Plan Andaman Trip on your own-low budget and without package!

From what I noticed, majority of visitors to Andaman opt for package tour from major travel portals, which covers flight, hotel, sightseeing etc in a standardized itinerary. But my travel style usually involves booking a flight when I find the fare at their cheapest best, even if it means travel date is 9 months from now, then few months prior to travel plan hotel booking (usually booking.com or Stayzilla) and few weeks before actual travel, finalize the itinerary and rest of the plans. I try to use public transportation as much as possible, try to make the most of early morning and late evening time also and optimize my plan keeping cost low and value high.

But for my Andaman trip, when I had a few questions about local transport etc, most people who had been to Andaman had no idea, because they got transportation as part of their package and didn’t have to try a taxi, auto or bus journey themselves. Thus I had to figure out my trip details on my own. I learnt that Ola/Uber do not operate in the Andamans. Owners of Ross View Hotel where we stayed arranged cab for us on 3 occasions and rest of the time we managed on foot or auto. We managed entire Port Blair trip within Rs 20000 per person, everything included (3 Days, 3 nights, Flights, Port Blair, Havelock, Scuba dive, Ross Island and North Bay). If you are like me and prefer to plan a trip on your own, this post shares a set of possibly useful information about planning your trip to Andaman on your own, without booking any package.

Andaman as seen from window seat!

Below is our cost breakup, per person, on our latest 3 day trip to Port Blair

#	Activity	Cost (INR)	Remarks
1	Chennai-Port Blair Return flight	4950	Booked 9 months ago in spicejet sale
2	Hotel Stay @ Ross View per person for 3 nights	5720	35k approx. for 6 people, 3 nights (3 rooms)
3	Scuba Diving at Havelock	4000	Scubalove.in
4	Food expenses per person approx	1000	For 3 days
5	Local transport approx. per person	500	Taxi a few times, auto/walk otherwise Because we were six per person cost/person has been low
6	Ferry to Havelock n back	1950	Makruzz
7	Boat to Ross Island and North Bay	600
8	Jetski ride	550
9	Miscellaneous, approx	710	Entry fee for cellular jail, Ross island, camera fee, taxi at Chennai etc
	Total	20000

We did some minimum shopping, not included above.  Below section gives tips on various aspect of travel planning to Andaman

1. Booking cheap Flights to Port Blair
Port Blair has direct flight only from select cities- Kolkata, Chennai, BLR etc. From other cities it will be either one stop or connecting flight. Flight expense is the most prohibitive one during peak season. What we got under 5k in a spicejet sale during October 2015 which was a steal. Anything less than 9k is a good deal and 9k to12k is also decent in my opinion if booked in short notice and timing is convenient. More than 15k is avoidable if you ask me. Travel portals tie up with airlines and usually block a set of seats with airlines- if booking on your own is prohibitive, check travel sites for a package deal and see if that makes economic sense. Where possible, wait for a sale and book tickets in advance at lower rates.

2. Hotel booking in Andaman
Factor a budget of 2k per person, per night for a decent budget hotel, off season. Can cost more depending on hotel type, location and demand. I am hotel hotels in Havelock cost much more than hotels in Port Blair. Try booking on stayzilla or booking.com or call the hotel directly. If you have several days, you can split a few nights in Port Blair and few nights in Havelock etc, else keep your base in Port Blair. We stayed at Ross View Hotel, which was close to Cellular Jail and Netaji Stadium

Keep in mind that if you are booking in Havelock, book it on Day 2 or Day 3, not Last day. Return ferry may get cancelled if weather is bad, so you might end up getting stuck in Havelock. Be sure to be back in Port Blair the night before your return flight.

3. Local Transport in Port Blair/Andamans
Taxi:

• Taxis are insanely expensive in Andaman.
• Uber/Ola are NOT available in port blair yet and all taxi operators work with an overpriced, fixed deal like 2 hours/20kms- Rs 400 etc.
• Distance and time is from Garage to Garage, not between your pickup and drop point. 
• When we wanted to go to Corbyn’s beach from Netaji stadium, fixed rate for taxi was Rs 1200. (about 12 kms round trip, while we hail an auto for Rs 100 one way and Rs 150 return - I called same auto driver to come back and pick us up as it was night and no other auto could be found). 
• Airport pickup and drop in an Ertiga cost us Rs 400 each (Airport is less than 3kms from hotel). In Chennai, I can travel 13-14 kms for half that amount.
• In Havelock, for a 14 km journey (our scuba diving spot- Sea Shell Resort, Havelock, 1 km from jetty to Radhanagar beach and drop back to jetty) cost us Rs 1000 in a Tata Sumo. We were told peak season rate is Rs 1400. A bus ticket could have costed Rs 12 per person one way, but we didn’t have the time.

Auto folks are very reasonable in Port blair- we paid Rs 40 one way to go to Jogger’s park from Clock tower (about 4km), paid Rs 100 to go to Corbyn’s beach (6 kms from Netaji Stadium). Use them to the max and you will save a lot. Note down phone number of auto driver before getting down, just in case you don't an auto for return journey.

City buses are also available. If you have lots of time or can spend some time and effort to figure out which one works for you, then you can save even more. In Havelock, city bus can take you to Radhanagar beach for Rs 12 per person as against Rs 700 in a taxi. But islands have very few buses. Port Blair has plenty of private buses shuttling around.

During our 3 day trip, we availed taxi for airport pickup n drop, early morning drop to Havelock jetty and a taxi in Havelock to go to Radhanagar beach. We spent about Rs 2600 for these. Rest of the time we walked or took auto. Overall local transportation spend was Rs 3000, which worked out at Rs 500 per head because we were six people. If you are just two, per head expense will be bit higher.

Boat rides: Because Andaman has lots of islands, boat is also a major transportation mode. Boat services operate with a fixed per person charge, displayed at prominent places. We took Makruzz ferry to Havelock and back, at Rs 975 per person one way. There is a government boat which is lot cheaper but takes more time. From Rajiv Gandhi watersports complex boats operate to Ross Island, North Bay, Viper Island etc, at a fixed rate as shown below.

Bike rentals: I saw a few boards that offered bikes and scooters (like Activa) on rent. I didn’t try renting them myself as there wasn’t a need.

Update: Royal Brothers now has bikes on rent in Port Blair. You can possibly try them and save on local commute cost. But note that you will still need to take boats to some islands, hire car in the islands like Havelock, so plan such that you do all Port Blair exploration in one shot, return the bike and go to other islands.

Self-drive cars- Not available. Unfortunately none of the self-drive car rental agencies (Myles, Zoomcar etc) have presence in Andamans as of now.

Helicopter Shuttle: If you are lucky and adventurous, you can try for a seat in helicopter. Government operates few helicopter services between Port Blair-Havelock and few other main islands. Cost per seat is Rs 1500 for tourists, Rs 600 for locals. This is very effective in terms of time taken and the view it offers from air (Royal (first class) class seat in Makruzz itself costs Rs 1600). But the trick here is that there are just a few seats in a helicopter (about 5 to 6), lots of restrictions on weight, baggage size and weight etc. I am told these are often taken up by government officials on ‘urgent work’.  There doesn’t seem to be a hassle free way of checking availability and booking a seat on a helicopter. (A website exists but usefulness is limited). Helicopter service is also dependent on weather. So in my opinion you cannot count on being able to take a helicopter ride to your destination. But feel free to try your luck.

If you need a helicopter entirely for yourself, you can rent one at a cost of about 1.1 lakh per hour. Not just flying, even waiting time is billed heavily.

Adventure/Activities
Scuba Diving: There are dozens of Scuba dive operators and different type of Scuba Diving experiences are offered priced between Rs 1000 to 5000. One in North Bay is cheaper, but a lot crowded. Deep sea dive off Havelock will cost little more. Please refer this post to know what all to check before booking your scuba diving.

Visiting various islands: Boats operate to various nearby islands at regular intervals and at fixed fare. You can walk in and buy a ticket. Time they allot (for you to explore an island and return to boat) is usually tight. If you are keen on doing relaxed photography or wish to spend more time at any island, negotiate for extra time.

JetSki ride and various other beach side activities are available at various jetties/beaches- you can walk in and book on the spot if it excites you

How many days to spend?
We could spend only 3 days and we covered only a small portion of Andamans. Most tourists do the same- visit Havelock, Ross Island, North Day, Cellular jail and return. Entire Andaman is much larger- refer map below- one will need a week or so to explore all places of interest. I hope to explore rest of Andamans on my next visit, whenever it happens.  You can check places of interest on tripadvisor, locate it on map and plan accordingly.

Hope these tips will help you save a few thousand rupees on your next trip to Andamans.

Disclaimer: All information as observed by this blogger during his visit in August 2016. Rates, availability, experience may vary over time. Please use your discretion.

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