Most people picture one or two beaches when they hear “Andaman & Nicobar.” In reality, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a chain of 572 islands scattered across the Bay of Bengal, of which only around 37 are permanently inhabited. The rest are a mix of protected forest, uninhabited sandbars, and tribal reserve — which is part of what keeps this archipelago feeling so untouched compared to almost anywhere else in coastal India. And in the case of Barren Island, India’s only active volcano. Most people who visit will see maybe four or five of the inhabited ones in a single trip, and honestly, that’s plenty. The islands reward depth over breadth.
Here’s what actually matters if you’re planning a trip to Andaman & Nicobar Islands in 2026.
The Two Halves You Won’t Actually Visit Equally
The territory splits into the Andaman group in the north and the Nicobar group further south, separated by the Ten Degree Channel. Almost every tourist itinerary — foreign or domestic — stays entirely within the Andamans. The Nicobar Islands are governed under much tighter restrictions: Campbell Bay on Great Nicobar is technically open to visitors, but the rest requires a Tribal Pass, which is issued only to researchers, government officials, relatives of posted staff, or people specifically invited by a tribal council. It is not a permit tourists apply for and get.
So when people say “Andaman trip,” they mean some combination of Port Blair, Havelock (officially Swaraj Dweep), Neil Island (officially Shaheed Dweep), and occasionally Diglipur, Baratang, or Little Andaman.
Permits: The Actual Rules
Indian citizens need no permit for the vast majority of the islands — just standard ID for ferry bookings and hotel check-in.
Foreign nationals need a Restricted Area Permit (RAP), issued on arrival at Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair (recently renamed Sri Vijaya Puram, along with the city itself). For most nationalities this takes five to ten minutes at immigration. Citizens of Afghanistan, China, and Pakistan need prior clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs before travel — plan weeks ahead, not days, if this applies to you.
Two categories are non-negotiable regardless of nationality:
- Tribal Reserves (Jarawa, Sentinelese, Onge, Great Andamanese, Shompen territory) are entirely off-limits. Entering within 5 km of North Sentinel Island’s coast is a criminal offense. This isn’t loosely enforced — the Indian Navy patrols the exclusion zone, and violations have led to arrests.
- National parks and wildlife sanctuaries — Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, Rani Jhansi Marine National Park, and others — require a separate Forest Department permit, usually arranged same-day through your hotel or a local operator for a nominal fee.
If your route includes the Andaman Trunk Road, which cuts through part of the Jarawa reserve between Port Blair and Baratang, know two things: convoys are timed and escorted (you may wait at a checkpoint), and photographing Jarawa individuals is a criminal offense, not a faux pas. Cameras get confiscated over this.
What Each Island Is Actually Like
Port Blair / Sri Vijaya Puram is where you land, and where you’ll spend at least a day whether you plan to or not. This is where the Cellular Jail is, along with the Anthropological Museum, Corbyn’s Cove Beach, and Chidiya Tapu — a reasonable spot for a boat dive if your schedule is tight. Most people treat it as a transit hub rather than a destination, which undersells it slightly, but the ferry schedule usually decides for you anyway.
Havelock (Swaraj Dweep) is the diving capital of the islands, and it’s not close. Sites like Jackson’s Bar, Dixon’s Pinnacles, Johnny’s Gorge, and the shallower Nemo Reef sit within a short boat ride, and the island has the highest concentration of PADI dive centers in the territory — which also means the most competitive, and often lowest, prices. Radhanagar Beach, regularly ranked among Asia’s best, is here too. Expect more infrastructure, more cafes, and more crowds than anywhere else in the islands, especially at Elephant Beach in peak season (December–January).
Neil Island (Shaheed Dweep) is Havelock’s quieter cousin, 45–60 minutes away by private ferry (Makruzz, Nautika, and similar operators run several daily sailings in season). It’s genuinely small — under 20 sq km, mostly farmland, locals half-jokingly call it “the vegetable bowl of the Andamans” because so much of Havelock’s restaurant produce is grown here. Four main beaches (Bharatpur, Sitapur, Lakshmanpur, and Laxmanpur’s tidal Natural Bridge, only visible at low tide) and a diving scene that’s calmer and less developed than Havelock’s — sites like Margherita’s Mischief and the Lighthouse reef are good, but most divers still base themselves in Havelock and treat Neil as the wind-down leg at the end of a trip.
Diglipur and Baratang, further north, see a fraction of the tourist traffic. Baratang is known for its limestone caves and mud volcanoes, reachable only via the Trunk Road through Jarawa territory (hence the convoy system). Diglipur has Saddle Peak, the highest point in the islands at 732 meters, and turtle nesting beaches that draw a much smaller, more dedicated crowd.
Barren Island, India’s only active volcano, sits alone and uninhabited roughly 135 km northeast of Port Blair. It’s reachable only by chartered boat with the necessary permits — no scheduled ferry goes anywhere near it — and the volcanic mineral runoff creates a genuinely distinct underwater habitat that experienced divers specifically travel here to see.
Getting There and Getting Around
Flights connect Port Blair to Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bhubneshwar, Vishakapatnam, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, with Chennai generally the shortest and cheapest route. Passenger ferries from Chennai and Kolkata exist but take three to four days each way — an experience in itself, not a practical way to save money on a short trip.
Once in the islands, inter-island transport is by government or private ferry. A private ferry from Port Blair to Havelock to Neil takes roughly 90 minutes to 2.5 hours depending on the vessel and runs multiple times daily in season; government ferries are cheaper but slower and less frequent. On the islands themselves, scooter rental (around ?500/day) is the standard way to get around Havelock and Neil — both are flat, small, and easy to navigate without a car.
Season Actually Matters Here
October to May is the dry season and the one most operators build their calendar around — calm seas, strong underwater visibility (20–30 meters isn’t unusual at Neil in peak months), and the most reliable ferry schedules. December to February is the most comfortable weather-wise, and also the most crowded and expensive.
June to September is the southwest monsoon. Rain is frequent but not constant, seas get choppier, and some boat operators reduce sailings or pause entirely during the roughest stretches. It’s also, counter intuitively, when some of the strongest offshore game fishing happens — the seasonal shift in current pushes pelagic species like giant trevally and sailfish closer to structure, and the crowds thin out to almost nothing. If you don’t mind planning around weather windows, it’s a genuinely good time to be here.
The Small Stuff That Actually Trips People Up
Single-use plastic is banned territory-wide — bring a reusable bottle, because shops legally can’t hand you a bag. Network coverage is inconsistent outside Port Blair and Havelock’s main strip; BSNL tends to work where Jio and Airtel don’t, so a local BSNL SIM is worth the hassle if you need connectivity on Neil or further north. Alcohol is comparatively cheap due to lower local taxes, but drinking on public beaches is prohibited and does get enforced. And don’t fly within 18–24 hours of your last dive — a basic decompression rule that trips up more people than you’d expect when they’re trying to cram a dive into their last morning before a flight.
Giving the Islands Enough Time
Four or five days is enough to see Havelock and Neil, but the islands genuinely open up with a week or more — enough for a proper day offshore, a couple of dives, a slow beach day, and maybe a trip north where the crowds mostly disappear. If deep-sea fishing is part of your plan, the offshore current lines here hold serious gamefish year-round, and it’s exactly the kind of day we build charters around at Andaman Island Spirit Charters — get in touch if you want help fitting it into your itinerary.
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