Welcome to the Andamans :)

I catch my first site of the Andaman’s as we descend through the clouds on our Jet Lite flight from Kolkata - It is staggeringly beautiful from a few thousand feet up with sparklingly clear water of azure blue and coral ringed islands. As you come closer the colours become even more astounding ranging from deep blue to sea green and waves can be seen rolling over the reefs.

Arriving in the Andaman’s requires a quick immigration check and stamp in the passport followed by the same procedure in a small bamboo cabin on Havlock Jetty.

The island itself is 2 hours by ferry from Port Blair and has one major road north to south and one major road East to West - by major I mean single track, pot holed road… Once again it would appear that the rule of the road is bigger is best… On the first two days of my arrival I have taken it easy and explored some of the local sites (Dive course starts tomorrow).

My accommodation in Havlock is an A-frame hut raised on stilts in the Barefoot Scuba resort (beach no.3). It has an idyllic beach with gently lapping waves and lightning fast crabs!! The hut takes a little getting used to as it is about 7’ long and 4’ across - this is enough space for me to lie down and have my pack and all possessions in bed with me ;) If you need to go during the night it is a small matter of getting dressed, finding your torch, extracting yourself from your mozzie net, and tramping over to the toilet block 10m away… This also houses the shower and sinks… However, that said my small hut does come with: A pair of plug points to recharge phones, a ceiling fan above my mozzie net and a light. All for the excellent value price of 150r (£2.50) per night :)

Today I took a Rickshaw to beach no.7 on the other side of the island (200r), which takes about 15mins… It is the picture in their brochures - it is lovely with a pristine beach dotted with flotsam, rock outcrops towards the headlands, secluded bays and tropical rain forest fringing your views. The azure ocean gives way to the deep blue off shore and the waves as they roll in to form curling breakers finally transforming into foaming surf, however beware as the rip tides are strong - if you stand in the surf the water pulls so hard that the sand disappears from under your feet… When I arrived it was high tide so I decided to remain for the day and have dinner at Barefoot Scuba beach resort no.7 and while I was at it I broke my no drinking rule and had a slow glass of wine ;) Wonderful.

The beach is alive with wildlife. Throughout the day it was possible to watch an army of burrowing crabs come out to the surface and perform a dance along the points of a compass slowly forming a pattern of balls emanating out from their burrows. Each one a work of art but a technique used by the crabs I understand to feed on nutrients within the sand - by low tide the beach is covered in their little constructed patterns and it is a shame to walk through them. Amongst the burrowing crabs there are also hermit crabs dragging their heavy shells along leaving patterns in the sand as well as the lightning fast crabs which launch off the minute they feel you approach - but if you stay still they forget you’re their and the merry dance continues anew ;) A must do if your in the islands.

On walking to the end of the beach you come to a lovely secluded bay with perfect picture postcard beach fringed with palm trees and leading to a pool like bay. However, an armed guard is standing here and there are signs advising not to swim in the area - apparently a western tourist was attacked and killed here by a saltwater croc 0_0
Well, this did make me far more aware of my surroundings than I was before!! However, this has not put me off the diving and snorkelling trips booked for the next two weeks.

By the end of the day I had been in the sun for too long and had red feet ;) but the tranquillity of this place is soothing and leaves you wanting to stay longer… But time marches on so it is onto a bus for the return to village no.3 and the Barefoot resort (Charge 6r or 10p)!!! We pass villages, tourist resorts and farms along the way and it is clear that Havlock is well underway to being developed seriously for tourism - Concrete buildings are being constructed along the main roads and resorts are growing - one example of this is the extension of the Jetty to accommodate more vessels… This will bring wealth to the island but at what cost? Already there is evidence of a lot of new building work and over the brief two week stay I saw a dive centre building go from a patch of earth and trees to a fully completed, concrete floored, fully advertised structure with shrubs planted out front!!