Best of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India: Port Blair, Havelock, Radhanagar, Neil Island, Baratang, Cellular Jail & the Bay of Bengal Archipelago - A 2026 First-Person Guide

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Best of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India: Port Blair, Havelock, Radhanagar, Neil Island, Baratang, Cellular Jail & the Bay of Bengal Archipelago - A 2026 First-Person Guide

The first time I stepped off a ferry onto the wooden jetty at Havelock, my legs were still humming from the swell and my eyes were already trying to take in a colour of water I genuinely had not seen anywhere else in India. It was not the postcard turquoise of a glossy brochure. It was layered, almost stacked: a pale band of milk-glass close to the shore, then a strong jade where the sand dropped away, then a deep ink-blue where the reef edge fell into the Andaman Sea. A man in a faded fishing shirt was unloading crates of ice. A stray dog was sleeping in the shade of a betel-nut palm. Somewhere behind me, a tour group was already arguing about whether the boat to Elephant Beach was leaving at 9 or 9:30. That, I learned over the following ten days, is the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in one frame: dazzling, slightly chaotic, deeply Indian, and unlike anywhere else you have travelled in this country.

This is my full 2026 guide to the archipelago. I have written it for the kind of traveller who actually wants to go: people pricing flights, comparing Port Blair and Havelock, wondering whether the Cellular Jail is worth a full afternoon, asking if the Baratang mud volcanoes are still active, and trying to figure out what a Restricted Area Permit actually means in practice. I will cover Port Blair, Havelock Island (officially renamed Swaraj Dweep), Neil Island (Shaheed Dweep), Baratang, Ross Island, the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park and the further-out destinations such as Diglipur, Long Island and Cinque Island. I will also talk plainly about the things many guides skip: the Indigenous communities of these islands, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and what is and is not appropriate as a visitor in 2026.

TL;DR - What you actually need to know

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands sit in the Bay of Bengal, closer to Myanmar and Thailand than to mainland India. The Union Territory groups 572 islands across roughly 8,249 square kilometres, with a population of about 350,000 people. Only around 38 of these islands are inhabited, and a much smaller subset is open to tourists. The Nicobar group and several tribal reserves are completely off-limits to outside visitors. As of 2026, foreign nationals do not need to apply for the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) in advance for most permitted islands. The RAP is issued free of charge on arrival at Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair for a stay of up to 30 days, extendable by 15 days in person. Indian citizens do not require a permit for the Andaman group, although certain tribal reserves and the Nicobar Islands remain closed regardless of nationality. Foreign travellers will, separately, need an Indian e-Visa, typically the 60-day tourist e-Visa at around USD 25 for many nationalities, applied for online before travel.

Port Blair is the gateway. Flights from Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru take about 5 to 6 hours including layovers and run roughly USD 100 to USD 300 round trip depending on season. From Port Blair, you reach Havelock and Neil Islands by ferry, usually 1 to 2 hours each way, costing USD 15 to USD 25 one way on a fast catamaran such as Makruzz, Green Ocean or Nautika, and less on the slower government ferry. Inside Port Blair, an autorickshaw across town runs USD 1 to USD 3, and a mid-range hotel sits at USD 35 to USD 70 a night. On Havelock and Neil, beach resorts range from clean budget rooms at USD 25 a night to international-style eco-resorts at USD 200 plus.

The unmissable list is short and honest. The Cellular Jail in Port Blair, a colonial-era prison completed in 1906 that held thousands of Indian freedom fighters, is essential context for the rest of the trip. Radhanagar Beach on Havelock, voted Best Beach in Asia by Time magazine in 2004, is still genuinely one of the most beautiful stretches of sand you will see anywhere. Neil Island gives you a slower, quieter version of the same archipelago. Baratang adds something you do not get anywhere else in India: active mud volcanoes and tide-fed limestone caves. Ross Island is a half-day step into colonial and wartime history. Around all of this, the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park protects living coral reefs near Wandoor.

If you have 5 days, do Port Blair, Havelock and Ross. If you have 7, add Neil Island. If you have 10, add Baratang and either Diglipur in the north or Long Island and Cinque Island in the middle. The best season is October through April, with peak demand from late December through mid-February. May to September is the southwest monsoon: ferries are routinely cancelled, the sea is rough, and several beach activities close.

I will go deeper on every one of these below, with coordinates, costs in INR and USD, and the small practical details that I wish someone had told me before I flew in.

Why visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2026

I think 2026 is a genuinely good moment to plan this trip, and I want to explain why without overselling it.

First, the islands are far more accessible than they were even five years ago. Direct flights from major Indian metros run daily, and the RAP-on-arrival system for foreign visitors means there is no longer a separate paperwork loop before you fly. The catamaran ferry network between Port Blair, Havelock and Neil has matured. There are three or four reliable private operators in addition to the government ferry, and digital booking through their websites and apps works well enough that I stopped worrying about losing a day at a counter.

Second, the islands sit inside what Indian tourism increasingly markets as Block 45 in its internal coastal planning, an administrative grouping that pulls together the eastern coastline, the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman archipelago into a single tourism corridor. I mention this only because it shows where state attention is heading. Roads in Port Blair have been resurfaced, signage in English and Hindi has been added at most major sites, and the Cellular Jail museum has been refreshed with better lighting and additional translated panels. Radhanagar Beach has visible new sanitation infrastructure and a marked plastic-free zone. None of this changes what makes the islands special, but it does make the experience easier.

Third, Radhanagar Beach itself remains a benchmark. The Time magazine Best Beach in Asia recognition in 2004 is now more than two decades old, and the beach has every right to feel tired or overrun. It does not. The two-kilometre arc of soft white sand still ends in turquoise water clean enough that you can stand thigh-deep and watch your toes. Sunset there, with the silhouettes of returning fishing boats crossing the Andaman Sea, is one of the best free experiences in Indian travel.

Fourth, the colonial-era heritage of the Cellular Jail is being curated more thoughtfully than I remember it being on earlier visits. The site is on India's UNESCO World Heritage tentative list, completed in 1906 under British administration as a high-security prison for political prisoners after the 1857 uprising and the decades of the Indian freedom struggle that followed. The 663 solitary cells, arranged in seven radiating wings around a central watchtower, were built specifically to prevent contact between inmates. Walking through them, then watching the sound-and-light show in the evening that narrates the lives of the freedom fighters who were held here, is sobering and important. This is one of the few mainstream Indian travel sites where the colonial story is told without being softened.

Finally, and this is the most sensitive reason, visiting in 2026 means visiting at a moment when the Indigenous communities of these islands, including the Jarawa, the Onge, the Great Andamanese and the Sentinelese, are protected by an increasingly serious legal and administrative framework. Photographing tribal members is illegal. Stopping on the Andaman Trunk Road through Jarawa Reserve territory is illegal. Approaching North Sentinel Island in any form is illegal and reckless, as past incidents have tragically shown. A responsible visit in 2026 means understanding that these communities, whose continuous occupation of these islands stretches back tens of thousands of years, are not part of the tourism product. They are sovereign in their own land, and the islands are richer, not poorer, for it.

Background - A very short history of a very old archipelago

To travel the Andamans without any context is to miss most of what you are looking at. Here is a compressed version of a long story.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been continuously inhabited by Indigenous peoples for an extraordinarily long time. Genetic and archaeological evidence indicates that the Negrito communities of these islands, including the Jarawa, the Onge, the Great Andamanese and the Sentinelese, descend from one of the earliest waves of human migration out of Africa, with a presence on these islands estimated at roughly 60,000 years. Anthropologists often describe them as among the most isolated peoples in the world. North Sentinel Island, in particular, is home to the Sentinelese, who have actively rejected outside contact for as long as the outside world has tried.

For most of recorded history, the islands sat on the margins of larger maritime systems. Chola maritime activity in the 11th century, Arab and Malay trading networks, and later Danish and British survey expeditions all touched these shores in passing. The decisive shift came under British colonial rule. After the 1857 uprising on the mainland, the British East India Company and later the British Crown sought a remote penal location far from the Indian mainland. Port Blair was established as a penal settlement in 1858, and over the following decades it grew into a notorious site of exile and forced labour for Indian political prisoners. The Cellular Jail, completed in 1906, was the architectural embodiment of this policy: a purpose-built solitary-confinement prison designed to break the spirit of inmates. Many of India's most important freedom fighters were imprisoned here, and the conditions were brutal. The site is now central to how India remembers the freedom struggle.

The Second World War added another layer. Japanese forces occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from 1942 to 1945. In 1943, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, leader of the Indian National Army, visited Port Blair and on Ross Island raised the Indian tricolour, claiming this as the first Indian flag hoisted on Indian soil. The Japanese occupation was extremely harsh on the local civilian population, and the islands carry physical traces of that period in the form of bunkers, gun emplacements and ruined structures on Ross Island and elsewhere.

After Indian independence in 1947, the islands were administered directly by the central government, and in 1956 the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were formally constituted as a Union Territory of India. The capital remained at Port Blair. Postcolonial decades saw mainland Indian settlement increase, including communities from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere, alongside continued protection of tribal reserves.

The most recent event that everyone here remembers is the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Triggered by a massive undersea earthquake off Sumatra, the tsunami devastated coastlines around the basin and killed roughly 230,000 people across more than a dozen countries. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were severely affected, particularly in the Nicobar group and the southern Andaman coasts. Several communities were displaced, infrastructure was destroyed, and the trauma still shapes local conversations and emergency planning. Many of the rebuilt jetties, sea walls and warning systems you will see today date from the recovery effort. A respectful visitor takes this seriously and does not treat tsunami memorials as photo backdrops.

That is the compressed history. Now the places.

Five Tier 1 destinations I would not skip

1. Port Blair - the capital and gateway

Coordinates: 11.6234 N, 92.7265 E

Port Blair, with a population of about 110,000, is the administrative and logistical heart of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Almost everyone arrives here, and almost everyone leaves from here. The temptation is to treat it as a transit stop. I think that is a mistake. Give Port Blair at least one full day, and ideally one and a half.

The single most important site is the Cellular Jail National Memorial, on a low rise overlooking the harbour. The prison was completed in 1906 by the British colonial administration as a purpose-built high-security facility for Indian political prisoners. The design was deliberate: seven wings radiating from a central watchtower like spokes of a wheel, a total of 663 individual solitary cells, with each wing positioned so that no cell faced another. The intention was to make any form of communication between inmates physically impossible. Three of the original seven wings survive today, along with the central tower, the gallows and several of the original walls. Walk slowly. Read the panels. Step into one of the cells and close the door if the steward allows. The sound-and-light show in the evening, narrated in Hindi with English shows on selected days, runs in the open-air courtyard against the surviving walls of the prison and tells the story of freedom fighters such as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Batukeshwar Dutt and many others who were held here. Tickets are inexpensive, usually under USD 5, and the show is one of the most powerful 60 minutes you will spend in India.

Within easy reach of the Jail you have the Samudrika Marine Museum run by the Indian Navy, the Anthropological Museum which has carefully presented displays on the Indigenous peoples of the islands, the Chatham Saw Mill which is one of the oldest in Asia, and the Marina Park and waterfront where local families gather in the evening. Aberdeen Bazaar is the main shopping area: I bought a decent fisherman's shirt there for around INR 400, which is about USD 5, and ate a very good plate of fish curry rice at a basic local restaurant for about INR 180.

Corbyn's Cove Beach, about 7 kilometres south of the centre, is the closest swimmable beach to Port Blair. It is not a Radhanagar, and you should not expect it to be, but it is a fine half-day option if your ferry to Havelock leaves the next morning and you want some sand under your feet.

2. Havelock Island, officially Swaraj Dweep - the headliner

Coordinates: 12.0410 N, 92.9986 E

Havelock Island, officially renamed Swaraj Dweep, is the headline destination for most travellers, and for once the marketing matches the reality. The island covers about 92 square kilometres, sits roughly 70 kilometres northeast of Port Blair, and is reached by ferry in 1 to 2 hours depending on the service.

Radhanagar Beach, on the western side of the island, is the one everyone comes for. It is roughly 2 kilometres of soft white sand backed by tall Andaman hardwoods, opening west onto the Andaman Sea. Time magazine named it Best Beach in Asia in 2004, and even after more than two decades the basic ingredients have not changed: the sand is genuinely fine, the gradient into the water is gentle enough that families with small children can wade safely, and the sunset, when the sky goes through orange, pink and deep violet over the open sea, is reliably extraordinary. I went three evenings in a row and did not regret a single one. The beach has lifeguards during marked hours, a small set of food stalls outside the entrance, and modest changing facilities. Swimming inside the marked safe zone is essential because there are occasional crocodile sightings further along the coast, and the warnings are not theatre.

Elephant Beach, on the northern side of the island, is reached by a short jungle walk or by a quick speedboat ride from the main jetty. This is the snorkelling and water-sports hub. The fringing reef is close to shore, and on a good day you can see clownfish, parrotfish, butterflyfish, soft corals, sea cucumbers and the occasional small reef shark in shallow water. Operators offer snorkelling, sea-walking, jet-skiing and banana-boat rides. The sea-walking experience, where you walk on the seabed wearing a weighted helmet fed by surface-supplied air, is one of the only places in India where this is widely offered, and it is genuinely magical for non-divers.

Havelock is also one of the best dive locations in India. Several PADI dive centres operate from the main village, and sites such as The Wall, Aquarium, Lighthouse and Dixon's Pinnacle are well known among Indian Ocean divers. Dolphin sightings on the open-sea transits between dive sites are common. A single fun dive runs around USD 50 to USD 70, and Open Water certification courses are typically USD 350 to USD 450.

Eat at the small village restaurants near the jetty and Beach Number 5. You will pay a fraction of resort prices for genuinely good food: grilled fish, fresh squid, prawn curries and Bengali-influenced rice plates.

3. Neil Island, officially Shaheed Dweep - the slower one

Coordinates: 11.8333 N, 93.0500 E

Neil Island, officially Shaheed Dweep, is the smaller, quieter sibling of Havelock. It is about 40 minutes by fast ferry from Havelock and roughly 1 hour 15 minutes from Port Blair. If Havelock is where Indian honeymooners and dive enthusiasts cluster, Neil is where I would send anyone who finds Havelock a bit too busy.

Bharatpur Beach, near the jetty, is the most accessible. It has clear shallow water, a small fringing reef, and glass-bottomed boat tours that run continuously through the day. Laxmanpur Beach on the western side has the famous Howrah Bridge natural stone arch, a sea-sculpted limestone formation that frames the sunset particularly well at low tide. Sitapur Beach on the eastern side faces sunrise and is one of the quietest stretches of sand in the inner Andaman group.

Neil is small enough that you can rent a scooter for about INR 500 a day, which is around USD 6, and circle the entire island in a long afternoon. Restaurants on Neil tend to be simple beachside cafes serving Indian, Bengali and basic continental food. Accommodation ranges from family-run budget guesthouses at USD 20 a night to several mid-range eco-resorts at USD 80 to USD 150.

Neil Island is also where I noticed the Andaman environment recovering visibly. Reef patches I had seen in poor condition on an earlier trip looked healthier this time, and several operators have moved to reef-safe sunscreen requirements and stricter no-touch rules underwater. Support that. Buy the right sunscreen before you fly, because options on the islands are limited.

4. Baratang Island - the only place in India for this

Coordinates: 12.0998 N, 92.7873 E

Baratang Island is what convinced me to extend my trip by two days. It is reached by road from Port Blair, a trip of about 100 kilometres on the Andaman Trunk Road, with a vehicle ferry crossing at Middle Strait. The trip takes around 3 hours each way and is typically done as a long day trip starting before dawn.

Baratang offers two experiences that you cannot have anywhere else in India. The first is the limestone caves at Nayadera, reached by a 30-minute speedboat ride through dense mangrove creeks. The boat passes between walls of mangrove roots and arrives at a small jetty, from where a short jungle walk leads to a cave system carved into limestone by water over millennia. Bring a torch even though guides usually have one. The second is the mud volcanoes near Jarkamati, low conical mounds of grey clay that bubble slowly and occasionally erupt with a soft hiss. There are very few active mud volcanoes anywhere in India, and these are by far the most accessible.

You also pass briefly through the Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the way. This is the sensitive part, and I want to be precise. The Andaman Trunk Road runs through reserve territory under a convoy system administered by the police. Vehicles travel together at fixed times. Stopping inside the reserve is illegal. Photographing or videoing any Jarawa person you may glimpse is illegal. Offering food, money or any item is illegal. The convoy is not a safari. Do not treat it as one. The simplest rule is to keep your phone in your bag for the duration of the reserve crossing and behave as if you are passing through someone's home, because you are.

Baratang is, in my opinion, the single most distinctive landscape in the entire archipelago after Radhanagar Beach. The mud volcanoes are humble in scale but memorable in feel, and the mangrove ride to the caves is one of the most peaceful boat trips I have taken in India.

5. Ross Island, officially Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep - colonial ruins and a piece of 1943

Coordinates: 11.6855 N, 92.7621 E

Ross Island, officially Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, sits in Port Blair harbour about 2 kilometres east of the main town. Regular boats run from the Aberdeen Jetty, and the round trip is easy to combine with a half-day in Port Blair.

The island was the British administrative headquarters for the Andaman penal settlement from the 1860s onwards. At its peak it carried a chief commissioner's residence, a church, a bakery, a printing press, a tennis court, a cemetery and the supporting infrastructure of colonial life. The 1941 earthquake and the Japanese occupation that followed in 1942 to 1945 damaged much of this. Today the island is essentially a small overgrown ruin field, with shells of the church and the chief commissioner's house standing in twisted curtains of strangler-fig roots. The atmosphere is genuinely haunting in the better sense of the word.

On 30 December 1943, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose visited Ross Island and raised the Indian tricolour, an act remembered in India as the first hoisting of the national flag on Indian soil under the banner of the Provisional Government of Free India. A small memorial marks the site. The current naming of the island honours this moment.

Deer and peacocks wander the paths now. A short, well-signed loop walk covers the main ruins in about 90 minutes. Sound-and-light shows are sometimes scheduled in the evenings.

Five Tier 2 destinations worth your time if you have it

Diglipur and Saddle Peak (North Andaman). Coordinates around 13.2667 N, 93.0167 E. About 10 hours by road or 4 hours by faster boat from Port Blair. Saddle Peak at 732 metres is the highest point in the Andamans, with a guided trek through dense rainforest. Ross and Smith islands here are joined at low tide by a natural sandbar, one of the prettier accidental landscapes in the country.
Smith and Ross Islands and the Lime Stone Cave area near Diglipur. Day trip from Diglipur. Calm clear water, very few visitors, basic facilities. Reachable by small boat from Aerial Bay jetty.
Long Island and Lalaji Bay Beach. Coordinates around 12.3667 N, 92.9333 E. Slow island life, very limited resorts, white-sand beach reached by a short jungle walk. A good place to stop on a Port Blair to Diglipur ferry trip.
Cinque Island. Coordinates around 11.2667 N, 92.7000 E. A day-trip-only marine destination known for snorkelling and scuba on undisturbed reefs. No overnight stays. Operators run from Wandoor and Port Blair.
Wandoor Beach and the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park (Jolly Buoy and Red Skin Islands). Coordinates around 11.5833 N, 92.6167 E. Around 30 kilometres southwest of Port Blair. The marine park alternates open islands by season to allow reefs to recover. Glass-bottomed boat tours, regulated snorkelling and one of the better Indian examples of active reef management.

Costs in INR and USD - what you should expect to spend

I have used a simple INR to USD parity reference of roughly INR 83 to USD 1, with prices given in both for clarity. These are 2026 ballpark figures from my own bookings and from recent operator quotes, not a guarantee. Always check at the time of travel.

Entry and paperwork. The Restricted Area Permit is free of charge on arrival at Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair for foreign nationals, valid for 30 days and extendable by 15 days. Indian citizens do not need a permit for the Andaman group. Foreign nationals will also need an Indian e-Visa, with the 60-day tourist e-Visa at around USD 25 for many nationalities, applied online before flying.

Flights. Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai or Bengaluru to Port Blair, round trip, runs about USD 100 to USD 300 depending on season and how far in advance you book. December to early February is the most expensive. The flight time from the mainland is roughly 2 to 2.5 hours direct, with total travel time of 5 to 6 hours including a layover if you do not get a direct service.

Ferries. Port Blair to Havelock on a fast catamaran such as Makruzz, Green Ocean or Nautika takes about 90 minutes and costs roughly INR 1,250 to INR 2,000 one way, which is USD 15 to USD 25. The government ferry is slower at 2.5 to 3 hours and significantly cheaper at around INR 400 to INR 600, which is USD 5 to USD 7. Havelock to Neil runs about INR 1,000 to INR 1,500 on the fast service, around USD 12 to USD 18. Book the catamaran online a few days in advance during peak season.

Accommodation. In Port Blair, a clean budget hotel runs INR 1,500 to INR 2,500 a night, around USD 18 to USD 30. Mid-range hotels are INR 3,000 to INR 5,500, around USD 35 to USD 70. On Havelock, budget guesthouses near the main village start at around USD 25, mid-range beach resorts run USD 80 to USD 150, and the better eco-resorts near Radhanagar can run USD 200 and up. Neil Island is generally 10 to 20 percent cheaper than Havelock at every tier.

Food. A simple thali or fish-curry rice plate at a local restaurant is INR 150 to INR 250, around USD 2 to USD 3. A grilled-fish dinner with sides at a beach restaurant is INR 600 to INR 1,000, around USD 7 to USD 12. Resort restaurants run roughly double local prices.

Activities. Cellular Jail entry is around INR 100, the sound-and-light show is around INR 300, and Ross Island day trips including the boat are INR 600 to INR 900. Snorkelling at Elephant Beach with gear is roughly USD 15 to USD 25 per person. A single fun dive on Havelock or Neil is USD 50 to USD 70. PADI Open Water certification is USD 350 to USD 450. The Baratang day trip with mud volcanoes and caves, booked through a Port Blair operator, runs USD 35 to USD 60 per person including transport.

Local transport. Autorickshaws in Port Blair run INR 80 to INR 250 within town. A full-day taxi for sightseeing is INR 2,500 to INR 3,500, around USD 30 to USD 42. Scooter rental on Havelock or Neil is around INR 500 a day, with a refundable deposit. Always confirm fuel is included or not.

A reasonable mid-range budget for a 7-day trip including flights from mainland India lands at roughly USD 750 to USD 1,400 per person. Pure budget travel can be done at half of that. Honeymoon-tier resorts can easily push to USD 3,000 plus.

Planning a 5 to 10 day itinerary

When to go. October to April is the dry season and the only window I recommend. December and January are peak demand for Indian holidaymakers around Christmas and New Year, with the highest prices and the most booking pressure. February and March are my personal favourite: still dry, slightly cheaper, and the sea is at its calmest. April starts to feel humid and storms build. May to September is the southwest monsoon, with rough seas, frequent ferry cancellations, cyclone risk, closed beach activities and limited dive operations. I do not recommend a holiday trip in those months.

Five-day itinerary. Day 1 fly to Port Blair, Cellular Jail in the afternoon, sound-and-light show in the evening. Day 2 morning ferry to Havelock, afternoon at Radhanagar Beach for sunset. Day 3 Elephant Beach snorkelling, evening at Beach Number 5. Day 4 morning ferry back to Port Blair, Ross Island in the afternoon. Day 5 fly out.

Seven-day itinerary. Add two nights on Neil Island after Havelock. Day 4 Havelock to Neil by ferry, afternoon at Laxmanpur and Howrah Bridge rock. Day 5 Bharatpur Beach and Sitapur sunrise. Day 6 ferry to Port Blair, Ross Island, evening in Aberdeen Bazaar. Day 7 fly out.

Ten-day itinerary. Add Baratang as a long day trip from Port Blair before flying out, and either Diglipur with two extra nights in the north or Long Island and Cinque Island as marine day trips. If you scuba dive, allocate a full extra day to Havelock for at least one two-tank dive.

Eight frequently asked questions

Do I need a Restricted Area Permit for the Andaman Islands in 2026? Foreign nationals are issued the RAP free of charge on arrival at Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair, valid for 30 days and extendable by 15 days in person. Most Andaman group islands open to tourism are covered. Indian citizens do not need a permit for the Andaman group. Nicobar Islands and several tribal reserves are closed to all outside visitors regardless of nationality.

Do I still need an Indian e-Visa as a foreign visitor? Yes. The RAP is not a visa. Foreign nationals will need an Indian e-Visa, typically the 60-day tourist e-Visa at around USD 25, applied for online before travel. Confirm the latest categories on the official Indian visa portal.

Are ferries reliable? During the dry season, yes, they are generally reliable. Fast catamaran operators run multiple daily services between Port Blair, Havelock and Neil. During the monsoon from May through September, cancellations are routine. Always build a buffer day before your international or mainland flight.

Is it safe to swim everywhere? No. Swim within marked zones only. Radhanagar Beach has occasional crocodile warnings further along the shore, and beach signage is taken seriously. Always check with lifeguards before entering the water at unfamiliar beaches.

Can I visit a tribal village? No. The Jarawa, Onge, Great Andamanese and Sentinelese live in protected reserves. Tourist visits, photography and any form of contact are illegal. The convoy crossing of the Andaman Trunk Road through Jarawa Reserve territory is a transit route, not a tourist activity.

Is it safe to travel solo as a woman? I have spoken with solo women travellers who reported a generally positive experience, with the usual sensible precautions around evening transit, alcohol and isolated beaches. Port Blair, Havelock and Neil are well-trodden tourist circuits with active local communities.

What language is spoken? Hindi is widely spoken in tourism contexts, alongside Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam in different settler communities. English works well for tickets, hotels and guided tours. Indigenous languages on these islands are critically endangered and are not used in tourism settings.

Is the food vegetarian-friendly? Yes. Indian vegetarian thalis, South Indian breakfasts and Bengali vegetarian preparations are widely available. Seafood is excellent and fresh. Beef is uncommon, and pork is rare. Halal options are available in Port Blair and several Havelock restaurants.

Phrases and languages

The linguistic landscape here reflects the islands' migration history. Hindi is the lingua franca. Bengali is widely spoken because of the large settler community originally from West Bengal. Tamil is common in several settlements. Telugu and Malayalam are heard. English is the working language of tourism and government. The Indigenous Andamanese languages, including Jarawa, Onge and Great Andamanese, are critically endangered, with only a handful of speakers in some cases, and they are not used in any tourist context.

A small handful of phrases that helped me. Namaste, the universal Indian greeting, works everywhere. Dhanyavad means thank you in Hindi. Kitne ka hai means how much is it, which is the single most useful question at any market. Pani means water and chai means tea. In Bengali contexts, dhonnobad is thank you and bhalo achi means I am well. Tamil speakers will appreciate vanakkam as a greeting and nandri as thank you. Do not attempt to use Indigenous Andamanese words. It is not appropriate.

Cultural notes - the part I really want you to read

I want to be direct here, because this archipelago demands it.

The Indigenous peoples of the Andaman Islands, including the Jarawa, the Onge, the Great Andamanese and the Sentinelese, are not part of the tourism experience. They live in protected reserves under Indian law, and the law is enforced. Photography of any Indigenous person is illegal. Stopping, lingering, gesturing, offering food or anything else through a vehicle window during the Andaman Trunk Road convoy is illegal. Approaching North Sentinel Island in any form is illegal and physically dangerous. A 2018 incident in which an outside visitor was killed approaching the island should not be repeated. Treat all of this as a hard line. The richer your understanding of these communities is, the better, but that understanding is best built through the Anthropological Museum in Port Blair, through reputable books and through documentaries, not through any in-person attempt.

The Cellular Jail and the wider freedom-struggle heritage of these islands are also sensitive. Many Indian visitors come here specifically to honour ancestors and historical figures who were imprisoned. Move quietly. Do not photograph in the gallows chamber. Do not treat the sound-and-light show as background noise.

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami remains a living memory. Roughly 230,000 people were killed across more than a dozen countries by the disaster, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were severely affected, particularly the Nicobar group. Memorials and rebuilt jetties should be treated with respect.

On beaches and reefs, follow the small rules. Reef-safe sunscreen. No touching coral. No standing on coral. No collecting shells or coral, including pieces washed up on the beach, because removal is restricted under Indian law. Carry your trash off the beach. Refuse single-use plastic where you can. The islands have made visible progress on plastic management, and visitors should support it.

In villages and small bazaars, modest beach cover-up when leaving the sand is appreciated. Inside places of worship, follow standard Indian conventions: shoes off, shoulders and knees covered, photography only where permitted.

Pre-trip preparation

Permits and visas. Foreign nationals: e-Visa online before flying. RAP free on arrival in Port Blair, valid 30 days, extendable 15. Indian nationals: no permit needed for the Andaman group, photo ID such as Aadhaar or passport carried at all times.

Health. Standard India vaccinations as advised by your country's travel health service, including routine boosters, hepatitis A and typhoid. Dengue is present, so day-biting mosquito precautions matter: long sleeves at dusk, repellent with DEET or picaridin, and accommodation with good screens or nets. There is no malaria-free guarantee in some pockets, so check current advisories. Carry a basic medical kit including rehydration salts, antiseptic, paracetamol and any prescription medications in original packaging.

Diving and water sports. Bring or renew your dive certification card before flying. Pack reef-safe sunscreen, because options on the islands are limited. A rash guard and water shoes are useful.

Footwear and clothing. Sturdy hiking sandals or trail shoes for Baratang, Saddle Peak and the longer beach walks. Lightweight cottons. A light rain shell even in the dry season. A modest cover-up for village contexts.

Money. ATMs work in Port Blair and on Havelock, with more limited availability on Neil and effectively none on smaller islands. Carry a reasonable cash buffer in INR for ferry counters, small restaurants and scooter deposits. Some resorts accept cards, but do not assume.

Connectivity. Mobile data on Indian SIMs works reasonably well in Port Blair, less well on Havelock and Neil, and is patchy elsewhere. Foreign SIMs roaming on Indian networks may have limited support. Treat several days as semi-offline.

Insurance. Make sure your travel insurance covers diving to the depth you plan, watersports, and medical evacuation. The islands are remote, and evacuation to the mainland for serious cases is a real cost.

Three trips I would recommend by traveller type

The first-timer's classic, 6 nights. Fly into Port Blair. Two nights in Port Blair for the Cellular Jail, sound-and-light show, Ross Island and a half day around Corbyn's Cove. Three nights on Havelock for Radhanagar Beach, Elephant Beach snorkelling and one optional dive. One night back in Port Blair to catch the morning flight home. This is the safest, easiest, most memorable shape of the trip.

The slow honeymoon, 8 nights. Two nights in Port Blair, three on Havelock at a mid-range or upper-tier beach resort, three on Neil Island at a quiet eco-resort. Add private sunset cruises and at least one couples' dive lesson. Skip the long day trips.

The deeper traveller, 11 nights. Two nights in Port Blair, including the Anthropological Museum properly. Three nights on Havelock with two dive days. Two nights on Neil. One full day to Baratang for mud volcanoes and limestone caves. Three nights in Diglipur in the north for Saddle Peak and Ross and Smith islands. Return ferry to Port Blair and a final flight home.

Six related guides for the wider region

If you are planning the Andamans as part of a larger Bay of Bengal or southern Asia loop, these are the regional guides I would pair this one with on visitingplacesin.com:

A West Bengal guide covering Kolkata, the Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal coast, useful as the natural mainland gateway from the north.
A Tamil Nadu guide covering Chennai, the Coromandel coast and the southern routes, useful as the natural gateway from the south.
A Sri Lanka guide covering Colombo, Galle, the southern beaches and the central highlands, for travellers extending into the broader Indian Ocean.
A Myanmar coastal and Mergui Archipelago guide, useful for context on the Andaman Sea coastline opposite these islands.
An Indonesia Sumatra guide covering Banda Aceh, Pulau Weh and the western coastline, useful both for diving comparisons and for tsunami history context.
A Lakshadweep guide for the Arabian Sea side of Indian island travel, the natural comparison destination to the Andamans within India.

Five external references

For deeper or official planning, I lean on these sources rather than aggregator sites:

Andaman and Nicobar Tourism, the official Union Territory tourism portal, for the latest permit, ferry and site rules.
The Anthropological Survey of India, for accurate context on the Jarawa, Onge, Great Andamanese, Sentinelese and other Indigenous communities of these islands.
The Cellular Jail National Memorial trust and Ministry of Culture pages, for verified history of the prison and the freedom struggle.
The Indian Coast Guard advisories, for current sea conditions during the monsoon shoulder months and for tsunami and cyclone alerts.
The Andaman and Nicobar Administration website of the Government of India, for official policy on entry, permits, marine national parks and tribal reserves.

A short closing

I came to the Andamans expecting beaches. I left with a much stranger and richer set of memories: the smell of damp prison stone in the Cellular Jail at dusk, the moment a sea turtle drifted under my fins at Elephant Beach, the absurd grey bubbling of a mud volcano in the middle of a jungle clearing, an evening on Radhanagar with the sky on fire and a small girl building a sandcastle a few metres from me. These islands are far from the rest of India in distance and feel almost further in atmosphere, but they are deeply, recognisably part of the country, and they reward travellers who arrive curious rather than entitled. Go with time. Go with respect. Go in the dry season. Build your trip around Port Blair, Havelock, Neil and at least one of the more unusual options like Baratang or Diglipur, and you will come home with the kind of memories that make people on the mainland ask if you are sure you really went to India.

Last updated: 2026-05-11.

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