Havelock Island, India. Stunning Tropical beauty.
I went to the most incredible group of islands..The Andaman and Nicobar Islands. you can only get to the from India!!. which limits the numbers of tourists of course.. stunning in thier basic no frills pristine undeveloped aspect.
I planned to go to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands whilst I was in India, and when in Chennai (formerly Madras) I checked the way. Firstly you have to get to Port Blair, the Capital. Either take a three day boat across the Andaman sea or fly. I flew. It cost about £60 (seasonal variations) with Jetairways. Or just search online or go to a small agency for flights to suit you, there are several Indian airlines who fly in.
It took about two hours. its about 850 K from mainland India. On Landing, getting through the Indian administration was fun, passport being passed from one person to another, one looking at my restricted area permit, who then walked off with it. Then another came and asked me to fill in a form for a permit, which I already had in my passport. Anyway after about forty minutes i was out, and got a tuk tuk to my pre booked hotel in Port Blair. I only stayed in Port Blair two days and didn't do much at all, hence not having much info about it. Apart from it's a working town with hotels of all price ranges its quite pleasant to walk around. Next time I may spend more time exploring. I did find a small very indian batr..as you can see.
Next morning I went to the Govt ferry port, carrying my bag and queued for a ticket to Havelock. After a two hour wait, the clerk announced the boat was full, come back tomorrow. I tried to book for next day but they don't have advanced booking. So we ( friends I'd met the day before) were planning on going back to our hotels for another night, and a tuk tuk driver told us there was a private ferry, (Almost twice the price, but hey the Govt one was only 550 rupees about £6 U.K.).
So he drove us there, six of us, there are only four allowed in the Tuk Tuk, and when he saw a policeman near a junction, he asked two of us to jump off and run on ahead... which we did. we didn't want the poor man to lose his licence did we!l. We got to the ferry office in good time for the next one. and got to Havelock in a couple of hours or more.
View from my Port Blair Hotel.
While many of the accommodations are called Resorts they are nothing like that for the most part. Usually a few huts or bungalows set back from the beaches.
I stayed at the Emerald Gecko, quite by accident, as my friends had pre booked, and i went along in the jeep which picked them up from the jetty, to see if there were vacancies, There were. I booked a hut in the resort. I'd normally book in advance as I've said before using rrbut I was travelling with friends I'd met and I took a chance at finding one locally at less price than using an online agency, particularly as we arrived at lunchtime, so I had all day to find one if neccesary.
the 2nd hut from the right was my home for a couple of weeks.
There are several Similar places to Stay on Havelock Island, and, as its the most visited, restaurants too, though you need to walk or get a tuk tuk along the main road (such as it is) to get to them. I only stayed at the Gecko so can't comment on the others, although I ate in some of their restaurants.) Once you have booked somewhere in advance for a couple of nights, visit the others and see if you can do better or maybe cheaper.
The President of India visited the place next door for a few days, so there was a lot of security, but its a hint that investment is coming and bigger "resorts" will n doubt appear. Their 6 car motorcade caused some disruption on the Island and we could leave our place for 4 hours one day as they closed the road when he drove out to beach number 5, which they also closed for the morning so he could have a paddle. (The very morning i went out there.. however a cafe owner on the road to the beach told me of a route to the other end of the beach)
Its a very easy Island to spend time on, and Yes i did snorkel. the sea life is utterly amazing, swimming in a tropical fish tank. We asked at the Gecko reception if they knew where we could snorkel, and he arranged a small boat to take six of us none divers out to a nearby deserted island just above John Lawrence Island (see map) for the day.
On our way to the Island known as Island,for a snorkel ling day It took about 40 minutes to get to a small uninhabited Jungle back Island. There was a short stretch of beach, where we landed, and the boatman pointed out to sea and said, ;coral here, and here", then he walked away and went to sleep under a tree.
Snorkelling was terrific, shallow coral and crystal clear water meant i stayed out for ages, forgetting my back was exposed to th
e sun's searing rays...fortunately I had already beein in India for six weeks so I was getting used to it.
I was in fishy paradise, so many varieties, which only dispersed if i got too close. Seemingly embedded in the coral were molluiscs of a deep blue which opened an
d closed as you came close. One of the othersw took the pic of me and the one with the fish, as my camera didn't work underwater lol.
A few days later, took a small scooter out in search of elephant beach which can not be reached by road, after a mile or three driving along a deserted road, i was told there was a footpath near a bus stop. There was a tree with a hand painted sign "elephant beach" and another scooter parked by it. i parked up and set off. 40 minutes later after a long hot walk through tropical Jungle, worrying in case a wild elephant came my way, (An Indian chap had told me the best thing to do if I met one was stand behind a tree.!!!) I got to the beach.
Alone and in the thick of the Jungle, I saw ominous large footprints in the dried mud track, some bushes clearly had been knocked over by something large. Looking down I saw few small snakes I later found were poisonous. and finally arrived at huge expanse of beach with many fallen petrified trees, remnants of that devastating Tsunami years before.
But I didn't encounter any Elephants They do swim from other Islands apparently.
The coral off this beach is well renowned for being exceptional, and there were several small boats out at sea where no doubt diving was taking place.Havelock, like Neil Island numbers its beaches, and Beach number 5 also known as Radhanagar Beach was named National Geographic's best beach in the Asia, Photos don't do justice to it, really!! However . here is my pic of it. Indian Tourists will be in the majority on this beach as Havleock is easier to fly to from India nowadays. Even so its never overcrowded, its not the Maldives, this is more remote and pristine.
Jungle backed gently sloping white fine sand on Radhangar beach. No:5
Back on the road to the beach Food stalls serve seafood and the usual. The evenings are quiet, as there no bars to speak of, there are restaurants, so groups of people will congregate in one of the places. There's no traffic as such, so there is a tendency not to stray too far from where your staying. This place is so so relaxing. and of course invigorating if your doing water sports each day.
Above is the restaurant at the Emerald ghecko on Havelock where I stayed. great freindly place., really helpful for information about snorkelling/diving/ bycycle hire etc. Depending on your budget there are various homestays/resorts on the Island, just check them out online. Booking.com or Agoda were the sites I found helpful.
So next, I am blogging my stay on Neil Island, Andaman Islands, come along and take a look.