Andaman Diaries - Havelock Island

Havelcok Island

Havelock Island is the most popular Island Destination of the Andaman . Havelock Island is famous for its pristine beaches, coral reefs and for a relaxing holiday. Generally People opt for a Day Trip to Havelock . But I feel its worth it to spend a night or two or even more . You can find the Nature at its Best here .

Government Ferry - North Passage

HOW DO WE REACH THERE : 
1) Government  Ferry : which starts at 6.00 a.m , 12:30 p.m from Port Blair to Havelock(Everyday) .
Goes back from Havelock Island to portblair at 3.00 p.m (Everyday) 
Goes back from Havelcok Island to portblair via Niel Island : 3:00 p.m (Wednesday).
2) Makruz  starts at 10:30 a.m from Port Blair to Havelock (Everyday)
Goes Back from Havelcok Island to Port blair  at 3:45 p.m  (Everyday)
3) By Air : 10:30 a.m 

Vijay Nagar Beach

HOW MUCH TIME WOULD IT TAKE :
1) Port Blair To Havelock Island .
Government  Ferry 6:00 am     - 3hrs 15 min
Government  Ferry 12:30 p.m - 2 hrs 45 min
Makruz at 10:30 a.m           - 1 hr 45 min 
By Air                          - 20 min
2) Havelock Island to Portblair 
Government Ferry at 3:00 p.m (Everyday) - 2hrs 45 min
Government Ferry at 3:00 p.m Via Niel Island(wednesday) - 4hrs 30 min
Makruz at 4:00 p.m (Everyday) - 1 hr 45 min .
NOTE - These ferry's are extremely dependent on Weather Conditions . 
The Ferry Services could stop working anytime . So please plan your Havelock Island Trip during the start of your Andaman trip .I have heard from quite a few people who missed thier flight back to Chennai and Bengal due to Halt in Ferry Services from Havelock .

Market Place - Havelock Island

HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST  : 2 night 3 days would cost around Rs. 9000 / person .


1) Scuba Diving - Rs 3600 / person
2) Snorkeling - Rs. 500 / person
3) Under Water Camera rent - Rs. 500
4) Stay for 2 nights 3 days : Rs. 1000 / Night 
5) Havelcok Island Transfers from Port blair : Rs. 650/ head
Port Blair Transfers from havelock Island : Rs. 300 / head 
Done through Shekhar - 09474215720 .
6) Cycle  Rent for 12 hrs - Rs. 40 / cycle
7) Scooty Rent for 24 hrs - Rs. 250 / Scooty
They also take security Deposit as Rs. 1000/scooty .
8) Breakfast - Rs. 80 / head / per breakfast
9) Meals - Rs. 300 / head per meal
10) Petrol - Rs. 100 
11) Liquor - Rs. 350  for 1000 ml of Bacardi Rum
12) Beer - Rs. 60/650 ml Beer

All shade Of Blue

HOW WAS THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE :-
This place is a paradise on Earth  for Nature Lovers . This is the best place on the earth , I have seen up till now . I saw all possible colors of Sea water-> Green , Sea Green , Torquise blue , white and the list goes on .
NOTE - THIS IS AN IDEAL PLACE FOR HONEYMOONERS .
Yes , the worlds would not do justice to the place . 

Emerald Gecko Beach Hut No.1

Day1 : 
Spent in Portblair
Day 2 : 
Caught Makruz at 10:30 a.m .There were 3 different Sitting Areas :-
(a) Down was Rs. 650 / person .
(b) First Floor Rs. 750 / person .
(c) A Special compartment for 10 people worth Rs. 1000 / person .
It also had a Snacks Counter Inside the Cruz.

Inside Beach Hut

We reached Havelock Island and Auto driver from our resort Emerald Gecko was already waiting for us. The distance from Jetty to our resort was not more than 7 km.Emerald Gecko is in Village No.5 against the Vijay Nagar Beach or Beach No.5 .To my surprise , we got the best Beach Hut of the Resort . The hut is actually on the beach .Sea water was merely 20 steps away from our hut .

We were so excited , that we went running to the beach waters . Weather changed suddenly and the sky got covered with thick dark clouds .The sea water turned green from its original blue color .After playing to the fullest , we came out to have Lunch .We had Lunch in the In-house restaurant of Emerald Gecko . The ambience of the restaurant was good but food had a very limited options .
1 plate Rice + Curry costed around Rs. 250 - 300 .The taste was pretty  Average .
Quantity was also less . Just sufficient for a Girls Apetite .Then we came out in the evening to explore the Island .We were lucky enought to avail the bus service . We got down at Village No. 3 . Hired bi-cycles and Enquired about scuba .After exploring all the Dive Centres , we could easily rate :- 
Dive India as         No. 1 
Andaman Bubbles as No. 2
BArefoot Scuba as No. 3 
Since Dive India was full and andaman bubble's underwater camera had gone for repairing , we booked Barefoot Scuba .At night we went to Full Moon Cafe for Dinner .

Scuba Diving at Elephant Beach

Day 3 :
We were well on time for Scuba Diving at 7:20 a.m after returning the bi-cyles .
We had our breakfast in the Restaurant of Barefoot Scuba .

Elephant Beach

It started raining Heavily .After an hour and a half we were briefed about the Diving Signs and breathing techniques .Then we set out for Diving on elephant beach .
We would have reached there in 35 minutes .Again we were given a Hands-On training on Diving .Each of us were assisted by a Personal Professional Diver .
We saw an amazing aquatic life . Lots and Lots of Colorful fishes , Octopus , Star Fishes , Corals .Thats an unforgetful experience .We spent around 45 min and recorded 35ft under the sea .Then we came and had snacks provided by Barefoot Scuba .We waited for another 1 hr , untill another group finished their Diving .I explored some parts of Elephant Beach and passed some time doing snorkelling by borrowing the Snorkelling Aparatus from the other Group .

Great Diving Experience

We came back around 2:30 p.m . Had Lunch in the same restaurant and came back to our resort on Scooty .Then we rested for some time and set out for Radhanagar Beach . It was almost dark , but i got some evening shots of Radhanagar Beach . The beach closes at 5:30 p.m and is guarded by Police .  This is due to an attack on a Foreigner by a Salt Water Crockodile in 2010 .

Radha Nagar Beach

Day 4 :
I was very excited to see the Asia's 7th best beach . With a firm determination of getting up early in the morning , we set out for Radha Nagar beach again at 5:00 .a m in the morning .
The Way was extremely beautiful . There was absolutely nobody except me , my wife , scooty and some stray dogs .The dogs were pretty playful . We captured some shots of the beautiful beach and beautiful birds around it .
There are only 2 resorts on Radhanagar beach :-
1) Government Resort .
2) Barefoot Jungle Resort .

Way to Radha Nagar Beach

Though the above 2 resorts are facing the beach , but they are still quite far from sea water .
You have to walk down atleat 150 steps to touch the blue waters of the Radhanagar beach .
When I compare Resorts in Beach No. 5 , their location is much better for a stay .
We were about to return back to our resort and Suddenly i saw a glimpse of Rajan - The last celebrety swimming Elephant of Havelock .I started running behind it , after running almost a kilometer , it escaped in the Jungle with its Mahout(elephant rider) .We also saw , shooting of an Holywood movie - "Echoes" , while returning back to our scooty on Radha Nagar Beach .

Emerald Gecko Beach Hut 

Then we came back to our Resort at around 7:30 a.m .
We freshened up , and had breakfast at German Bakery .It was really good .
Then we started for Kala Pathar , but rain spoiled it .
We didn't wanted to get drenched again and decided to take shelter at one Local's house .
We came back to our resort and went into the waters again .
That day the water level was pretty low .
We took some beautiful shots that day , owing fully to Sun God which showed up for 2-3 hours .

Beach Outside Emerald Gecko

We checked out from our Resort emerald Gecko at around 12:00 p.m . Handed back the scooty and came to the jetty .Then we took the tickets from our person and Dined at nice Restaurant "B3" on the Jetty .At 2:45 p.m we boarded the Govt Ferry "North Passage" . It had a seating capacity of around 160 .The room stinked and had a lot of cockroaches .

I also got to know that there is a special cabin for about 20 people , which costs Rs. 200 more than normal seats .After few minutes , i started exploring the ship as well . we went to the Restricted cabin Area .The captain was very friendly and allowed us to stay there for complete 2:30 hrs .This was an amazing experience . It seems the Weather was pretty bad that day , with a very poor visibility and Sea Roughness being on a scale of 2 .We reached safely back to port Blair at aorund 5:45 p.m .