Andaman - Part 2 - Havelock Island : Paradise for Adventure Seekers

Swaraj Dweep earlier known as Havelock Island gets the highest tourist footfall every year due to its pristine beaches, turquoise blue crystal clear waters sea and the wide variety of water sports that it offers. Havelock Island was previously named after a British General Sir Henry Havelock who served in India. In December 2018, it was renamed, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Swaraj Island as a tribute to Subhash Chandra Bose He then subsequently named Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep and Ross Island was renamed as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Dweep as well.

Havelock island can be reached from Port Blair by ferries and cruises. We had booked our tickets in Makruzz. And the views during our one hour journey from Port Blair to Havelock was mesmerizing. 

 





We were put up in HHBR (Holiday and Holiday Beach) resort during our stint in Havelock and I must say this is the best property one can plan to stay with your rooms facing the ocean. 





We tried authentic fish fry here at the restaurant which is Andaman’s local catch of the season. This grilled fish fry also tasted simply yummy.



 

Please find below list of famous spots that can be visited in Havelock. One must plan a minimum 2 nights stay in Havelock to cover the below places since visiting Elephant beach itself is going to take a full day for the adventurous activities.

 

Kalapathar Beach


We got the first glimpse of Andaman here with the picturesque beauty of turquoise green colored sea welcoming us. Also there wasn’t much crowd here. This place  is truly a paradise where we could see the deep blue sea meeting shimmering white sands thus giving us an exotic experience.







 

Radhanagar Beach


This beach has bagged the prestigious blue flag certification in 2020.  I don't have more pictures from here since we were in water most of the times and the huge waves kept us busy entire evening. 







 

Scuba Diving


We woke up at 5 am in the morning since we were told that its better to finish the dives early in the morning. Our local guide had signed up with United Scuba Divers for this dive. We reached the diving site and we were given waiver form to fill in. After that we were given scuba suits, some training was given around the basics of scuba, the sign languages we use to communicate and the process of equalizing. Finally we were taken in a boat to the middle of the sea for diving and it was a great experience. The dive was for around 20-25 minutes which I felt is little less for the price they charge for the dive (Rs 5500 per person). 



 

Elephant Beach


One needs to take a boat from Swaraj Dweep Jetty to reach Elephant beach. And one should also remember their boat name since the same boat is going to get you back and all the adventurous activities that you would be enrolling here will be tagged against your boat.  This beach is a paradise for adventure enthusiasts which offers activities like Snorkeling, Sea Walk, Parasailing, Submarine ride and many more. We had a great time here. Since we were busy taking the rides one after the other you will find very less pictures in this blog. 



For Sea walk, we were taken in a boat to another portion of the sea where in we need to wear these helmets and climb down the ladder of the ship until the ocean bed. And we actually walk on the ocean bed alongside these magical corals and aqua life. This is a must do when in Andaman. We were charged Rs 3500 per person for sea walk. 

 


Lastly I signed up Snorkeling. This is little simple compared to Scuba and Sea walk. You will be given a mask which will be having an oxygen pipe on top. You just need to breath normally and swim with the diver who will take you to the middle of the sea. Best part is the diver gave fish food in my hand and I could see lots of varieties of fishes during my dive. I was charged Rs 1250 for this since it was a guided snorkeling. 




Thus Havelock in short is a dreamy paradise with stunning beaches both for nature lovers and adventure seekers since it has something in store to offer for everyone. 


Andaman - Part 1 - Port Blair : The Gateway to Pristine Islands

Andaman - Part 3 - Neil Island : Soak into the laid-back vibes of this island

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sandesha - Museum of Communication

Image
Gone are the days when we would send inland letters or post cards to our near and dear ones. This is that era when there were no phones to talk to our loved ones. Post was the only means of communication back then. I am sure people from Gen X, Boomers and some percentage from Gen Y will relate to me on this. But Gen Z also need to know how communication has evolved since ages. So in this blog, I take all my readers to Sandesha – Museum of Communication in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.   We took a metro and got down at M.G.Road Metro station. From here the museum is located on Museum road and its walkable. We followed google map directions, walked along the nice pavements of Church street and finally reached museum at around 10:30 AM. Please note there is no entry fee here.  Sandesha in Kannada means message and hence this is the apt name for this museum.  This museum is completely dedicated to the journey of communication in India. While the security guard went inside to call the gu
Read more

Bellikkal Hills - Your Stint with Nature

Image
Bellikkal – Your Stint with Nature Bellikkal is a less crowded and secluded hill station in the Nilgiri mountains of Tamil Nadu. This is located on the south east of the Mudumalai forests, 16 km from Ooty and 249 km South of Bengalaru. Located at a high altitude, it is totally isolated from the outside world and is a great place to get rejuvenated and recharged.   There are several vantage points at Bellikkal that provide many beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding mountain peaks. One of the main attraction is the Neelakurinji Flowers. The flower has purplish blue color when aged. It looks light blue in the earlier stage of blooming. When in full bloom, they lend a bluish haze to the area. But these bushes blossom in a clustered manner once in twelve years. And we turned out to be lucky this year. We had planned this trip well ahead and had booked a homestay “Wild Walkers” for a weekend stay in Bellikkal. Day 1: We started from Bangalore at around 6 in the
Read more

Monsoon Series - Dudhsagar Trek with Tambdi Surla

Image
Its monsoon season of the year and time for yet another monsoon trek. And one should not miss visiting the enchanting Dudhsagar falls during this time. So Dudhsagar was in my bucket list right from my college days. But somehow plan did not work out and could not make it. This time of the year, thanks to my travel buddy who instigated me to join her for this trip and we decided to tick this place off from our bucket list. Basically, there are 2 ways you can plan to see Dudhsagar falls – Firstly, the majesty of the Dudhsagar falls can be best viewed from a train as it passes the small Railway station of Dudhsagar but that fun would be for just some fraction of seconds. Secondly, trek through the lush green dense forest to the base of the waterfalls so that you can absorb the view at your heart's content. We chose to do the latter. After a lot of research, my friend had shortlisted Muddie trails since their itinerary had mode of travel as train from Bangalore to Goa and back which we
Read more