Port Blair and Havelock — 4 Nights on Two Andaman Islands

You are met at Veer Savarkar airport and driven into town; most flights from the mainland land in the morning. The afternoon is the Cellular Jail, the radial prison built between 1896 and 1906, where three of the original seven wings survive as a national memorial. Corbyn’s Cove, the town beach, fits in before dusk if you want sand on the first day. After dark the sound-and-light show runs in the jail courtyard, in Hindi or English depending on the evening, and we confirm which when your dates are fixed.

The ferry north to Havelock takes about two hours on the fast boats, and we confirm the sailing when your tickets are issued. A car meets you at the jetty and takes you to your hotel. The afternoon is for Radhanagar on the west coast, roughly half an hour’s drive from the jetty: a long, wide, white beach with jungle behind it. Stay for the sunset, when most of the island turns up, and keep the evening empty.

This is the day that three-island trips of the same length do not have. The morning goes to Kalapathar on the east coast, a narrower, quieter beach named for the black rocks at its southern end. After that the day is yours. Elephant Beach, a short boat ride from the jetty, is where the island snorkels; the dive schools take first-timers as well as certified divers; or you can go back to Radhanagar before it fills. The boat and any activity are optional, and are arranged and priced with your quote.

A last morning on Havelock; the beach along the eastern hotels is the easy place for a swim before breakfast. The ferry then takes you back to Port Blair, where a car brings you to your hotel. If the afternoon allows, the Samudrika Naval Marine Museum gives an hour’s account of the reef and the islands’ ecology. The trip comes back here the day before the flight on purpose: a delayed sailing then costs you an evening in town, not a seat on an aircraft.

After breakfast a car takes you the short distance from the town to the airport, in good time for the flight home. Nothing is planned for this morning, because departures from Port Blair tend to be early and because the reason for sleeping here last night was to keep the day clear of ferries. If your flight is later in the day, the morning is your own in town.