We visited the Andaman Islands as part of a rally and were thoroughly disappointed. Andaman Islands are definitely somewhere we will not visit again, or could recommend.

Things to do

Port Blair

Amongst the laundry lined roads and meandering cows there are a few things to fill your time in Port Blair. It doesn’t have a thriving tourism industry but has a history that is interesting.

Port Blair was a British Penal Colony and also occupied by the Japanese for a period during WWII. The British later handed it over to India. Due to the immigration during the penal colonisation then changing over to Indian rule a caste system was has never been established.

Additionally, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands host several tribes whose lands and lives are protected under a Tribal Law. No domestic or foreign person may visit and they are predominantly left in peace to live their traditional lifestyles. Some are friendly, some are hostile. Take the missionary who tried to visit North Sentinal Island took a poision dart for his efforts to spread the word of the lord. The Nicobese are thriving with a population of 20,000 plus. Some are verging on extinction with numbers down to just a few families.

Cultural

• Cellular Jail. Hire a guide for a better experience and information. Some guides are related to people who were imprisoned here and are very passionate about the history.
• Kalapani Museum. A little out of the way, it is packed full of info. The best part is up on the top floor where you can watch a fascinating 30 minute documentary on the Nicobarese Tribes.
• Samudrika Marine Museum. We found this one pretty interesting. It had better tribal info than the Anthropological Museum in our opinion, and much cheaper.
• Anthropological Museum. Interesting but is mainly dated photos with some artifacts, overpriced in my opioning at 150 rupiah. It does have some interesting info on the various tribes.
• Chatham Saw Mill and WWII Bomb hole. Worth a look around, only takes 30 mins or so and is quite interesting.

Dining

Dining out in Port Blair varies from road side stalls to more expensive restaurants located in resorts. More expensive doesn’t mean better. Some of the best food can be found in the road side stalls or low key cafes. Most are vegetarian, most don’t serve beer.

• Lighthouse Residency Restaurant (not to be confused with the New Lighthouse Restaurant). 3rd floor, has a view. Food is good and serves beer. There is a big screen tv here too, we watched the Cricket while here.
• Amaya. Best views in Port Blair. Wifi, cold beer, music, good food. Our favourite. It is covered and is cool and breezy.
• Ananda. We ate here a few times, good food, no beer.
• Annapurna – good lunchtime place to discover thalis (naan with multiple sauces/dips). It is vegetarian only, doesn’t serve alcohol.
• Seashells. Food okay but expensive. No atmosphere inside, view not as good as upstairs at Amaya. No beer or wifi. Just go to Amaya.
• Stalls near the dinghy dock are good, as is the ferry cafe around on Chatham Island.
• Samosas 2nd stall in from the Ghandi Roundabout

Drinking

There are a few little bars around the place but none too close to the dinghy jetty. More formal bars can be found in the resorts but can be difficult to get tuk tuks home from. Beer and spirits are common but you’ll struggle to find wine.

• Amaya – see above.
• Lighthouse Residency
• TSG Emerald

Shopping/groceries

• There are little stalls and mini-marts everywhere but it is best to come fully provisioned if you can. Basics can be bought.
• Haddo Village is close to the dinghy dock and you can get provisions there.
• Early in the morning fish is sold on Chatham Bridge. There might be some vege stalls about then too.
• Aberdeen Bazaar has fruit and vegetables. Quite fresh but the produce doesn’t keep well.
• There is a seafood market but we didn’t visit it.
• There are a few bakeries around Aberdeen Market.
• Alcohol. The government wine shops are only open for a few hours in the afternoon and there is a daily limit to what you can buy. 8 cans I think per person.
• There are shops of some marine interest up in Haddo Village. You’ll need to walk about to see what there is.

Sims/Telecomms

Telecommunications are a headache in the Andamans. Basically, a 3G signal is rare. It took 5 days and many trips to the phone shop(s) to sort the problem. You can only get a sim in one place too. BSNL is the main carrier. They’ll charge you for any text messages not received, ie, pay for 100 texts, have only 20 received, no credit left.

Other points of interest/things to do

• Yoga: We did a great class up the hill in Haddo Village. She catered to all our skill levels. Excellent english.

Havelock Island

Havelock is the jewel in the Andaman’s pretty ordinary crown. It boasts one of South East Asia’s prettiest beaches, Radhanagar Beach, or No. 7 Beach for those who can’t pronounce its name. It hosts a lot of domestic tourism. It is a bit back to front. The pretty beach is away from the town and resorts. A bus or scooter is required to get across the island. Local tour operators drive horrifyingly fast so just be careful.

Chidiya Tapu

• Small kiosk
• Biological Park (Wouldn’t recommend if you care for animal welfare – They’ve even marked the carcass disposal area on the map)
• A 2km walk out to the point