The Andaman Islands are the most remote and the cheapest place we’ve ever been too. They are the true embodiment of famous ‘bounty beach’ pictures with bright blue waters and shining white sand. Apparently it’s not that hard to get to these beautiful spots of land in the Indian Ocean and spend there the most incredible time of your life for just $25 per day.
Andaman Islands are situated in the Eastern Indian Ocean and are de jure part of India, but de facto are much closer to Myanmar and Thailand.
After India became independent, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands became the part of it, just because they were occupied by the British Empire for pretty long period of time. Before that they were inhabited by various tribes mostly of African origin. Later the Indian government offered a wide range of subsidies and rewards for moving to the Andaman Islands, so right now they are 100% Indian.
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The only airport is situated on the biggest island in Port Blair, which is far from best beach spots. Thus, it’s worth taking an auto-rickshaw to the jetty point (approximately 70 Rs.=$1.2) and then choose your destination. We highly recommend Havelock Island, since it is the most developed (they have extremely slow Internet and really poor telephone coverage, yay!) among all islands.
It takes 2 hours to get there by ferry (around 385 Rs. = $6.4 for government boat).
We recommend to go directly from jetty point to Beach #7 (also known as Radhanagar Beach), since it is the most beautiful one, is deep enough to swim (all other beaches are good, but the water is too shallow to swim), offers the best accommodation and restaurants, surrounded by coral reefs with tropical fishes, as well as grants you with an opportunity to meet elephants every day.
The bus on Havelock costs 10 Rs. = $0.16.
Accommodation
There is a huge variety of accommodation offers, from chicken huts to luxury hotels. We recommend sleeping in the guesthouse.
Clean and nice non a/c guest house room costs 1000 Rs. = $ 16, but actually the prices for beach huts start from 500 Rs. = $8.
Restaurants
Resort restaurants are just great! The food is delicious and portions are big. You can buy Halli for just 100 Rs. = $1.6 and ask for extra rice and dahl for up to 5 times absolutely for free.
When we wanted to feel like VIP, we went to luxury hotels’ restaurants, where we had dinners for two for just 800 Rs. = $13.
Activities
Snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming and every activity that can be held in the transparent waters of coral reefs are at your service.
Even though travel companies offer many expensive snorkeling tours, we dived absolutely for free in the lagoon nearby our guesthouse.
Hiking in the tropical woods and bargaining at the market might also be quite an exotic entertainment.
Fun facts
• Since officially Andaman Islands are situated in the wrong time zone (2 hours later than then they actually are), the morning starts there at 4 am. At 6 am everyone is working. At 8 am it feels like a half of the day has already passed.
• Queues in front of the ferry ticket office are separated by gender: for men and for women. Those for ladies are much shorter, so make sure you choose the one for women.
• On arrival you get an official permit to stay on Andaman Islands, be sure not to lose or damage it (our permits tore apart after “swimming” in the sea waves and were glued together afterwards).
• While bicycling, watch out for dogs, they might bite your leg.
• Elephants wandering around might be dangerous. Not because they are aggressive, but just because they don’t notice you. Watch out!
Have you already added Andaman Islands to your bucket list?
Bio:
Illia and Nastia are passionate about each other, traveling around the world and sharing their experiences at crazzzytravel, a blog where you can find plenty of budget travel tips as well as practical information about numerous destinations. They have already been to 33 countries on 4 continents and ain’t no stopping.
45 thoughts on “Andaman Islands For Less Than $25 A Day”
Aaah…So near yet so far….been staying in Kolkata for last 3 yrs but yet to visit this paradise….& yeah the Islands are 100% Indian, no doubt about that.
That’s another rare destination we almost never hear about.
In fact, yours is the first travel blog entry I ever came across about these islands…
Haven’t been, but I’ve flown above them two times – when on route to Singapore.
Our jet was wildly shaken by turbulence and it felt terrible – 20-30 minutes of torture.
Absolutely stunning. I have never heard of this place, thanks for sharing your tips! I’ll definitely be adding this stop to my list!
I’m glad you found it useful!
Wow, that’s amazing. Tropical islands on a backpacker budget can be difficult to find. The Caribbean is so expensive, but this sounds incredible. Thanks for sharing!
What an awesome looking place – and CHEAP! I’ve never heard of this place before, but adding it to my growing list of places to go… :)
Great article! I spent 14 months in India but never made it to the Andaman islands… I’m thinking I might have to head back and give it a whirl! :)
Maybe next time Will!
I’m going next month October looking forward to it
Great to hear that! Have fun! :)
The Andaman Islands are some of the most amazing beaches we have ever seen.
Neil Island has incredible beaches and there was no one there. Spent 3 weeks there and can’t wait to head back.
Thanks for your blog! Just wanted to add a few notes..
As you mentioned snorkeling can be done easily or even better done by yourself, though ask around for some good spots and take the time to discover. If you don’t have the gear there are plenty of shops renting out the basics.
Diving trips from Havelock could be awesome, however most of the corals are bleached above 10-15 meters, so make sure you have your advanced ;-) then choose for Johnny’s Gorge and Dixon’s Pinnacle. If the current is right you’ll be blown away.
Except from the diving and if you have the time would avoid Havelock and choose for North- and/or South Andaman instead.
This blog is for budget travelers, so I would at least opt for taking a (time consuming) boat to the Andaman Islands instead of the far more expensive option of flying. Above all, it’s an experience in its own. 3-5 days from Chennai to Port Blair, depending it will make a stop at Nicobar (as of yet not open for foreigners). 3 days to- and from Vizakathapathnam (Vizag) and Kolkata.
Cheers! The Andaman is indeed worth a visit!
Hey this is such an amazing article. Also , I loved your style of writing :)
Hey, Sahil! Thanks for the kind words, it means the world to me, :) ;X
Hi do you have any low budget acconodation to recomend ?