Dreams Can Come True.

Coming from the Indian mainland, with quite often dirty & polluted beaches, street chaos and masses of people, this island was just what we needed: the complete opposite … imagine Bali back in the early 80s.

Tourist facilities (like accommodation and restaurants) are abundant, but everything still seems a bit behind. Simple bamboo huts arranged under swaying coconut trees is as good as it gets – and that’s pretty darn good anyway! Combine this with with white sandy beaches and crystal clear turquoise water and Havelock is what you’re paradise dream looks like. For us this dream became reality after a 4-hour boat ride from Port Blair.

Havelock, Oh Havelock.

We stayed in one of the beach accommodations. During the rainy season (which is of course when we decided to visit paradise), not all hotels are open, but during high season there are a lot to choose from – no need for pre-booking. Havelock is not overpopulated, the village is small with a big open air market, various food stores and some restaurants catering mainly for Indian tourists, though the steady stream of westerners is growing. Apart from the islands beautiful beaches, Havelocks inner part is jungle country with many rice paddies in between; the Andaman Islands are actually pretty self sufficient when it comes to rice. The pace of life is slow, the locals are friendly and still not too affected by tourism – thanks God for that!

Beach, Beach, Beach.

There a couple of stunningly beautiful beaches on Havelock island. Most of them can be describes as tropical paradises beaches with the oceans being more of a natural swimming pool. But be aware: even though the water is calm most of the time, it can get pretty rough as well. Oh and one more thing: Havelock island is a pretty wild place and it’s possible to see many types of wild animals … including crocodiles – salt water crocodiles to be exact. Years ago an American tourist was taken by a salt croc. Don’t be put off by this incident though. We suggest to ask around the local community for recent incidents (a local ranger has also been taken in 2011), as not every single one is recorded – unless a westerner is involved of course. Also check the local media, since they’ll report if you shouldn’t enter the water due to crocodile activity.

Vijaynagar Beach.

One of these beaches is a stretch close to the jetty where all boats from Port Blair arrive, called Vijaynagar beach. Various guest-houses and hotels, tucked away in the coconut groves (some hotels are even 3 or 4 star hotels) can be found along the stretch of approximately 3 kilometres. Restaurants are mainly situated on the inland side of the beach road. An irregular public bus service plies the route along the coastal road up to some little villages in the island’s inner part. There are no bus stops – simply tell the driver where you want to get off. Or you can hire a tuk-tuk for further exploration of the island.

• Tip: Early in the afternoon the bus is mainly frequented by children going home from school so you’ll get a lot of attention when taking this bus.

Radhanagar Beach.

The second well-known beach on Havelock island is on the other side, called Radhanagar beach. You’ll find accommodation here as well, but this beach is mostly frequented by day-trippers. Occasionally hit by really big waves, you have to watch out even if lifeguards are on duty because currents can become quite strong. Still, the long stretch of white sand is very welcoming and you could spend an entire day walking along the shores. A frequent public bus is available from the main village (take-off at the only roundabout in town) to Radhanagar. Be aware though, we’ve never been on a trip with a crazier bus driver than this one – even the locals get scared when he drives! If you prefer to go by bicycle, just rent one in of the stores. Still, you better watch out if this bus crosses your way. We actually met someone who jumped into the bushes with his bike because the bus would have just run him over…

Elephant Beach.

Elephant beach can be reached after a 40 minute-walk through the jungle. Walking always means that less people (lazy bums), which is an advantage because then you’ll have the place all to yourself. Bring food and drinks when doing this excursion, because there are no restaurants or street vendors around.

• Note: Some of you might think that this is the beach where Rajan, the famous 63-year-old swimming elephant, can be found. Well, he might be on the island somewhere (actually Radhanagar beach is supposed to be his home beach), but unfortunately he didn’t cross our way…

Vijaynagar Beach during high tide.

Radhanagar Beach on Havelock Island. Not sure if we’d like to rely on the lifeguards…

Little huts right next to the beach on Havelock Island.

The beaches on Havelock Islands are really beautiful and not too many tourists come here.

Exotic beaches are bordered by coconut-palm trees on the Andaman Islands.

The far end of Vijaynagar beach on Havelock Island.

Hundreds of palm trees behind Vijaynagar beach on Havelock Island.

A cute crab on Elephant beach on Havelock Island.

A paddy field worker on Havelock Island.

Booking the trip from from Port Blair via Kolkata was a bit challenging from Guwahati. Due to the heavy monsoon in Megahalya the internet connectivity was often interrupted. So we didn’t have the time to check out these islands thoroughly and were on our way faster than expected.

If you have a lot of time and are up for adventure, take the ferry ship from Kolkata to Port Blair, Andaman Islands.

The flight with Indigo was smooth except for the last fifteen minutes; then it got a bit bumpy and the look out of the window showed thick clouds…

Nevertheless, the landing went smoothly and Port Blair greeted us with tiny sun-rays after a heavy thunderstorm. Custom officers picked us out immediately to provide us with this very important special permit – without it, you can’t travel anywhere on the Andaman Islands since police checks are very common.

The main street in Port Blair, Andaman Islands.

After checking into Aashiana Residency guest house, we immediately walked to the jetty nearby to get tickets for the next day to Long Island. Booking the tickets for the ferry was a bit time consuming all over the Andaman Islands. As was getting a bus ticket. Try to bring several passport and visa copies, plus some copies of the special permit because authorities and hotels will ask for it on every occasion. If you’re female, insist on a “lady-line” – even if there doesn’t seem to be one. This will at least reduce your waiting time. So after a bit of a hassle (which is normal all over India), we finally got our tickets.

Our ferry “Jolly Buoy” waiting in Port Blair’s harbour.

The passenger cabin of the ferry “Jolly Buoy”, Andaman Islands.

Transport & Hotels in General.

There are some rather basic hotels in some of the towns, as well as some bus companies, that wont take on a foreigner. This is because these businesses don’t have the licence to take on foreign nationals. We didn’t know that at first and got the explanation only after it happened the second time. It’s not a real problem, but you should just calculate a little more time to find the right company to continue your trip. It’s better not to be in a hurry…

Overall, transport possibilities on the Andaman Islands are excellent; ferries, buses and private Jeeps are available at all arrival points, so if you step off a ferry, a waiting taxi or a bus is almost always available. The only bus that needs to be pre-booked in any case is the bus from Port Blair to Diglipur, because there is no regular bus connection between these two towns. So after the seats are full, there’s no other way to get there by public transport. In major towns like Rangat, Mayabundar and Diglipur, accommodation with some western standard are available … just tell the driver to let you out in front of one of these hotels. Don’t count on any internet connection, and mobile phones reception in many areas … at certain points during our trip here, we felt like time on the Andaman Islands simply stood still. But then again, it does feel pretty nice to be offline for a while as well.

We’ll write about our adventures, experiences and impressions on the Andaman Islands soon, so stay tuned.