their boat to Nicobar on some construction contract. (The owner seemed to be quite surprized by my enquiry for the accommodation!). I have a neutral opinion about this place. It is not typical lodge that you may imagine it to be. Its often crowded, smelly and full of musquitoes. It is besieged by western backpackers who are in search of Nirvana. This is definately not suited for couples, children and elderly.


Very next to Central Lodge are Hotel Abhishek and Hotel Aparup (3* category hotels). They have nice restaurants and bars that are open till about 11 PM.


I would recommend staying at Aberdeen Bazaar. That way you are close to all the tourist attractions, eateries and other essentials, and save on walking/bussing around. A/bazaar has plenty of small and clean guest houses.


My Diary:


Day 1 : Arrived into Port Blair and checked in at Central Lodge. I mostly spent the day resting. In the afternoon, I visited Cellular Jail and Samudrika Museum. Gallows at Cellular jail is something that should not be missed.


Day 2 : I spent most of the day walking around, familiarizing myself with the town. I visited Andaman water sport complex and Aquarium. Both of them were closed due to low season and some apparent "renovation" I went to Tourist Information office and collected some essential details about the places that were open and closed.


Day 3 : I caught an early morning bus to Wandoor (Rs.10), which is the gate way to Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park. From Wandoor one can catch ferries to Red Skin and Jolly Bouy islands which are "snorkellers paradise" (so I had heard). At this time of the year, only Red Skin island ferry was operating. In the evening I went to Bus stand and bought a ticket to Baratang.


Day 4 : Got up early and went to Bus stand to catch the 4:30 am bus to Baratang. The bus was on-time. Its a special experience to go through Jarawa reserves in a convoy of Vehicles and to spot few Jarawas who suddenly appear along the route. Arrived at Baratant at about 7:30 am. Visited "Lime stone caves" (which requires a 30 min boat ride and 1 KM trek in Rain forests, the cave formations were nice) and "Beladaru" beach (which was so-so). This day it rained heavily. Returned the same evening to Port Blair.


Day 5 : Went to Phoenix Bay Jetty at 5 am and got a ticket for Havelock. There were two boats. The first boat of the day sailed at 6:30 am. Its a 2.5 hours ride to Havelock. I had not made any arrangement for accommodation. After landing at the Jetty (Govind Nagar), caught a local bus (which times to the arrival of boat from P/Blair) and went straight to Radhanagar (home of famous beach no.7). I went to Jungle lodges. The person there quoted a price which put even Bangalore hotels to shame I finally ended up in Dolphin resort at Beach no.5. This is a govt run resort and surprizingly staffed with helpful people, a clean resturant and a nice clam beach. The rooms were clean and whats more, I got a nice off-season discount! It seemed I was the only one at the whole resort. Soon a bus-full of desi tourists came from nowhere and place seemed noisy and busy. I spent the day walking along the beach and resting.


Day 6 : Ah, the best day so far of the whole trip. The dawn broke at 4:45 am. I walked to Govind Nagar and had a nice Bengalee breakfast. I caught the early bus to Radhanagar and went straight to the "best beach in Asia".

It was a perfect day with a nice blue skies, calm waves and cool breeze. I was the only one person at the Beach for almost the whole day. There was a small thatched hut where I relaxed. I went out in the water, dipped myself nice, came back to the hut, dried up, read a book, ate some junk food I had bought, took few snaps and repeated this cycle till about late afternoon. It was the best day I had in any of my trips.


Day 7 : I spent exploring the neighborhood of the Dolphin resort. Most of the private resorts on Beach no.5 were full of foreigners.

I mean full. One of the locals I spoke to remarked that the numbers of "gora" folks in August were surprizingly as high as that of October and November!! Surely the Andamans have got themselves noticed! In the afteroon, I got the ferry back to Port Blair (It is quite a story in itself!) and checked back to good old Central lodge. I then went to this Burmese buddhist pagoda (temple) near Bus stand which I had noticed earlier.
On the morning of day 8th, I caught my flight back to Chennai.


I couldn't visit Barren Island Volcano and the Little Andamans this time. (BTW, the Barren island ferry was not sailing in August). But I have no regrets. I tried to make most of my trip and was almost successful.


I am not suggesting that I did a perfect trip and others should follow suit. Visiting Andamans in rainy season has its own perils and rewards. Decide at your own discretion.