Andaman & Nicobar Islands

The Andamans are a diving archipelago with a colonial prison at the centre of them. Port Blair's Cellular Jail is a national memorial and the reason the islands turn up in Indian history at all; the reef walls off Swaraj Dweep, renamed from Havelock in 2018, are why most people actually book. A realistic route is Port Blair, then Swaraj Dweep for four or five nights, then Shaheed Dweep, the former Neil, for two. Radhanagar is the beach everyone photographs and it earns it. The mistake is island-hopping: ferries are weather-dependent and every extra stop costs you half a day at a jetty. Baratang, for the limestone caves and India's only active mud volcanoes, is a long day out of Port Blair. One rule here is not negotiable. The Nicobar group and North Sentinel Island are closed to visitors, and the road to Baratang runs through the Jarawa reserve, where photographing or interacting with anyone is illegal. Vehicles cross in convoy and do not stop. Any operator offering you contact with a tribal community is selling something to refuse. October to May. From June the monsoon takes the diving and most of the ferry timetable with it.