The Andaman and Nicobar Islands sit in the Bay of Bengal closer to Myanmar and Thailand than to the Indian mainland, and they have been part of India since 1947. They have something that almost no other Indian destination can claim: a coral reef in genuinely good condition, water clear enough to see twenty metres down without any equipment, and beaches that do not look like they have been maintained.
The Andamans are not unknown. What they are is underestimated, because most visitors spend the entire trip in Port Blair and Havelock and come home having seen one small part of an archipelago of about three hundred and seventy two islands.
Havelock and Neil Islands
Havelock, now officially called Swaraj Dweep, holds Radhanagar Beach, which has consistently appeared on international lists of the best beaches in Asia. The claim holds up. The sand is fine and white, the water goes from green to deep blue, and the beach faces west into a sunset that is difficult to oversell.
Neil Island, officially Shaheed Dweep, is smaller, slower and cheaper. The three main beaches are each a short cycle from the village, and the island is the better choice for anyone who wants to sit still rather than tick boxes.
The diving
The Andamans have among the best diving in India and some of the best in the wider region. Barracuda City, Johnny’s Gorge and the Wall near Havelock are the sites most recommended for reef fish and coral. Macaroni Valley holds giant clams. Turtle Bay has the density of sea turtles that its name suggests.
Certification courses are cheaper here than almost anywhere else in Asia and run to the full PADI standard. The water is warm year round, visibility peaks between December and April, and the November to April window avoids the rougher seas of the southwest monsoon.
The less visited parts
Baratang has limestone caves and a mudvolcano that can be reached by a boat through a mangrove creek. Diglipur in the north is five hours from Port Blair and holds Saddle Peak, the highest point in the islands, and a beach where olive ridley and leatherback turtles nest between December and February.
Ross Island, renamed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Dweep, holds the ruins of the British administrative headquarters. Deer walk through the abandoned buildings and the roots of trees have grown over the walls over a century.
What nobody tells you
Indian nationals do not need a permit to visit the main Andaman islands, but some areas require one that is issued at Port Blair. The Nicobar Islands are closed to tourists entirely.
Ferries between islands run to government schedules that do not accommodate flexible plans. Book the ferry from Port Blair to Havelock before you fly, because it fills. The government ferry takes about two hours and the private catamaran about ninety minutes.
The rainy season from May to October brings rough seas that cancel ferries and make some diving sites inaccessible. The effective season is November to April, with December to February the sweet spot.