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Port Blair

Port Blair

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Every trip to the islands starts here — the only notified town in the territory, with the only major airport and the port everything else connects through.

State
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Type
Other

Every trip to the islands starts here — the only notified town in the territory, with the only major airport and the port everything else connects through. It is roughly 1,190 km from Chennai and 1,255 km from Kolkata, so treat it as a journey rather than a coastal add-on to a mainland holiday. The town sits on South Andaman with the Bay of Bengal on one side and the Andaman Sea on the other. Its history is a prison history: the British re-established a colony here in February 1858 for prisoners of the 1857 rebellion, and the Cellular Jail was finished in 1906.

Port Blair is known for

Cellular Jail1858 penal colonyThe islands' only townVeer Savarkar airport

Port Blair guide & itineraries

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Cellular Jail (Port Blair)

Cellular Jail (Port Blair)

The Cellular Jail in Port Blair, known as Kala Pani, is a colonial-era prison built by the British between 1896 and 1906 to hold Indian freedom fighters in solitary confinement. Its original seven wings radiated from a central tower like spokes; today the surviving structure is a national memorial to the independence movement.

Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep)

Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep)

Havelock Island, officially Swaraj Dweep, is the most popular island in the Andamans. Radhanagar Beach is the reason most people come — powdery white sand, and the sunsets it is known for — and there is serious scuba diving off the island as well. Turquoise water, coral reefs, kayaking through the mangroves and unhurried beach shacks fill out the rest of it. Elephant Beach is where the diving and snorkelling are done. Honeymooners, divers and backpackers all come for it.

Radhanagar Beach (Havelock)

Radhanagar Beach (Havelock)

Regularly rated among Asia's best beaches, Radhanagar on Swaraj Dweep is a flawless arc of white sand, turquoise water and west-facing sunsets. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.

Elephant Beach (Havelock)

Elephant Beach (Havelock)

Reached by boat or a jungle trail on Swaraj Dweep, Elephant Beach is the Andamans' top spot for snorkelling, scuba diving and shallow-water coral. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.

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