A Memorable Journey To The Incredible Andaman Islands
Hello, world!!
This is Shekhar Bhadoria from Delhi, I am going to share with you my last experience with the Andaman, there I visited recently. On one fine day, I was looking for an offbeat destination to spend my vacations over there. After searching for half an hour, I dived into a website named Seahawks SCUBA. As the name indicates, it was a website offering watersports in the Andaman scuba diving in Islands. I have already listened to the Andaman Islands but have never been there in my lifetime.
I furthermore scrolled the website and collected more information about Andaman. What I got to know was that the place offers pristine sandy beaches, beautiful marine life, adventurous water sports, luxury stays, beachside parties, mangrove forests, wildlife, and most important visa-free travel. I was eager to experience Scuba diving in Andaman with Seahawks SCUBA. Andaman is the union territory of India and there are no restrictions to visit there except some covid protocols. I have listened that Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep) is the best location to experience all water sports. I had a limited 3 to 4 days trip to Andaman, so decided will spend most of my time in Havelock Island.
On confirmation of my vacations, I booked my flight ticket, hotel stay, and some awesome water sports with the Seahawks. Actually, it was a connecting flight, in the first half of my journey I have to travel from New Delhi to Kolkata and then Kolkata to Port Blair. After leaving Kolkata to Port Blair, my heartbeat, excitement, and imagination were pretty high to witness Andaman by my open eyes. After 1.5 hours of flying, the flight attendant announced we are going to land at port Blair in 20 minutes.
I could see tiny Islands before landing, and especially witnessed North Sentinel Island. I have listened to a number of stories about North Sentinel and the recent incident of John Allen Chau American missionary. On arrival to Port Blair, I checked in to a hotel, had morning breakfast, and went out to explore Port Blair. I visited North way and Ross Island to witness sightseeing. The crystal clear blue water and charming sea waves with pleasant winds made my day. Both of the Islands have much more to explore, but my bad luck was that I could not because of limited time.
In the evening I visited Cellular Jail to watch light and sound shows and some sad prison stories during the British rule in India. On the next morning, the journey started to Havelock Island via a private ferry. It was 2 hours of travel time to havelock and in between, I could see sharks and a group of dolphins far away from our ferry.
On reaching Havelock Island, I checked in Seashell beach resort. Around 3.30 pm, I prepared for Radhanagr Beach by hiring a scooter from a nearby shop. The journey towards Radhanagar is very admiring with lush green trees and multiple species of vegetation on both sides of the road. I could feel the high sound of waves at the parking spot of Radhanagar beach. The first glance of Radhanagar beach was beyond my expectations. It was the cleanest beach spread approx 2 kilometers along the shoreline with white sandy patches.
Radhanagar beach is Asia’s #ranking1 award-winning cleanest beach and 8th best beach in the world. One can spend the whole evening watching the sunset and playing with the waves. It has swimming spots, sitting spaces, and playing outdoor game spaces. The facilities of videography and photography are also available at the beach.
On the next day, I visited Kala phatter beach to watch Sunrise. I visited the beach early morning around 4.45 am to capture the best moments and didn’t miss the sunrise anyhow. Kala phatter beach is popular to witness the sunrise and feel the sound of waves along cool winds blowing aside.
After Kala phatter beach, my scuba diving trip was confirmed in the 7 am slot with Seahawks SCUBA Watersports. They provided pick and drop facilities from my Seashell resort if you are staying between Havelock Jetty and beach number 5. On completion of paperwork, mention our contact details and health issues. We were provided dive suites to change at the changing rooms available there. We were a maximum of 4 people for underwater diving, as they take only 4 people per slot.
Then we moved to Govind Nagar beach hardly 3 minutes walking distance from the dive center. There dive instructors provided us with basic training for diving, how to inhale, exhale, release ear pressure, underwater hand signs, use of scuba equipment, practical sessions, and many more. They provide sufficient training, are never in a hurry, and answer all over queries politely.
On successful completion of our training, we were transported to the dive site named Tribe Gate for an underwater diving experience with professional divers via a speed boat. The water was crystal clear and we could see the school of fishes floating under the water surface from the boat. We all made a back-roll entry into the sea from the boat. However, it was a little scary but full of adventure.
After that our journey to the underwater world started, each guest was accompanied by each divemaster for a smooth and safe dive. The dive consists of a number of corals and dense marine life which I witnessed for the first time in my lifetime. The sea was full of wonders and full of numerous water creatures, even I don’t their names. The diving was very smooth and sufficient time was provided to explore much into the sea. The actual underwater dive time was 50 minutes.
A cameraman also joined the dive to capture some awesome pictures and videos of us with marine life. Scuba diving in Havelock indeed was really a lifetime experience and getting to know the marine life closely. After scuba dive, we headed back to the dive center and collected scuba diving footage on the spot. The price for scuba boat dive was INR 5500 per person.
I would definitely recommend Seahawks SCUBA Watersports for a memorizing diving experience. They have professional, skilled, polite, and helping dive masters and diving with them was really a fearless and unforgettable experience.
On the last day in Havelock, I decided to go the Elephant beach. The jungle trekking of Elephant beach was much exciting and had an opportunity to capture multiple species of trees and plants. At Elephant beach, I tried parasailing, Jetski, and banana boat ride. The whole experience was out of my words, complete enjoyment on the sea surface of Elephant beach.
Havelock offers quality seafood, luxury beachside resorts, beachside party arrangements, bar and spa facilities. In short an Island with all watersports, stay, food, and entertainment arrangements.
Conclusion: The journey to the Andaman Islands was full of excitement, adventure, exploring, and mysterious. There is still a lot more to explore in The Andaman, which I couldn’t cover in my short trip. I would recommend everyone to visit Andaman and must do scuba diving in andaman once in their lifetime to experience the beauty of the Islands, sea, wildlife, marine life, and beaches.
