Port Blair and Baratang — 3 Nights with the Limestone Caves

You are collected at the airport and taken to the hotel you keep for the whole trip. The afternoon belongs to the Cellular Jail: seven wings were built around a central tower, three still stand, and the cells are open to walk through. There is a show in the courtyard in the evening if you want it, but tomorrow starts before dawn, so an early dinner and an early night are the better plan. We tell you the pick-up time for Baratang this evening.

The longest day of the trip, and the reason for it. Baratang lies roughly a hundred kilometres north, and the road crosses protected forest in which, as it is run at present, vehicles travel only in escorted groups, without stopping or photographs. A vehicle ferry then crosses the strait. From the jetty a small boat runs up a mangrove creek to a landing, and a footpath continues to the limestone caves. The caves are the purpose of the day; the convoy, the permit and the boats that get you there are outside our control and are not guaranteed, so we reconfirm all three before you travel.

Yesterday was a dawn-to-dusk day, so nothing today is fixed. If you would like to go out, the car is available for Corbyn’s Cove, the town’s own beach, and for the Samudrika Naval Marine Museum, which explains the reef and the islands’ ecology in about an hour. The day has a second purpose. If the convoy or the boats did not run yesterday, the Baratang excursion moves here, which is why we would not sell this trip with fewer nights.

A last breakfast and the drive to the airport, which is close to the town. Departures for the mainland are bunched before midday, which leaves little of the morning. If yours leaves later, tell us when you book and we will say honestly whether there is time for anything more than the waterfront.