Elephant beach and snorkeling....

Day 7: Havelock island

After the normal start of the day and a heavy breakfast, we visited DiveIndia. Havelock island is known for scuba diving and snorkeling. After a good amount of research, we zeroed on DiveIndia. Its located near Full Moon cafe on the main road. I think they do offer stay options since it offers courses on scuba diving as well. After some inquiries, we enrolled for the next day's morning dive!

The best thing about island vacation is you have lots of time and very few things to do! We next visited Elephant beach. Take the road to Radhanagar beach and around 2.5 kms before Radhanagar beach, you will find the base to trek for Elephant beach on your right (if you are traveling from market area). It's approximately 7-8 kms from market. As you park the vehicle, you will find locals offering you to take to Elephant beach for a cost. We decided to just follow the trail and we dint take any guide. It's easy if you follow the trail but for a first timer, you might get lost as well in the forest. Almost near the beach, you will find a marshy land where you need to be careful. I think the land is covered by water in high tides because of which it is always marshy. Trek for half an hour and you reach the beach!

Route to Elephant beach

There are many water activities here like snorkeling, glass bottom boat ride, sea walking etc. But since an incident had occurred near Ross island where a private ferry sank killing a few passengers, there was an inspection going on over Andamans because of which activities involving boats were stopped. So the only option we were left with was snorkeling. I was a little scared after the previous experience but my better half was all game for snorkeling! For INR 300 you get a short snorkeling route and a longer one for INR 500. According to Mr. Husband, it was a good site for snorkeling since you get to see the under water world from a much shorter distance. So do head to Elephant beach for a good snorkeling experience.

Scenery on the way to the beach 

Elephant beach

It was lunch time by the time we returned from the beach and we headed straight to Anju Coco for a lip smacking thali! A small break at the resort and we headed back to Radhanagar beach. Visiting Radhanagar beach in the evenings was kind of a ritual now at Havelock island!

The endless stretch of Radhanagar beach

On the way back, we stopped at the market for some fruit shopping. We used to stock up on fruits in case of some hunger pangs at mid night! your senses are in for a treat when you visit the vegetable market since the market is surrounded by lots of small eateries! We saw a weird drink called coconut milkshake at a restaurant called Welcome. The drink looked inviting and we thought of trying it. Its a must drink if you happen to stop at the market. Just remembering the drink is taking me back in time!

Dinner as usual was at Anju Coco and here we were at the end of another day at the Andaman.

The last day at Neil Island....

Day 4: Neil Island

The days started early during our stay at the Andaman. The cool breeze and an amazing breakfast by the beach. Just what you would want on a holiday! The morning activities had almost become a routine - getting up early, having breakfast, then a walk by the beach and off to Bharatpur beach. We left for Bharatpur beach on our cycles around 10 am. Since the deep waters of Neil Islands are unexplored, we thought of doing snorkeling here. The snorkeling is done at Bharatpur beach at the rate of INR. 400 per person for a short distance and around INR. 600 for a long distance. We opted for the short distance one. So let me brief you on the snorkeling done here. A person comes with each one of you and they give you a buoy, mask and snorkel apparatus consisting of a tube. The buoy lets you float on the surface of water, in case you do not know swimming, the mask makes your vision under the surface of the water clear as without this your vision under water will be blur, the apparatus lets you breathe as your face is submerged under the water surface. Hence these are the necessary things for snorkeling.

So the activity starts by the person taking you until waist deep water and helping you get adjusted with the mask and the apparatus. You will be asked to wear the mask and the apparatus and then the buoy will be given and then you will be asked to float holding on to the buoy around you. Once you are comfortable, you will be taken for the final ride where you can find beautiful fishes and corals. Its a plus if you know swimming since you will be floating on the surface of water only for this activity. Also, the timings for snorkeling are such that they don't coincide with ferry timings. The fishes seen were butterfly fish, clown fish, clams, corals and many other different colorful fishes.

Trees near Lakshmanpur beach

We were done with this and still had some time left for lunch. Hence, we played around for a while in the waters and then headed back to the resort. The delicious lunch was served and then we headed towards the Lakshmanpur beach which is the beach on which the resort is located. We read some books, clicked some photos and it was time for the sunset walk. As usual we saw the last sunset of Neil island and were back at the resort.

Part of one of the uprooted trees

Kewda

Dead shells and coral parts on Lakshmanpur beach

 Throughout the stretch of Lakshmanpur beach, we saw huge trees or huge barks of trees lying on the sand. When inquired we got to know that these huge trees were uprooted during the tsunami of 2004! Also, you can see lots of dead shells on the beach and by lots I really mean lots of them. There is also one plant called as "Kewda" in the local language which is seen abundantly in Andaman and we were told that the fruit of this plant is used by the tribals! Neil island made us feel one with the nature with its serene beauty adn we hope to be back soon!