I had spent weeks planning the trip. Ferry schedules printed out, islands listed in order, a rough sense of how many nights to spend where. It felt thorough. My planning efforts felt complete until I discovered that the Andaman Islands do not work the same way as most tourist destinations; they are their own little world. The biggest mistake I made was treating the islands as if they were a city break, and that everything would fall into place once I arrived at a location.
The mistake, specifically, was leaving my hotel booking too late. Not by days. By hours, in some cases. And in a place where the gap between islands can mean an overnight ferry and a full day lost, that is a costly kind of optimism.
Why the Andamans Catch You Off Guard?
The Andaman Islands stretch across approximately 800 kilometres of the Bay of Bengal, and only a handful of them are open to tourists. Port Blair is the entry point for almost every visitor, and most trips fan out from there to Havelock Island, Neil Island, and sometimes Baratang or Long Island, depending on how much time you have.
Also, what appears to be simple on a map is very complex due to ferry availability, island permits, and the small number of available accommodations, especially on Havelock, which has the second-highest tourist volume behind Port Blair. Additionally, during the peak season from late November to the end of February, accommodation sells out quickly. I arrived in late December, assuming I would sort things out once I got there. The guesthouses I had shortlisted were full. The backup options were full. I spent the first evening making calls from a plastic chair outside a closed tourist office.
What Should I Have Done with the Andaman Plan Differently?
The honest answer is that I should have locked in accommodation at least three to four weeks ahead, particularly for Havelock and Neil Island. These are not large settlements. The number of rooms available across both islands is genuinely limited, and the demand during peak season is not.
Port Blair is easier to manage. It is a proper town with enough hotels and guesthouses that last-minute options exist. But the outer islands are a different situation entirely, and treating the hotel booking process there with the same casualness I might apply to a city destination was the clearest error I made on the entire trip.
The Ferry Schedule Problem
The second layer of the mistake was how the ferry timetable interacts with accommodation availability. Government ferries between Port Blair and Havelock run on fixed schedules, and the morning departures are the most practical for maximising time on the island. If you miss the boat because your plans shifted overnight, the next option might not leave until the following day.
This means your accommodation and your ferry bookings need to be planned together, not separately. I learned this after arriving on Neil Island a day later than intended, having lost an afternoon waiting for a seat on a later crossing. The guesthouse I had eventually managed to book was holding the room but not particularly warmly.
How the Andaman Trip Recovered?
Once the logistics were settled, the islands delivered everything they are known for. Radhanagar Beach on Havelock is as good as its reputation suggests, a long arc of sand backed by forest with water that shifts between pale green and deep blue depending on the time of day. Neil Island is quieter and slower, better suited to a day or two of doing very little with intention.
Snorkelling at Elephant Beach (Havelock) was the highlight of my experience. For those who prefer to stay dry on their excursions, glass-bottom boat tours leave from Elephant Beach and showcase amazing coral reef systems.
What to Take Away from This?
Plan the outer islands first and plan them early. Get the ferry bookings and accommodation sorted at the same time, treating them as one decision rather than two. Port Blair can be arranged more loosely, but everything beyond it requires a firmer hand.
The Andaman Islands are worth every ounce of effort involved in preparing for travel there, but they do require that you have planned before arrival.
