Travelira · Radhanagar Beach (Swaraj Dweep), Andaman and Nicobar Island.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Havelock Island
The island the Andamans are known for — Radhanagar, the dive schools and the reef at Elephant Beach.
Havelock Island
The island that carries the photographs — and the only one in the group with a real choice of places to stay, eat and dive.
Explore Havelock Island on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
Beyond the temples
One famous beach, one reef you snorkel from a boat, and the best diving in the country.
The beaches
- Radhanagar (Beach 7) — the long west-coast beach the island is known for. Wide, white, backed by jungle, and busiest in the hour before sunset.
- Kalapathar, on the east coast, is quieter, narrower and named for the black rocks at its southern end. Good for a morning when Radhanagar is full.
- Vijaynagar (Beach 5) runs along the eastern hotels and is where people swim before breakfast.
In the water
- Elephant Beach is the snorkelling site, reached by a short boat from the jetty or a jungle walk. The reef is close in and shallow; visibility is a seasonal and daily condition rather than a promise.
- Diving is what gives Havelock its reputation. There are several PADI and SSI schools on the island running everything from a first try-dive to full certification, and the sites off the north and east coasts are the best-regarded in India.
- Sea kayaking through the mangroves, often at night when the water is bioluminescent, is the other thing worth booking rather than improvising.
On land
- The island is small and flat enough to cover by scooter or bicycle, and the single road makes it hard to get lost.
- There is no nightlife to speak of and very little to buy. Havelock is a beach and a reef with places to sleep beside them, which is the point.
How long to give it
Arrive and Radhanagar
The ferry lands late morning. Settle, then Radhanagar for the afternoon and the sunset, which is the island’s set piece.
In the water
Elephant Beach for snorkelling, or a dive day if you are certified. Kalapathar in the late afternoon when Radhanagar is filling.
The unhurried one
A second dive, a mangrove kayak, or nothing at all. This is the night short itineraries drop and the one travellers most often wish they had kept.
South to Neil
A short ferry, and the natural next stop before returning to Port Blair.
Arriving & getting around
Ferry in, scooter once you are here.
Getting there
- By ferry from Port Blair — private fast catamarans and government services both run the route. Sailings and fares vary by operator and season, and the crossings sell out in the dry months.
- Rough weather cancels sailings outright, which is why no Andaman itinerary should be planned tight against a flight.
- Neil is a further short crossing beyond Havelock, and most routes take the islands in that order rather than doubling back.
On the island
- A scooter is the usual arrangement and the jetty-to-Radhanagar run takes about half an hour. Autos and shared jeeps cover the same road.
- Bicycles work for the shorter distances near the jetty and the eastern beaches.
- Fuel is available near the jetty and not much beyond it, so fill up before heading west.
When to visit
The diving season and the beach season are the same season, and both are decided by the sea.
Calm sea, the best underwater conditions of the year and the busiest weeks. Dive schools and rooms both need booking ahead over Christmas and the new year.
Hot, humid and still calm. Quieter than the peak and usually the last dependable window.
Rough sea, cancelled ferries and dive operations that suspend for weeks. Not a diving season and barely a beach one.
Underwater visibility is best in the dry months but varies day to day with swell and plankton. No operator can guarantee it and none should.
How to be a good guest
A settled island with a numbered map and a dive-shop economy.
How it came to be
- Havelock was settled from the 1950s, largely by Bengali families displaced by Partition, and the numbered villages are the surveyors’ marks that never went away.
- The economy was fishing and agriculture and is now overwhelmingly tourism and diving, which arrived in the 1990s and changed the island faster than anything since the settlement.
Eating and buying
- Seafood and Bengali cooking, with a layer of traveller food around the dive schools. Nearly everything not caught locally comes by ship from the mainland.
- Carry cash. ATMs are few and unreliable and card acceptance is patchy outside the larger resorts — draw what you need in Port Blair before the ferry.
Insider tips
- Two nights minimum, three if you are diving. One night means arriving in the afternoon and leaving on the morning ferry, which is not a visit to Havelock.
- Bring cash from Port Blair. ATMs here are few and go out of service, and card acceptance is patchy.
- Radhanagar is at its best in the early morning and its busiest at sunset. Both are worth seeing; they are different beaches.
- Book Elephant Beach and any dive in advance in the dry season rather than on arrival.
- Sandflies are real on the quieter beaches at dusk. Repellent is worth carrying.
- Who should come: anyone whose reason for the Andamans is the sea. Who should skip it: nobody on a first trip — this is the island the trip is for.
Nearby
Where Havelock leads next.
Related to Havelock Island
Journeys that include Havelock Island — each one visits the city as part of its itinerary.
Common questions
Plan your journey
Our travel designers turn knowledge and inspiration into a journey crafted entirely around you.
Plan My Journey →