Andaman – SLAY THE STYLE

Silence, absolute silence and perfectly gorgeous silence!! If you are wondering how one could witness the gorgeousness manifested in silence, you should get deep into those blue waters which embody a compelling charm of yellows, reds, purples, pinks and what not.

I wish I were a fish which gets to live in such perfect harmony of silence and beauty.You just can’t get enough of the marine life once you start exploring it. Everything that I could describe here is an understatement, one should experience it deep under the sea.

Well, the previous post was definitely not a wrap to my Andaman story.Here goes a continuation to an exhilarating trip.

Kalapathar Beach, Havelock Island

Day 4- Day 5- Day 6

Jolly Buoy

Jolly Buoy island is one of the 14 islands in Andaman which is under the protection of National Marine Reserve Department.This island is open to tourists only for six months-November to April and Red Skin Island would be open to tourists for the remaining six months.

Location : 45-60 min journey from Port Blair to Wandoor and then a 45 min ride to Jolly Buoy on a ferry

Timings: 1st batch is 8:00 -12:00 am and 2nd batch is between 2:00 – 6:00 pm

Ticket price : Rs 750 (complimentary 10 min glass boat ride)

Things to do:

Snorkeling – One should never miss doing snorkeling at Jolly Buoy.You get to see color changing corals, magic flowers (which disappear when touched), star fishes in different colors, nemo fishes and many more. Snorkeling is reasonably priced here as well. Only certain area is accessible for snorkeling legally and hence, we get to explore only that portion of island waters

Glass Boat Ride – There is a boat with a magnifying glass bottom which enables one to clearly see the marine life.It’s worth a try at this place considering that you won’t be exploring a huge area in snorkeling.A guide would be explaining about the fishes and corals

Wandoor Beach – This beach is a 5 min ride on road from the ferry point.One can just sit back and relax for sometime here.

Things to plan:

Marine reserve department allows only 120-200 people to visit this island per day.It happens in two batches.One needs to ensure that the tickets are booked prior a week

Jolly Buoy

Wandoor Beach

Neil Island

It’s a very tiny island covering not more than 3000 acres of land with a couple of important places to visit.

Location : 40km from Port Blair- approximately 2 hr ferry ride from Port Blair

Places to visit:

Laxmanpur Beach – Head to this beach to witness sunset.You also get good local food here.If you can do snorkeling without a guide, then you got to try it out here

Natural Bridge – This is a hub of dead corals which form a very strong bridge.A guide will help explaining the details of the corals and fishes all over the place

Bharathpur Beach -It’s not very famous but do visit this beach which is known for its amazingly clear water. Best time to visit is in the morning

Things to Do:

Sunset stroll in Laxmanpur beach

Dead corals exploration at Natural Bridge

Rent a bike and roam around the village.Unlike Havelock, this place is less-commercialized and hence, one can have a pleasant ride on the streets

Natural Bridge (Made of dead corals)

Laxmanpur Beach

Dead coral

Bharatpur Beach

Ross Island

Way back, Ross Island remained as an administrative capital of Andaman for more than 85 years but was later abandoned and is now open for tourists.

Location : 3 km from Port Blair – 20 min ferry ride

Things to Do:

Light and Sound show describing the tragic history of Andaman is captivating and needs to be there on one’s to-do list.
Ruins of the old buildings which are surrounded by trees, rabbits and deer is an ideal place for some good photography

Ross Island

Munda Pahar

Drive through dense forests to finally end up in Munda Pahar which gives an exhilarating view of sunset.

Location : 20 km from Port Blair by road

Things to do:

Just sit back and relax here, what else do you want to do at such a beautiful place?

Munda Pahar

Outfit details:

All along this trip,I tried to keep it comfortable with midi skirts,shorts and dresses

Orange top, Skirt,Dress – HnM

Crochet top – Lifestyle stores

Denim Short – People

Short – Zara

Accessories – Colaba Causeway

Pointers for the entire trip:

Be ready for a gadget free vacation because mobile internet cannot be accessed in the entire group of islands.However, you have wifi in restaurants and few hotels

Mobile network is better for Vodafone in Port Blair, Havelock and you can expect zero signal in all other islands

That’s a wrap to my entire travel story.Also, video on snorkeling will be out on my Instagram soon.

For more information about the trip, contact / follow me on Instagram.

Do give your feedback as well 🙂

Photos by Rahul Kongala and Durga Pulijala

Landing on a place isolated from the regular hustle-bustle and seeing oneself surrounded by tall lush green trees and serene beaches rather than the monotonous skyscrapers and noisy vehicles would definitely be a holiday which helps one unleash.All one could witness in the near vicinity would be the tranquility that the scarcely populated white sand beaches would offer where one could relish the sight of several shades of blue extending infinitely.

What keeps Andaman apart from other places is that it doesn’t have many historical places/view points to visit but every part of the island is captivating and one needs to enjoy the nature, be it, the astounding marine life and the corals or the islands themselves.Andaman is a group of almost 342 islands out of which many are under the supervision of the Forest and Marine Reserve Department to ensure that the coral reefs are protected.These islands are mostly not open for tourists.However,I managed to go to one such island about which I will be describing in the next article.

Let me keep precise about the details of my trip such that it captures the entire essence while being informative as well.Since I have lots to share about the entire trip,I will take you through my experience in two different articles.

Duration: 6 days and 5 nights

Nearest Airport : Veer Savarkar International Airport,Port Blair

Day 1- Day 2 – Day 3

Port Blair

Places to visit:

Andaman Cellular Jail – The historical prison is infamous for the cruelty shown towards the prisoners in 19th and 20th century.Do notice the architecture of the prison and how different wings are positioned.

Corbyn’s Cove Beach – Sports a splendid view of the ocean .It’s slightly secluded from the city and not many people visit, due to which you can enjoy the beach even more.

Anthropological Museum – I didn’t get time to visit it but heard that it’s worth a visit

Things to Do:

Light and Sound Show in Cellular Jail – You need to grab tickets for it and there are different slots of 1 hr each starting from 6 pm .

Taste naariyal paani of Andaman – Andaman is a home to many coconut trees and the coconut water is far better than Kerala as well and it could supplement your meal 😛

Sagarika Store – If you are looking to shop for Andaman souvenirs , visit only the Govt authorized Sagarika store present in the cellular jail which is reasonable in terms of price.You might end up paying more at any other place in Port Blair.

Jail Structure

Outfit details:

Since it was a tour to the prison , I tried to bring in the bold look with boots and matched it with a velvet outfit.I haven’t gone too heavy with accessories ,instead , carried a sling bucket bag along with a unisex sport watch.

Top and Skirt : Forever 21

Boots : Zara

Sling bag : Colaba Causeway

Havelock Island

Next day, we started for Havelock on a cruise.It’s a two and half hour ride from Port Blair.Do ensure that you take tickets for royal or luxury class in cruise which has a view of ocean and in case of other classes, you don’t get to see the view-it’s more like a closed room.

Places to visit:

Elephant Beach – It’s a 15 min steamer ride from Havelock island and is known for water activities.I found it better than Radhanagar beach ,though, it’s not as famous.It’s open only from 8am-1 pm in the morning.So, plan accordingly.

Radhanagar Beach – Apparently, top 7th best beach in world.Most of the beaches in Andaman are calm and are not too deep for at-least 1 km in the water.However,Radhanagar allows one to experience high tide but it is not too deep and pretty safe.

Things to Do:

Snorkeling in Elephant Beach : They charge around 500-800 bucks depending upon how much you want to explore.I really loved it and hence, paid 800 bucks to see the colorful marine life.Don’t miss this. I will share a video on that pretty soon.Keep following me on Instagram to know about it.

Scuba Diving in Havelock : Costs not more than 3000 bucks per person.One needs to experience it to see the coral life.

Taste sea food ( I would suggest Anju Coco restaurant where you get really tasty sea food and if you are looking for cheaper food, check out squid restaurant)

Rent a bicycle/scooty : Usually, they don’t charge more than 500 bucks per day.Havelock is a small island and is perfectly safe at all times , even during the night.Explore as much as you can.