HAVELOCK
As far as the islands go, Havelock is one of the more “developed” destinations: we now have 2 ATMS, taxis and even regular ice-cream! And of course, great white sand beaches, diving, snorkeling, fishing and a lot more.
The island is roughly oval-shaped, with the main jetty (where the ferry arrives) at the northern end. This is village number 1 (all locations in Havelock are numbered). Running down the north-eastern side of the island are Beaches 2, 3 and 5. We don’t know what happened to 4, btw – if someone discovers it, do let us know. On the south-western side of the island is beach 7, with village 6 being somewhere in the middle of the island. The rest, making up a majority of the island’s area, consists of paddy fields and prime growth tropical forest.
Havelock now has a wide range of accommodation, from Rs 500 per night going up to Rs 30,000 per night and a wide choice of places to eat out. For those looking for a more authentic Andaman experience, the quieter Neil Island is worth considering.
Our Havelock dive center is open year long. We recommend Havelock for:
- Intro diving
- Complete the Open Water Diver course
- Relatively easy, shallow dives
(For visiting the remote sites, we recommend diving out of our Neil dive center)
Getting to our dive center in Havelock
MAINLAND (CHENNAI / CALCUTTA) > PORT BLAIR > HAVELOCK
To get to Havelock from Port Blair, you have to take a ferry. There are departures early in the morning and early afternoon. Unless you are staying in Port Blair the previous night, the early morning ferries leave before your flight lands – but you can take the afternoon ferry over.
On the way back, the ferries leave in the afternoon – so it is possible to do 2-tank dives on the day of your departure. And you get enough of a surface interval to fly the next day as well. There are also morning ferries which get in by mid-day, letting you take an afternoon flight back.
There are two types of ferries operating between the island – government ferries and private ferries (ie, privately-operated). Govt ferries are cheaper but it is very hard to get tickets in advance. Private ferries are more expensive but nicer and it is possible to buy tickets in advance.
More info on this, including up-to-date ferry timings, in the Trip Planning section
We offer (and strongly recommend that you avail of) a Meet and Greet facility which includes airport pickup, transfer to the jetty (including round trip ferry tickets), transfers in Havelock, return transfer to the hotel in Port Blair and then to the airport on your departure. Please let us know in advance, preferably at the time of your booking, if you would like us to arrange the same for you.
