Sun, sand and summer island holiday

Beaches are always a favourite amongst most of us, except the ones who call themselves exclusively the mountain persons these days ! This blog is about our vacation in Andaman during summer 2024. This was a unique trip with a group of friends formed by our children (our kids happen to be school friends) and we parents met socially couple of times and eventually became friends too.

Andaman is a paradise for aquatic lovers, be it nature, sunrise/sunsets, food or adventure. This trip was organised by a local tour agent, Mr. Tabun, based in Port Blair. He did a great job. Ping me if you'd like his contact details.

The rough itinerary was like this:

Day	Places	Places visited/ activity	Name of hotel/resort
1.	Port Blair	Corbyn Cove beach, Cellular Jail	Peerless resort
2.	Port Blair	Baratang Island	Peerless resort
3	Havelock Island	Kala Pathar Beach, Radhanagar Beach	Symphony Palms
4	Havelock Island	Scuba diving	Symphony Palms
5	Niel Island	Sunset at Lakshmanpur beach, sunrise at Sitapur beach	Symphony Summersand
6	Port Blair	Ross Island, Naval museum	Peerless resort
7	Port Blair	Central Jail	Peerless resort
8	Port Blair	Govt. Saw Mill and depart

Day 1 - We left Bangalore by Indigo flight to Port Blair. We landed by afternoon and as expected it was scorching hot. Our pick up vehicle, a 20 seater Tempo Traveler, was waiting outside the airport. We quickly exited the airport, loaded the luggage and headed to the resort. Our travel agent was at the resort waiting to welcome us. After the check in formalities we quickly went for lunch as we were all famished. After lunch, rest and relaxing around in the resort, we visited the Corbyn Cove beach which was right outside our resort. The kids and men played a game of Frisbee while the ladies, got busy with photoshoot and reeling (no misogynistic intent here :). We then hopped on to our vehicle to visit the Cellular Jail, a significant historical place of visit. We witnessed the sound and light show.  It was a gripping tale showcasing the endless miseries that our freedom fighters went through within the walls of this enormous jail that housed 1000s of Indian prisoners. After the show the cellular jail was closing. Most of us were tired with a hectic day so we returned to the resort for a good dinner and rest, as we had to start very early in the morning the next day.

Day 2 -  We packed some basic items for the day and left the resort at about 3am (thats right). We were visiting the Baratang island. If we were lucky we would have the chance to see (not meet) the endangered Jarwa tribe of the Andaman islands. Read on to know if we did! 

The driver was on time and we started our journey by TT to the jetty point from where we would cross the main island to reach Baratang island. The route was a scenic drive. There was a long wait at the Jirkatang Check post. After the checks we reached the jetty point where we boarded a small ship which would ferry us to the Baratang island. It was a unique experience for our kids as it was the first time some of them were sailing in a medium sized ship. Once we reached the island there were small speed boats that would take us to the entry point for the tourist spots on the island. When we got off these speed boats we walked through bridges amidst a mangrove, which led us to the limestone caves. These caves had stalactites and stalagmite formations. This place reminded TJ and myself of our trip to Meghalaya where we had visited many such caves. 

The weather was hot and humid, so all of us drank nimbu paani and ate cucumbers to cool ourselves and proceeded towards the next spot which was the mud volcanoes. To reach this place, we had to hop on to local jeep/taxis which would drop us up to the entry point on the road from where we had to walk up a small hillock to reach the volcano spot. It was a tiring walk because of heat, humidity and hunger. However, it was a natural wonder to see small bubbles of grey liquid sand erupting from the surface of the earth with fumes emerging from them. We hoped our children would probably appreciate their Geography lessons better as we battered sun and hunger to watch these natural bubbles.

We requested our taxi driver to drop us at a restaurant for lunch. The facilities were quite meagre on this island. After lunch we returned to the jetty point from where the ship would take us back to the main island. There were only fixed number of vehicles allowed to visit the Baratang island. These tourist vehicles had to be also strictly escorted by security personnel and therefore had fixed time for departures. After a long wait we were allowed to board the ship and return to the main island where from we would return to Port Blair on our TT. We started our return journey to Port Blair at about 3:30PM. Our driver asked us to be attentive to spot members of the Jarwa tribe so we kept a watch. After driving some distance, we were thrilled to spot a Jarwa mother carrying an infant and walking by the road. We were strictly told not to click pictures nor try having any conversation with them. As some of them could attack passing tourists/vehicles. But from what we observed from their attire, they were in communication and touch with the mainstream population. After a certain distance we spotted another elderly man and a young lad working in the forest and a group of boys walking along the road. The kids were quite enthralled having had the chance to see these tribal folks in-person.  We returned to the resort in PB for a wholesome dinner and retired to bed. 

Day 3 - We checked out from the resort with packed breakfast as we had to leave to Havelock island (Swaraj Dweep) by 8 am. We left the resort at 7am. The driver dropped us at the ferry departure point. We waited at the jetty lounge area and had our breakfast which we packed from the resort. Once we were done it was time to board Makruzz which was going to ferry us to Havelock island, one of the most beautiful places in India.  By 8am we were on board the ferry after loading all our luggage. This was another new experience for most of us, sailing on the Bay of Bengal. We opened our snacks packets and munched some during the 90 minute journey. Once we reached Havelock island, we collected our luggage and exited the jetty point to be picked up by our driver. We soon reached Symphony Palm resorts which was going to be our place of stay for the next 2 nights.  We had to wait for an hour or so for check-in as we had reached early. After check in we settled in our respective rooms, freshened up and  proceeded for lunch. The kids had already started playing in the Govind Nagar beach which was right outside our cottages. This is one of the most beautiful beaches I have been to so far. We were glad we had such an easy access to the beach from the resort itself. 

Post lunch, we packed some change of clothes and hopped on to the TT to visit Kala Pathar beach. There are literally endless number of beautiful beaches in Andaman and each one just got better. We took some pictures while the kids played in the water. After a refreshing coconut water break we proceeded towards Radhanagar beach, the most sought after destination on these islands. Radhanagar beach is one of India's blue flag beaches and the first one I was going to visit. It was indeed beautiful and scenic with of course lots of visitors too. The kids were just waiting to rush to the water for a dip and thats exactly what they did. The rest of us settled down on the beach with our bags and stuff as we took turns to play in the water and watching our bags. 

While, all of us were swimming, one lady (who seemed quite senior maybe in her 70s) went far away from the beach into the sea and suddenly started to panic as though she was drowning. TJ noticed and quickly went to her rescue, supported her and walked her back to the shore. Later he told us that she seemed to have been high on alcohol. She was holidaying in Andaman with her friend. After some time as this episode faded away we got off from the water and headed to a very crowded changing room. Once all of us were done, we shot some memorable group pictures (of 17 of us) and walked back to the parking lot. We ate churmuri and ice candies and proceeded back to the resort. There was a Rajasthani dhaba right outside our resort where we had very tasty parathas for dinner and retired to bed. Next was going to be yet another exciting day. 

Day 4 - We woke up early and left the resort at 5am for an early morning Scuba diving session which we had booked in advance on the previous day. We reached the diving agency's (oceandivecenter.in) office by 6:30am after a cup of chai on the way. At the office, after the initial procedures of filling application forms and signing disclaimers, we were given our scuba diving gears. We split ourselves into 4 groups, family wise. Avy was under age for scuba so he was allowed only snorkeling. After the initial set of instructions on dry area we were taken by a small boat along with our instructors to the shallow waters where we were trained further on specific breathing techniques and hand signals. Once were were comfortable with the signs and techniques we got into the boat and taken to the deep sea side. Once the oxygen cylinders were fixed we jumped into the water one by one and oh boy, the descend to the sea floor was simply exhilarating, to say the least. As we felt comfortable with our breathing pattern, the instructor took us around to show corals and the aquatic life. The experience was just out of the world. It was indeed humbling to see the numerous forms of life that we are not even witness to. Like Katrina Kaif says in ZNMD, it was "meditative" truly. 

After 20 mins of manoeuvring and under water photoshoot, we were brought back up to the boat and back to the agency office. We changed back to our clothes and returned to the resort for breakfast. We were quite hungry after the scuba session. Post breakfast some of us rested while the kids had a gala time on the beach soaking themselves under the sun and burying each other under mud as you can see in the picture. 

Post lunch we decided to visit Radhanagar beach again, as we were not done enjoying the beauty of it and also had time to spare. As we were spending time there waiting to witness the sunset, one unforgettable incident happened. There was a lady frantically looking for something in the water, panicking and asking for help. On enquiring we got to know that she had a lot of cash (notes of Rs. 500) in a plastic packet in her pocket which got washed away with a big wave. She apparently didn't want to leave the cash in her bag fearing she would lose. Our kids also joined the group of people offering to find the cash. They found couple of notes with each wave bringing some notes back to the shore. She managed to collect whatever possible, but it seemed like indeed a bad day for her. Once this hue and cry faded, our kids continued playing. After a nice play time in the waters we returned to the resort. Some of us (obviously the vegetarians) went back to the Rajasthani Dhaba for dinner and part of the group went for sea food dinner at Mango Tree restaurant which was located near the resort. We retired to bed with heart full of memories of our first scuba diving experience. 

Day 5:  We started from the resort post breakfast to our next destination, Neil island (Shaheed Dweep). We drove down to the jetty from where we were ferried to Neil island on the Nautika (name of ship). An unfortunate incident happened as we were deboarding. One of our group members, AV, twisted her ankle while getting off the ship which resulted in a very bad sprain. After first aid she somehow managed to board the tempo traveler. The driver picked us from the jetty and we checked into another beautiful resort Symphony Summer Sands. The swimming pool was built around the rooms on the ground floor which was very unique. 

The swimming pool was inviting. Most of decided to swim. The kids had lot of fun playing pool throw ball while we enjoyed the cool pool in the hot weather. Meanwhile AV and her husband visited a local doctor to rule out chances of any serious injury. Thankfully it was just a sprain and she could manage with ankle support and painkillers. After a refreshing swim, we had lunch and rested for a while.

In the evening we visited Lakshmanpur beach 1 for a peaceful and beautiful sunset. It was a serene place to click some beautiful sunset photos. After spending a good amount of time, we returned to the resort for dinner. We had a great time gathering together in one room for a much awaited fun time with kids performing their usual mimicry acts. After an hour of rib tickling laughter, we decided to retire to bed. The adults planned to visit Sitapur beach the next morning to witness the sunrise, while the kids unanimously decided to skip sunrise and instead wake up late (since they were already disappointed with waking up early every morning of their vacation).

Day 6: we started from the resort at 4:30 am to reach the sunrise point on time. We were early and fortunately there was a small shop that had already started serving tea for visitors. We sipped hot chai while waiting for the sun to show up. We shot beautiful pictures and experienced a blissful sunrise. From here we visited Lakshmanpur Beach 2 to view the natural bridge, a rock jutting out of two living natural corals. But the tides were still high and the bridge was not accessible at around 6:30am. We did not have time to re-visit this place but it was a unique beach with black coral like rocks on which we had to manoeuvre. After clicking some good photos we returned to the resort, while our kids were still on bed. We slowly woke them up for breakfast as we had to check out and return to Port Blair.

We reached Port Blair by ferry. The TT picked us up and took us to another point where we had to board a ship to visit Ross Island (Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island). While waiting for the boat we enjoyed Kulfi and churmuri. We hopped on to a local boat which dropped us on Ross Island. We were welcomed by a group of deer. We bought tickets for a buggy that would take us around the island along with a guide who would explain the historical significance of this island. Ross Island was the administrative headquarters of the British in the region from 1858 to 1942 and also the site of a penal colony for prisoners of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The island has many old British buildings in a dilapidated state. The iconic structure is the light house at one end of the island.

We returned to the main island. Some of the group members were flying back the next day so they went shopping while we returned to the resort. We all enjoyed dinner with two youngsters performing live music of soulful old Hindi movie songs. We sang along and enjoyed the evening.

Day 7: After breakfast we visited Naval Marine museum in Port Blair where we had a glimpse of the sea life as well as various tribal groups on the island. We watched an interesting video about the lives of these tribes and how the Government has tried to communicate with them and help them get in touch with mainstream population at the same time not disturbing their way of life. Some of the group members drove to the airport as they were flying back to Bangalore. While the rest of us visited the Cellular Jail. This was the most notable places of visit on the island. A guide took us through the history of this place and described how the prisoners were treated. It was heart wrenching to listen to the description of the atrocities faced by our forefathers who struggled under the British jailers. The walls echoed their agonies. We visited the cell that belonged to Veer Savarkar and paid our respects. It was painful at the same time a must visit place for our children to understand our land's history and the struggles that skipped many text books.

We returned to the resort after lunch in a South Indian restaurant. We rested for a while and after evening tea we went back to Corbyn's Cove beach which was right outside the Peerless resort where we were staying. We decided to go Kayaking. It was a nice experience to kayak on the sea and watching corals under water. We returned for dinner and rested.

Day 8: After breakfast we checked out. We were flying back to Bangalore today. Since our flight was in the late afternoon, we visited the Government Saw Mill. The Chatham saw mill is Asia's oldest and largest saw mill. The mill was destroyed by bombs during World War II. The mill was revived in the 1940s. A guide provided information about the bomb pit and the Forest Museum which had beautifully sculpted furniture and decorative art pieces made of timber. We drove to the airport as we bid adieu to our tour agent Tabun and the beautiful Andaman islands. We flew back with tanned skin and memories of a wonderful group trip etched in our hearts.

This trip truly made me rejoice the vastness of this country. India is fantastically incredible because of its rich culture, diverse landscapes, and historical monuments. From Ladakh to Radha Nagar, this country has lots to offer to any travel enthusiast. There is lot more to be experienced as we take one trip at a time. Bye for now!