Day 1-
Flight from Bangalore, left mainland India!
Itinerary-
- Check in hotel
- Corbyn's beach
- Tiranga Memorial (unplanned)
Reasons for choosing Andaman Castle?
It was a transit hotel for us since our stay was only for a day here and we wanted to spend more money in Havelock!
✅Away from the main city, peaceful!
✅Sea View at a reasonable cost
✅Home-like food
✅Owner's helpfulness
✅Home stay feel
✅Value for money
✅Big, clean, basic room
✅Clean bathrooms
✅ Sea-side road in front of the hotel
✅ Sea-side road in front of the hotel
❌No restaurants around
❌No mobile network
❌No mobile network
❌Nothing at a walkable distance
❌Difficult to find even basic packed food
❌No taxis or autos if you want to explore on your own
❌Limited food options
❌Ultra-expensive cab (across Andaman though!)
❗Pre-order dinner by 6pm
❗Sea view is not available from all rooms, ask for the highest floor!
So we had not chosen any tour package, but finally had to because there was no option at all from Andaman Castle, apart from taking their cab, which was fucking expensive.
How expensive? Rs. 800 for 3km pickup and drop (2-3 hours), Corbyn's beach!
So I somehow managed to contact a tour operator I had been talking to and got the entire tour covered from thereon.
Next stop- Corbyn's beach- the main beach of Port Blair.
Nothing very fascinating here. We reached around 4.30pm and it was almost sunset time! It's a simple beach, clean and well maintained.
✅Close to the city center
✅Clean, well maintained
❗Limited food options, just pakoda and some basic bhel puri type snacks
On the way back, Tiranga Memorial-
On the way back to the hotel, we came across a really big Indian Flag and asked our driver to stop there. Remember, tour operators and cab drivers here are very strict about the itinerary and inclusions. This was an unplanned stop, which was "on our way" without any deviation, but still the driver wasn't okay. But we did manage to stop.
Inaugurated by Modi recently, it gives you a good patriotic feel. Good place to sit and enjoy some breeze. It is Port Blair's Marine Drive!
Back to hotel by 8pm. Sleep early, because Andaman wakes up early!
Day 2- On the way to Havelock (Swaraj Dweep)
Itinerary-
- Check out hotel
- Jetty to Havelock
- Check in to Dolphin Resort
- Kala Pathar Beach
- Radha Nagar Beach
Ferry times and options are very confusing and limited. We decided to opt for Makruzz 8am ferry from Port Blair to Havelock.
Plan well in advance and book tickets for the ferry, because they get sold out real quick.
3 options are available in the ferry. We opted for Deluxe because we're rich. No, not really. Opted because Premium was sold out. 😬
Experience? Amazing. Deluxe was waaayyyy better than premium. It felt luxurious, the seats were very comfortable and the hospitality was great.
Havelock- beautiful!
When we reached Havelock, our taxi was waiting for us. No phone network here, so just rely on finding your taxi driver by reading placards.
I had initially booked Havelock Island Beach Resort but cancelled and opted for Dolphin Resort instead. MakeMyTrip's DoubleBlack zero cancellation saved me here!
Dolphin Resort-
Dolphin Resort is bang on the beach and you can select a beach view room for a very reasonable price. It is owned by Andaman Tourism but is extremely well maintained. The cost was almost 30% less and the reviews were amazing as well.
The rooms were in the form of huts with big glass windows.
The rooms and bathrooms were realllyy big.
✅ ❌ ❗
✅Big, moderately-clean, beautiful rooms
✅Value for money
✅Sea View
✅Private Beach
✅Plenty of space to walk inside the resort
✅Adventure Sports booking desk which was reasonably priced
✅Plenty of food options around (Vegetarian, Non-Veg, India, Western)
✅Helpful Staff
❌Dinner was only buffet
❌No room service of food
❌Sea View can be obstructed due to trees and bushes
❗Restaurant can be far from your room
❗Room service was sloooow
Kala Pathar Beach-
2-3 kms away from Dolphin's resort. Beautiful! We didn't spend much time here because our driver told us to spend more time at Radhanagar beach.
Radha Nagar Beach-
Reached around 2pm after a 30 minute drive. Vegetarian food options at the hotels here weren't good at all, so preferable have food on the way in the main market before coming here.Big, nice beach surrounded by lush green cover.
There are changing and shower rooms here so you can jump into the water. We were here till Sunset time and it was amazing.
✅ Changing Rooms
✅Clean
✅Well Maintained
❗Not many food options except some very low-cost hotels
And yes, some Indianism too.. 😬
Day 2 evening..
Day 3- Havelock Again!
Itinerary-
- Enjoy on private beach
- Explore Havelock on Scooty
- Elephant Beach Trek (couldn't because of rain)
- Radha Nagar Beach (again)
- Night Kayaking
- Something Different Restaurant
Now 90% of the people prefer going to Neil Island the very next day. However, I wanted a relaxed vacation without too much of travelling and running around.
So I decided to keep 2 days at Havelock and skip Neil altogether. Reasons?
✅No waking up early again and running to catch the ferry
✅Avoid high ferry prices again, instead spend in a good resort in Havelock
✅Explore Havelock more (well, this didn't work out so well!)
✅Eat the buffet breakfast and not just packed lunch :P
✅Parents- so they don't have to run around so much
✅Try adventure sports- Havelock is famous for Scuba and it starts early morning
❗ And some random articles on the internet that there isn't anything very different in Neil, which probably is wrong.
❗Also some information that ferries can get cancelled because of bad weather.
Should you skip Neil Island?
Probably no. You should visit if you have time and money and want to soak in all of Andaman Islands. People say Neil is even more beautiful!
We decided to stay in Havelock and keep a day spare in Port Blair on the safer side.
And so, we spent the morning chilling on the private beach.
Elephant Beach- flop show for us
Famous for adventure sports, there are two routes to this beach- by boat or trek through dense beautiful forests. Boat was expensive so my mom and I decided to hire a scooty (Rs 400 a day, available right in front of Dolphin's resort) and trek the route (maybe a bit too adventurous because there might be snakes)!
But, it had rained heavily in the morning and the trekking route was extremely slippery. So we had no choice but to go to Radhanagar beach again. The trek should ideally be started by 11am so that you have sufficient time there.
Lunch at a pure veg restaurant on the way back. Pretty good!
Evening again at Dolphin's private beach. A weird display of high and low tide.
Night Kayaking-
I didn't want to do Scuba, so I opted for night kayaking. It was around Rs. 2500 for an hour on a single kayak with an instructor. The selling point for this is bioluminescence which you see as you row your kayak.
How was it? Bioluminescence was okay, but I liked the feel of being in the middle of the sea, around mangrove forests, floating in a boat under the stars. Pitch dark.
I loved it.
I loved it.
This photo below is not an original and is just to show what bioluminescence is. It wasn't so bright when we went there, maybe because it started raining.
✅Bioluminescence (not too bright, you have to search for it)
✅Boating near mangroves under a sky full of stars
✅A unique experience
❗Costly❗Pray that it doesn't rain
❗Needs effort to row the kayak
Something Different Restaurant-
I booked dinner at this restaurant which had advertisements everywhere. Very expensive because they provide free pickup and drop. Food was good, but it is not a beach side thing, so I didn't find it so great in terms of ambience.
✅Good food
❗Extremely Costly
❗Okayish Ambience
❗Classic example of how Havelock will lose its tree cover because of greed
Day 4- Back to Port Blair-
This time, we opted for a premium seat in Makruzz. The cruise was slightly bumpier because of bad weather, but it was fun! And yes, a few cruises were running late because of the weather.
Itinerary-
- Check-in to De Marina Hotel
- Cellular Jail afternoon visit
- Lunch at Aberdeen Bazaar
- Chidiya Tapu
- Cellular Jail Light and Sound Show
- Sleep early because next day was Baratang
Hotel De Marina-
✅Walking distance to Aberdeen Bazaar, Rajiv Gandhi Status and cellular jail
✅Good food, great breakfast
✅Nice rooms
✅Nice bathrooms
✅Good service
✅Plenty of options to eat if you can walk to Aberdeen Bazaar
❗Sea View rooms don't really have any sea view
❗Hotel surroundings are very okayish
❗Not a resort!
❗A bit costly
Cellular Jail-
We hired a guide here to understand the history better.
Chidiya Tapu-
This place is in South Andaman, nearly 1 hour away from Port Blair. While this is just another beach, it is famous for sunset.
There is a short trek here as well but it closes by 3.30pm, so we missed it again!
This can be skipped if you're not too fond of sunsets. We kept it in the itinerary because we had time left and wanted to see as much as we could (by skipping Neil of course!).
Light and Sound Show at Cellular Jail-
It is sad, depressing, painful and just fucks your mind. It is something that people don't skip, but honestly, it was depressing.
Day 5- Baratang-
WAKE UP AT 3AM! This is the most difficult part of Baratang. Our driver was late but we still managed to reach by 5.30am.✅Reserved forest area
✅Jarawa tribe area
✅Chance to see some members of the tribe (seemed intentionally placed by the government)- the excitement will keep you awake
✅Breakfast available at the Jarawa Reserve Area check post
✅AMAZING speed boat ride to Limestone caves
✅ Limestone caves are good, but the journey is far better
❗Wake up early
❗Too much of inter-changing vehicles
❗Full day trip- can be tiring!
❗Your car -> Crowded Big
❗ Ship -> Speed Boat -> Walk 2 kms to caves -> and then back same way
Day 6- Flight back to our home-
We still had half a day left, so we walked to the Rajiv Gandhi Park and took a few photos around.
Cost of Tour Package (for 3 people)- Rs. 20,000
Inclusions-
✅Taxi - Hotel to Corbyn beach and back to hotel
✅Drop from Andaman Castle hotel to Jetty
✅Havelock- drop from jetty to dolphin resort
✅Radhanagar Beach, Kala Pathar beach in Havelock
✅Havelock to Port Blair- Return Jetty ticket- Makruzz premium for 3 people
✅Pickup from Port Blair Jetty to Hotel De Marina
✅Cellular Jail Afternoon Visit
✅Cellular Jail Light and Sound Show Tickets
✅Chidiya Tapu
✅Baratang entire trip, including speed boat ticket
✅Airport Drop
Exclusions (because we took the tour package after reaching Port Blair)-
❌Hotels (booked all on our own)
❌Port Blair to Havelock Deluxe Ticket
❌Airport pickup
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