Havelock Island - Beauty Unparalleled

Havelock Island is about 57 kms north east of Port Blair. The Island got its name from a British General, Henry Havelock.  

Havelock Island

From Port Blair, it takes 90 minutes to reach Havelock Island in  a privately operated cruise while government ferry takes 150 minutes approximately. We had booked a privately operated cruise Makruzz in advance for the Island. The cruise leaves from Phoenix Bay Jetty at 9:00 in the morning.  Cabs are not allowed to enter the Phoenix bay jetty, only authorized buses are allowed to enter. Our cab driver left us near the bus, which took us to the jetty.

At Phoenix Bay Jetty

Dock

Dock

Makruzz is fully Air-Conditioned cruise. We had awesome time travelling in it.  

Makruzz

We reached Havelock in 90 minutes. The view from the main jetty (Beach number 1) of Havelock Island is marvelous. I was amazed to see the beauty of the nature.

At Havelock Island

View from the jetty

Pristine clear sea water

We had booked Dolphin Resort for our stay at Havelock Island. The resort has its own private beach- Vijaynagar beach (beach number 5). It is a government resort. The location of the resort is awesome, the food served in the dining hall is also good but there is no room service or housekeeping.

Dolphin Resort

Dolphin Resort

Dolphin Resort

In the evening by 4:00, we went to see the Vijaynagar beach.  This beach is famous for coral viewing.  We got some good pictures of the sea corals.

Vijaynagar Beach

Corals at Vijaynagar Beach

Beautiful Vijaynagar Beach

Vijaynagar Beach

Sea Corals

Awesome view 

Breathtaking  

There are bikes and scooters available on rent to explore the island so we got ourselves a scooter. We went to the most famous beach of Havelock -Radhanagar beach( Beach number 7). It was awarded as the “BEST BEACH IN ASIA” by Times (magazine) in 2004. It is a bit far from the Dolphin Resort and it took us, almost 35 minutes to reach there. We had fun at the beach though our daughter was scared of going near the sea and was busy playing in the sand. The water of the sea is pristine clear.

Radhanagar Beach

BEST BEACH IN ASIA-  RADHANAGAR BEACH

Mesmerizing Radhanagar Beach 

View from the Sea shore

Radhanagar Beach

Radhanagar Beach

View from the Sea shore

There are many shops near the beach selling some exquisite seashell items. The island dwellers are mostly Bengalis but everyone understands and speaks Hindi too.

Next day in the morning, we went to the main jetty (beach number 1) and book a boat ride to Elephant beach.  There are two ways of reaching Elephant beach, one is Boat ride of 20-25 minutes and another one is forest trekking of 30-40 minutes. We preferred boat ride. This beach is famous for snorkeling, banana boat ride, glass bottom boat ride, Jet Ski and many others. The view on the way to Elephant beach is also breathtaking.

 Beach number 1

Boats taking tourist to Elephant Beach

On our way to Elephant Beach

Lighthouse on the way to Elephant Beach

At Elephant Beach

Elephant Beach

Elephant Beach

There are many shops in the beach selling fruit chat, clothes (shirts with Andaman logos). We had fruit chat and it was yummy.  We had Glass Bottom Boat Ride. The boat bottom is made up of glass and so one can get the view of the sea corals, fishes and sea plants.

Boat for Glass Bottom Boat Ride 

Banana boat ride is also very interesting but we didn’t go for it. We went for snorkeling and it was super fun. There are no waves in this beach and so our daughter finally enjoyed getting soaked in the sea water. We had super fun.  There are changing rooms too in this beach.

Banana Boat Ride

Snorkeling

This beach closes by 3:00 in the afternoon but we left the beach by 1:00.  In the evening, we were relaxing in the resort.

Next Morning, we went to Kalapathar Beach. It had a deserted look but views were astounding.

On the way to Kalapathar Beach

On our way to Kalapathar Beach

Awesome view

Mesmerizing 

Kalapathar Beach

Kalapathar Beach

We had our return cruise for Port Blair in the evening. We had an awesome time at Havelock especially at Elephant Beach.

By 6:00 in the evening, we were back to our hotel in Port Blair –Peerless Sarovar Portico. In my next blog, I will give the details of exploring the Cellular Jail in Port Blair.

Port Blair

After exploring Ross Island in the morning, we went for local sightseeing in the evening. We hired a cab for it.  Our exploration of Port Blair began with the Cellular Jail( famously called Kaala Pani) . The Jail is closed on Mondays but Light and Sound show organized in Jail is open. After getting the tickets for the show, we thought of exploring some nearby tourist places as we were a bit early and had two hours with us.

Cellular Jail

Before we could head to any another place, our little one noticed a flock of pigeon in a small park on the opposite side of the Jail and she wanted to have a proper look at the pigeon so we headed there. The Park is called “Veer Savakar Park”, a memorial for the freedom fighters.  A man was feeding flock of pigeon in the park and our little princess was fascinated by it.

Memorial Park for freedom fighters

At Veer Savarkar Park

Man feeding pigeons at Veer Savarkar Park

Veer Savarkar Park

Idol of Veer Damodar Savarkar

View from the Park

After spending some time in the park, we went to Joggers Park. One can get the view of the runway of the “Veer Savarkar International Airport” from the Joggers Park. The view of Ross Island is also wonderful. 

Joggers Park

View of the Runway 

 View of the Ross Island

Next, we went to the Gandhi Park. This park is full of rides especially for the tiny tots. And so our little princess had  lot of fun there. 

Statue of Gandhiji at Gandhi Park

After spending some time in the Gandhi Park, we headed to the Cellular Jail for the light and sound show. The show is really worth watching. It shows us the torture the freedom fighters went through, to give us independence. Photography is prohibited during the show.

Cellular Jail 

After the show was over, we went back to our hotel. Next day, we went to explore Havelock Island. Details of it, I will give in my next blog.