Andaman Islands
Why go?
One of the last virgin archipelagos in the world, the Andaman
islands lie over 1,000km east of India, accessible by plane (or
boat, for the very patient) from Chennai or Kolkata (Calcutta). Of
the 200 forest-covered islands, only 26 are inhabited, many of them
by aboriginal tribes who have little contact with outsiders. Most
of the others are off limits to tourists. Because of their
isolation - midway between India and Burma, and 700km from top to
tail - there’s little development and lots of wilderness:
3,000 species of plant, 240 types of bird and over 80 kinds of
reptile (including iguanas) lurk in the tropical jungle, and
you’ll even meet swimming elephants. Beaches are white-sand,
near deserted and fringed with palms - perfect for Robinson Crusoe
adventures or back-to-nature eco-tourism.
But it’s the crystalline waters offshore that make them one
of the hottest new destinations: full of colourful fish, pristine
corals and unmapped seabeds, they're a diver’s paradise which
has only recently opened up to the leisure sector. It’s a
colourful, fantastical world where “lions, unicorns and
butterflies masquerade as fish” (Jacques Cousteau). But you
don’t need to be an underwater pioneer, as there are graded
dives and PADI courses. Even snorkellers will get a maskful of
aquatic exotica to take the breath away: forests of orange, red and
purple coral, bright yellow seahorses, multi-coloured parrot fish
and scorpion fish, majestic sea turtles and lazy dugongs. The open
seas, meanwhile, teem with pelagics: dolphins, sharks, manta rays,
barracuda, tuna and huge schools of jack fish, trigger fish and
revally.
The 3 main Andaman islands are called North, Middle and South, or
collectively Great Andaman. Around and between them are smaller
mangrove-fringed islets, including the idyllic Havelock Island and
car-free Neil Island. On the former, buses serve 2 deservedly
popular beaches, known by a numbering system: No. 7
(“Radhanagar”) and No. 5 (“Dolphin Yatri
Niwas”, named after the government accommodation); there are
lots of guesthouses and one fantastic eco-lodge, probably
the best accommodation in the Andamans.
Any Downsides?
Outside Port Blair, there is little accommodation beyond simple beach huts and campsites, and sand flies can be a problem all over the islands.