Andaman itinerary, 5 days: Port Blair, Havelock and Neil Island

Five days is enough to see the Andamans' three main stops: Port Blair for arrival and history, Havelock for the big beach and the reef, and Neil Island for a slower finish. The catch is that every move between islands is a ferry, and a ferry costs most of a morning. This plan is built around that fact. The Andaman Islands travel guide covers seasons and background, and the India guide covers the rest of India.

The route is a loop: Port Blair, then Havelock, then Neil, then back to Port Blair. It works because the ferries connect the islands in that order and because the quietest island comes last, when you are tired and close to a flight. If you want a base and room comparison before you commit, read where to stay in the Andamans.

One rule sits above everything else. Book your ferries first, and your rooms second. A room on Havelock is no use if the boat you need is full or cancelled, so fix the sailings, then match the nights to them. The official timetables and booking pages of the ferry operators are the only source to trust for departure times, because schedules shift between seasons.

Most flights land in Port Blair, officially Sri Vijaya Puram, and the airport is a short cab ride from the center, usually 15 to 25 minutes. Drop your bags, eat, and spend the afternoon at the Cellular Jail, the colonial-era prison that is the most important historic site on the islands. Check the current opening hours and the evening light and sound show on the official tourism pages, because both change with the season.

If you have energy left, walk along the waterfront near the harbor or visit a museum nearby for context on the islands' history before you head to the beaches. Keep the evening simple. You have an early start, and the day's real job is to confirm tomorrow's ferry ticket and get the pier name right, since government and private boats can leave from different places.

Sleep close to the pier you will use. If your flight arrives late, skip the jail and go straight to dinner; the site is also open on your return leg on day five.

Take the first sensible ferry to Havelock. Crossing time depends on the boat, roughly 1.5 to 2.5 hours, and the faster boats are not always the ones that run every day. Arrive at the pier early, carry your passport, and keep your bag within reach, because the queue and the boarding checks take time.

On Havelock, drop your bags in Govind Nagar or on the Radhanagar side, whichever you booked, and rest through the hot early afternoon. Havelock is the headline island, and the Havelock Island guide has the longer story. Radhanagar Beach is about 12 km from the main village, a ride of 20 to 30 minutes by scooter or auto, so plan the trip so you are on the sand in the late afternoon.

Swim only where the posted advice says it is safe. Currents can be strong, and conditions change with the season. Stay for sunset, when the beach thins out and the light turns gold, and arrange your ride back before dark, since the road is quiet and lit in patches.

Day three is for the reef. The usual choices are a snorkel trip to Elephant Beach, or a dive from one of the shops in Govind Nagar. Both run on tide and weather, so the operator decides the day's route and may change it at short notice. That is a good reason to book a day or two ahead through a licensed shop, and to ask what happens if the sailing is cancelled.

If you have never dived, a trial dive is a way to try it without a full course, but ask about the instructor's credentials, group size and equipment before you pay. If you would rather stay near the surface, snorkel gear is usually included in a boat trip, and the shallows are calm in the dry months.

Leave the afternoon open. Rest, rinse the salt off and walk to the beach near your base for a quiet sunset. Do not collect shells or coral, which is illegal in India, and keep your fins off the reef. If a trip is cancelled for weather, use the spare slot for Radhanagar or Kalapathar Beach, and try the reef again the next morning only if your ferry allows it.

Take a morning ferry from Havelock to Neil Island, also called Shaheed Dweep. The crossing is much shorter than the one from Port Blair, but the boats are the same kind, so the same boarding rules apply: arrive early, carry your passport and check the sailing the evening before.

Neil is smaller, flatter and calmer than Havelock. A bicycle is the best way around, and the roads link rice fields, a small village and a few beaches. Bharatpur Beach has shallow, calm water and boat trips; Laxmanpur Beach is the usual choice for sunset. Spend the afternoon on one beach, not three, because the point of Neil is slowness. If you want the full comparison, the Havelock vs Neil Island guide shows how to split nights between them.

Eat early. Restaurants are fewer than on Havelock, many close soon after dark, and ATMs are scarce, so carry cash from Port Blair. Sleep on the island tonight, and confirm the morning ferry with your guesthouse before you go to bed.

The last ferry takes you back to Port Blair. Treat it as the whole day. Weather and delays are most likely to bite on the last leg, so do not book a flight out for the same day. A flight on day six, or at least a late-evening departure with a comfortable margin, protects you from one cancelled sailing.

If the ferry arrives early, use the time for Ross Island, the ruined British administrative base a short boat ride from Port Blair, or North Bay. Both depend on boat availability and weather, and entry rules apply, so check the official Andaman tourism site before you count on them. If you did not see the Cellular Jail on day one, do it now.

Spend the last night close to the airport or your pier, and keep your bags packed. If you have an onward flight to Chennai or Kolkata, arrive at the airport with extra time, since check-in and security can be slow.

Ferries run on fixed schedules and fill in the peak months, December and January. Weather can cancel them at any time, and the risk rises in the monsoon, from about May to September. Because of this, a good Andaman plan has three habits. Book ferries before rooms. Keep one spare day before any international or long-haul flight. And choose rooms that allow changes where you can.

Seas are calmest and visibility is best from roughly November to April, when most reef trips run. In those months you can plan close to the timetable. In the monsoon, expect rain, rough water and rescheduled boats, and treat the plan as a sketch. If your dates are fixed, consider fewer island hops, such as five nights on Havelock alone.

Download maps and tickets before you leave the mainland. Mobile data is patchy across the islands, so an eSIM for India is useful for the mainland legs, but do not count on it for navigation or booking once you are on a ferry. Carry rupees for small bills, since cards work in some hotels and shops but ATMs run out.

Compare policies in our travel insurance guide. Entry rules for the islands are separate from your visa: check the India e-Visa guide for the mainland, and confirm the current permit rules for your nationality with the official Andaman tourism site or an Indian mission before you pay for flights. Rules for foreign visitors have changed in stages, so do not rely on an old blog post.

With four days, drop Neil. Go Port Blair, then Havelock for two nights, then straight back, which gives you the beach, the reef and a buffer. With seven days, add two nights on Havelock for a second reef day or a dive course, and a full day for Ross Island and North Bay on the way out. With three days or fewer, fly in, take the ferry to Havelock for one night and fly out; most of your time will go to ferries.

Whichever length you choose, the same order holds: ferry first, rooms second, buffer last. Read where to stay in the Andamans once your ferry times are fixed, and use the Getting around India page for the flight to and from the mainland.