Sunday, April 24, 2011

Andaman Diaries - Plan And Review Andaman Islands

An Island Of Andaman
Andaman once known for Kaala Paani or 'Black Water Prison' , has now become the hots pot for Honeymooners and Naturist .The Andaman & Nicobar are a group of picturesque Islands, big and small, inhabited and uninhabited, a total of 572 islands, with white sand beaches and turquoise blue waters .It seems to be a glimpse of Paradise on Earth .

Cellular Jail- Kaala Pani
Best Planned Trip to Andaman would take full 7 days :-
Day 1 :-
1)  Reach Port Blair at around 12.00 p.m .
Check in at your Hotel , Have Lunch , Rest for a while and Set out for Cellular Jail .
NOTE - Jail closes at sharp 4.00 p.m .Light and Sound show (which is a MUST WATCH) starts at 5.30 p.m in Hindi and 6.30 p.m in English.
2) If you have a Taxi with you . You can go for a walk in Corby n's And Cove Beach after your Dinner.


Day 2 :-
3) Start off for Have lock Island  .
Govt Ferry -   which is at 6.00 a.m , 12.30 p.m( inquire from the Phoenix Bay Jetty )
Makruz  -  which starts at 10.30 a.m (from Phoenix Bay Jetty)
NOTE - Please book your tickets at least 2 day in advance , otherwise your trip might go for a Toss.

Makruz
4) Reach your Resort in Havelock - Relax in your Resort
Explore restaurants and  Island by bicycle or Scooty / bike.

Day 3 :-
5)  Start for Scuba diving and Snorkeling  at Elephant Beach 7.00 am in the morning .
6) Come back at 2.30 p.m .Have your Lunch and Set out for Radhanagar Beach also Known as Beach No.7
NOTE - Beach closes after sunset , around 5.30 p.m . The security guards would not allow anybody to visit Radhanagar beach thereafter . So be well in time, to enjoy the Beach .

 Day 4 :-
7) Go to the Kala Pathar . There lies an elephant camp , where you can see elephants getting trained .
You can spend some time there .
8)Take your Govt. Ferry at 2.00 p.m from Havelock Jetty or Makruz at 3:45 p.m .
9) You would reach Port Blair at around 5:30 p.m in both the cases .
10) You can visit the Local bazaar and some Govt handicraft shops for some shopping .

Havelcok Island
Day 5 :-
11) Plan for Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park (Jolly Buoy) .The trip starts at 8.00 a.m from Wan door Jetty .
NOTE - The permissions has to be taken 1 day in advance for this .
12) You will reach back by 3.00 p.m from this trip . Have Lunch and set out for Chidiya Tapu .
The way while going to chidiya Tapu is Super .
13) Sleep early at around 8:30 p.m .

Day 6 :-
14) Set out for Bhartang Trip . This trip also requires permissions before hand . The trip starts at around 2:45 a.m in Govt Vehicle through Jarawa Tribe territory . You cannot go here by your own . The package also includes the Limestone Caves sight seeing . You return back around 4.00 p.m .

Day 7 :-
15) Plan for Ross Island and North Bay Island . This should be over by 2.30 p.m .
Spend some time doing water sports activities or you can take a Half Day City tour to see
Balidan Vedi , Rubber Plantations ,Samudrika Museum , Chatam Saw Mill .

This would complete you full Andaman trip .


HOW TO REACH THERE :

1) FLIGHTS (Duration is 2 hours):-
You can only think of flights which commence from Chennai to Port Blair
Or
Kolkata to Port Blair

2) SHIPS  (Duration is 60 hours) :-

Mini Zoo
HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST (Around Rs. 20,000 per person ):-

1) I started my trip from Bangalore . I went driving to Chennai- Stayed at my friends place .
Petrol Expenses were around Rs. 2600 for the round Trip .
Additionally I paid around Rs. 490 in Toll tax for the round Trip .

2) Flight Tickets (Chennai- Port blair- Chennai) - Rs. 8400/person

3) Then in port Blair - I stayed at NHPC guest house , which cost me Rs. 250/Room .

4) Food in the Guest House cost me - Rs. 600 / person .
This includes :-
1) 3 times Lunch - worth Rs. 35/person , Rs. 40 / person , Rs. 75 / person
2) 3 times Breakfast - worth Rs. 40 / person , Rs. 60/person , Rs. 25 / person
3) 3 times Dinner - worth Rs. 60/person , Rs. 60/person , Rs. 35 / person
4) 4 times tea + Bisuit worth -  Rs. 10 / person , Rs. 8/person , Rs. 8 person , 14/person
5) 1 Pakoda Evening - Rs. 100 .

5) Tickets for the Sight Seeing -
(a)Cellular Jail - Rs. 10 / person
(b)Guide -  Rs. 150
(c)Light and Sound show - Rs. 20 / person
(d)Samudrika(Meuseum) - Rs. 20 / person
(e)Chatham Saw Mill - Rs. 10 / person
(f)Mini Zoo - Rs. 2 / person
(g)Jolly Buoy Trip - Rs. 650 / person
This includes Govt. Ferry Transfers from Wan door Jetty to Jolly Buoy + Ride in the Glass Bottom Boat +Snorkelling .

6) Makruz(Port Blair - Havelock Island) - Rs. 650 / person
Govt Ferry (Havelock Island - Port Blair) -Rs. 300 / person
Since i donot want to queue up , i asked 1 agent  near Jetty to book it for me :-
( Rs. 250 (Fare) + Rs. 50 (Commission) )
If you ask your resort to book it , they would charge 100 rs per ticket as Service charge  for the same .

7) Emerald Gecko (Beach Huts) - Rs. 1000 / pernight
They have common Toilets - which are clean , and Attached Bathrooms .

Full Moon Cafe in Havelock Island
8) Food was pretty costly :-
# MEALS(at an above average restaurant like FULL MOON CAFE) - would cost somewhere from Rs. 300 - 450 / person .However there are cheaper options also available .
# BREAKFAST (at an average restaurant like German Bakery) - would cost around 70 / person .

9) Bicycles Rent for 12 hours - Rs. 50

10) Scooty Rent(excluding petrol) for 24 hours - Rs. 250

11) Scuba Diving (Fun Diving with Barefoot Scuba)- Rs. 3600 / person per Dive
This includes Boat Charges + Equipment Charges + Expert Diver Fee + Snacks .

12) For Taxi and Ticket Arrangements , you can refer to a reliable Driver named Srinivasa .
ph No - 09434263342

Cellular Jail

HOW WAS THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE : -

I can easily say that , this is the best place in the World , I have seen up till now .
Its a must Visit Destination for all the Budding Honeymooners .
Words wouldn't do justice to this place , especially Have lock Island .

Nhpc Guest House
Day 1 :-
We took off from Chennai at around 12:20 p.m which is around 2hr 20 min delay from the Scheduled Arrival due to bad landing conditions at Port Blair Airport .
Our Driver took us to the NHPC Guest House , which is at xxxxxxx , around 12 km away from the main area
Guest has in-house kitchen and 24 hour cook at our disposal .
We ordered normal Dal Chawal and Egg Bhurji . Clock struc 3:40 p.m and then we realized that if we don't start instantly , then we might miss Cellular Jail as part of our planned targets for that day .
Hopefully , we managed to reach the jail just in time at 4:00 p.m and got the tickets for Rs.10 per person  . Ticket counter for Jail Closes sharp at 4.00 p.m . Hired one Guide for Rs. 150 and completed the Jail in around 45 min .You don't need guide if you have time to explore . Jail employees started kicking us out at 4:50 p.m .
         We again took tickets for the Light and Sound Show at 5:30 p.m .  which cost us Rs. 20 per person .
There are 2 shows 1 at 5:30 p.m in Hindi and other one at 6:30 p.m in English .The show is subject to Climatic Conditions , since happens in Open Air . The show is a MUST WATCH . It gives a patriotic feeling similar to the one you would have got after watching movies like  Rang De Basanti, , Border .

Makruz
Day 2 :-
We started off for the Phoenix Bay Jetty , which was around 14km from our Guest House .
Fortunately we got the tickets for Makruz which cost us Rs. 650 / person .
Please book tickets in Makruz or Govt. ferry atleast 3 days in Advance , otherwise you will risk your whole trip .
   Also plan your Havelock or Niel Island Trip initially . The climatic conditions changes here drastically due to which ships are stopped anytime .

I spent Rest of the Day 2 , Day 3 , and Day 4 in Havelcok  .
You must be interested in the Havelock Review as well .
http://backpackerinfo.blogspot.com/search/label/Andaman%20Diaries%20-%20Havelock%20Island

Port Blair
Day 4 :-
I took the Govt Ferry from Havelock Island Jetty to Portblair at around 2:30 p.m .
We had a really nice Time while coming back from Havelock . We came along with the Captain and his Crew .Thankfully we got saved from the Stinking Passenger Sitting Area .We reached PortBlair at around 5:30 p.m . It was dark and raining Heavily .
           We did some shopping from the Govt Handicraft shop 5-6 km from the Phoenix Bay Jetty . Then we came back to our Resort for Jolly Buoy Trip .

Balidan Vedi
Day 5 :-
Day 5 was complete flop for us . We started off well ahead of time at 7.00 am from our guest house with our Lunch Packed .Jolly Buoy is a part of Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park , and hence a Plastic free zone .This is undoubtebly the best Island of Andaman accessable to Tourist .
On the way to Wandoor Jetty , We saw a place named as BALIDAN VEDI , this is the place where 40 freedom fighters were killed by Japanese .Then we reached Wan door Jetty and found all Ship Services Closed on that day due to bad weather . In such cases the Trip amount is completely Refunded to the Tourists .We were completely disheartened . Then we thought of exploring Port Blair .


BEAUTIFUL WANDOOR BEACH :-
1 kilometer ahead of Wandoor Jetty is a beautiful beach known to few .This is one of the best beaches of port blair .
The uprooted trees of Tsunami are not yet removed from this beach . It adds to the beauty of the Beach .

Rubber Plantations
RUBBER PLANTATIONS :-
Our Driver took us to the RUBBER PLANTATIONS and RUBBER FACTORY . We took a guide there who explained us the Rubber Creation Process . We gave that guy Rs. 20 for his services , which he took with a big smile .

Samudrika Naval Meuseum
SAMUNDRIKA NAVAL MUSEUM :-
Then we went to SAMUNDRIKA  - a Naval Meuse um . It was good . It is just infront of the "Andaman Teal House " a Govt . Hotel . The Location of the Hotel is extremely good .
A good collection of shells, corals, fishes and a few species of colourful fishes found in these islands are on display.It also has a remains of a Giant Whale and Info on Local Tribals .

MINI ZOO :-
MINI ZOO was pathetic . Donot waste your time going there . All the animals are in a process of shifting from here to Zoological Park at Chidiya Tapu .

Chatham Saw Mill
CHATHAM SAW MILL AND JAPANESE BOMB PIT :-
he Chatham Saw Mill, one of the oldest and largest mills in Asia, built on a tiny island, is connected to Port Blair by a bridge .Forest Museum Situated inside Chatham Saw Mill , offers an insight into foresty activities and displays decorative pieces made of Padauk, Marble, Peauma, Gurjan, Satin Wood etc. open on all working days from 9.00 am to 5.00 p.m .
The entry ticket was Rs. 10 / per person .

DAY 6 :-
This was the last day of our trip .Our Flight was at 1.00 p.m and we utilized the Time quite well that day .


DAM :-
Being the Guests of NHPC(National Hydro Project Co-orporation) ,we got the Privelage to Visit the beautiful Dam Sight .


JOGGERS PARK :-
Its a Beautiful park , on a elevation infront of the airport runway .

Following are some Fact about Andaman and Nicobar Island which we learnt the Hard Way :-


Q  Which is the Best Season to Visit Andaman and Nicobar Islands ?
1) PLan your trip in Good Weather Conditions starting from December to March .
Q Which is the Best Place for Scuba Diving in Andaman for First Time Divers ?
2) Havelock Island - Elephant Beach .
Q Which is the best place for snorkelling in Andaman ?
3) Jolly buoy Island
Q Is it possible to do Scuba Diving in Port Blair ?
4) Yes there are 2 Diving Centres in Port Blair .
I enquired about snorkelling with them charged around 1500/person including Boat Charges .
Q) Can we book Ferry Tickets to Havelock Island, Niel Island after reaching Port Blair ?
5) It is strictly advisable to Book Ferry Tickets from Port blair to Havelcok and Niel Island atleast 2 days in advance .Though we got it on the same day we were travelling to Havelock . But every one was telling we are very lucky to have it the same day .
Q) How do we book Jolly Buoy Trip ?
6) You can ask your Hotel, Driver or Directly go to the Jetty to book the tickets .This require a Photo Identification Proof Copy to be submitted .

44 comments:

Unknown said...

very nice and detailed review...i like it

Nitin said...

Thanks Bhai

docsidh said...

really very informative... I'm also going to A&N island after 2days... Need some information regarding NHPC guest house as i have other options for staying also.. Can i have ur email id or phone no..... This is my Id docsidh@gmail.com.

Nitin said...

nitinbhatnagar1@gmail.com

Nitin said...

Hi Sidhartha ,

NHPC Guest House is not open to all .
My father is in NHPC and hence we got the accommodation .For any other Questions , you may post comments . I will reply to it .

Nitin

subha.chakraborty said...

Hello Nitin.............. Can you please give me the details to how to book the NHPC Guest Hose in Port Blair. We are planning to go there on FEB 2012............

You can mail me @ subha.chakraborty@ gmail.com

Nitin said...

Hi Subha ,

NHPC Guest House is only available to NHPC Staff . I am sorry , you cannot book it for you .

Nitin

Nitin said...

Some of the Good Budget Hotels in Havelock Island and Port Blair .

Best Hotels you might get for a range between Rs. 500 - Rs. 2500

Havelock Island :-
1) Emerald Gecko
2) Wild Orchid
3) Barefoot Scuba on Beach No. 5
4) Island Vinnie

Port Blair :-
1) Andaman Teal House
2)http://andamantsghotels.com - TSG Emerald View
3) Sun Sea Resort
4)Silver Spring

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Thanks "Tours from Kolkata"

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Vineesh AR said...

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