Saturday, April 20, 2024

Island Hopping in Andaman - Port Blair, Havelock Island, Neil Island

 

The first thing that strikes you about Andaman is their tri-colour beaches. The sea starts with a whitish tint because of the white sand, then has a light-greenish turquoise blue colour, and then a dark blue colour.

Tri-Colour Beaches in Andaman


It was 3 nights, 4 days trip and we first landed in Port Blair (South Andaman). We first visited the Cellular Jail. We got a glimpse of the tiny cells in which people were kept. There was a demo area which had the different machines on which the inmates had worked.

Photo Display in Cellular Jail



Video (3.5 mins) of Brain Corals, Cellular Jail, Jet Ski, Beach, Fish, Moving Shells, Nature, and Sunrise from Flight in Andaman. 


Next, we island hopped in the air-conditioned Nautika ferry and went to Havelock Islands. We visited the RadhaNagar Beach in Havelock islands. This beach is known as the Beach No 7 or the Seventh Best Beach in Asia. It was picturesque, and we clicked few photos by ourselves and hired a photographer for the remaining pics. All the beaches in Andaman have photographers whom you can hire.

RadhaNagar Beach - Havelock Islands

Then we visited the Elephanta beach in Havelock Island that had lot of adventure sports like snorkelling, glass-bottom boat ride, jet ski, and floats in different shapes like octopus and dragons. The glass-bottom ride gave a beautiful view of the corals in the sea that had grown and branched out like undersea trees. The corals were in shades of cream and light brown and were not multi-coloured. You get a glimpse of beautiful coloured fish too.


Corals view from Glass-Bottom Boat


Then we island hopped to Neil Island. In the Neil Island, Laxmanpur Beach No 2, we saw the Natural Bridge or the Howrah Bridge formed by corals. This bridge area is surrounded by ankle-depth water filled with different types of corals like brain coral and jackfruit coral. We saw a very small pink coral among the other corals. That was the only coloured coral in this area. This beach also has starfish, shrimps, nemo, and sea pineapple. We hired a guide who showed us all the corals and fish. Jelly fish were found in all the water areas in Andaman. The guide said that few of the corals glow in the night.

Natural Bridge or Howrah Bridge in Neil Island

Sea Pineapple


From the resort, we could see the beautiful sunset at Laxmanpur Beach 1. We wore Andaman T-shirts and kept artificial flowers on our head and clicked few pics in the Beach 1.

Laxmanpur Beach 1



Sunset at Neil Island


We again island hopped and went to Port Blair. We visited the Cellular Jail twice. The second visit was by night on the third day to view the sound and light show about the jail inmates suffering and life. The show was projected on the real walls of the jail and it was awesome, touching, and moving all at once. The lights and sound moved from one cell to another as they traced footsteps of people walking. The screen in the center and a tree were also used to focus the images. No photos and videos of the show were allowed.

A Cell in the Jail


We could not find 1-litre water bottles in Andaman. Most of the bottles were 2-litres and difficult to carry around. We did not come across any specific signature dish of Andaman. But we tasted lobster. Of course, there were giant-size tender coconuts and we had one every day during the trip. For shopping, there were different accessories, decorative items, and bags made of shells and pearls. There were magnets shaped like the cellular jail, tortoises, and shells.

Lobster 


Magnets

Shell Accessories


The trip was really therapeutic with a view and walk among the scenic and clean beaches and breathtaking corals.

Nautika Ferry


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