The Andaman Islands sit in the Bay of Bengal 1,400 kilometres from the Indian mainland and 150 kilometres from Myanmar — geographically closer to Southeast Asia than to Delhi, which explains why the coral reefs and turquoise water are in an entirely different category from anything on the Indian coast. There are 572 islands in the chain. Fewer than 40 are inhabited. Fewer than 10 are open to tourists. The rest are protected forest, pristine reef, and the territories of the Sentinelese — a tribe that has maintained complete isolation and made their position on visitors clear in terms that leave no ambiguity. The accessible islands, though, are among the finest beach destinations in Asia — fraction of the crowds, fraction of the price, and the quality of somewhere that hasn’t yet fully resigned itself to the infrastructure of its more famous competitors.

Havelock Island: The One Everyone Means When They Say Andaman

Havelock Island — officially Swaraj Dweep, though nobody calls it that yet — is the most visited island, which in Andaman terms means a handful of resorts and beaches Time magazine once voted among Asia’s best. Radhanagar Beach is the headline: a long white curve with water transitioning from pale turquoise at the shoreline to almost cobalt blue further out, backed by dense tropical forest that keeps it looking unspoiled in a way most famous beaches have stopped managing. The sunset from Radhanagar makes people reach for superlatives and find them insufficient. Be there at six and not be looking at your phone.

The coral reefs around Havelock — protected, largely free of boat traffic and sunscreen runoff that have damaged reefs elsewhere — are among the healthiest in the Indian Ocean. Elephant Beach, reachable by thirty-minute boat ride or jungle trek, has a house reef starting shallow enough to snorkel and dropping through coral of extraordinary colour. Take the boat. The trek requires river crossings in flip-flops, which is achievable but inadvisable.

Port Blair: The Gateway You Spend as Little Time in as Possible

Port Blair is a functional town with a colonial-era cellular jail genuinely worth visiting — used by the British to imprison Indian independence activists in deliberate isolation, and the evening sound and light show is more moving than most tourist sound and light shows have any right to be. Beyond that, Port Blair is primarily the place you stay one night, do the jail, eat fish at a waterfront restaurant, and take the ferry or seaplane to Havelock in the morning. The government ferry takes two hours. The seaplane takes fifteen minutes, costs considerably more, and gives a view of the islands from above that makes the additional cost feel correct.

Neil Island: The Quieter Alternative That Rewards the Extra Effort

Neil Island — Shaheed Dweep officially, also ignored — is an hour further from Port Blair and receives a fraction of Havelock’s visitor numbers, making it the right choice for anyone whose holiday involves a hammock, a book, and an empty beach before 9am. Snorkelling at Natural Bridge is excellent. Accommodation is basic by Havelock’s standards and comfortable by any reasonable measure. Restaurants serve fresh seafood caught that morning at prices that make you briefly, pleasantly guilty. Five days in the Andamans: two at Havelock, two at Neil, one trying not to return to Port Blair any faster than necessary.

The Practical Reality

Fly to Port Blair from Chennai, Kolkata, or Delhi — the flight takes two to three hours depending on origin. Permits are required for foreign nationals (obtained on arrival, straightforward) and certain restricted islands require additional permits that are worth arranging in advance if you have specific diving destinations in mind. The best time to visit is October to May; the monsoon runs June to September and makes the sea rough and the beaches less appealing, though the islands are dramatically green and almost entirely empty of tourists, which is a trade-off that some people find extremely appealing. Go between November and February for the finest combination of weather, sea conditions, and the comfortable knowledge that you have discovered something the rest of the world has not fully caught up with yet.

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The Andamans are the answer to the question of where to go in Asia when everywhere else has a queue. The queue has not arrived here yet. This will not be true forever.