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 Travel Tips:
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are without doubt, the most spectacular in the world. However, travelling in these islands isn’t all that easy. For starters, getting to the islands itself is quite difficult. Even within the island, accurate information is hard to come by.
Barring Port Blair, the islands are not very well equipped to handle tourism. Most places lack even basic amenities like water and toilets.
When you decide to visit the Andamans, make your journey reservations well in advance, either by air or by sea. Even though regular airlines and ships operate between the three cities on the mainland and Port Blair, a large chunk of the seats are reserved for Government officials.
If you plan to travel by sea, keep in mind that the ship schedules might change at a short notice. The printed ship-schedule in a fine print states that the Shipping Corporation of India, is not responsible for any loss suffered by an individual or group due to the change in ship-schedules at a short notice.
Make sure you have a couple of days to spare when you go to the Andamans because navigating between the various islands is quite difficult and things may not work out according to schedule.
Accommodation is mostly in the form of Government Guesthouses, especially in the Nicobars and fairly basic. Unfortunately due to unreliable ship schedules, even advance reservations may not be helpful.
Carry adequate provisions like drinking water when you visit the more remote areas. However, if you decide to go to the Nicobars, you will have to get used to the idea of drinking the water the islanders drink - we have spent enough time there to reassure you that nothing happened to us after drinking the water there for more than a month at stretch.
In the Nicobars, you need to be sure of your return trip to Port Blair and you need to have a copy of the ship schedule to know when will the next ship be available. If you are not careful, you might get marooned on an island for days! In any case, you need to have a few days to spare if you decide to go to the Nicobars.
Make sure you are in a group or with adequate protection when travelling close to the tribal reserve areas. Some of the tribes are pretty hostile towards outsiders and the ‘poison arrows’ might just become a reality if you are not careful.
Don’t even entertain the thought of seeing these tribes; there have been instances of the Jarawans attacking and killing weary travellers. It is best to leave these sons of the soil to themselves. Andaman & Nicobar islands offer you all the space you would ever need to stretch yourself under the sun.
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