Coastal 6 Days Andaman Kayaking Package | Glinting

The private ferry from Port Blair to Havelock departs Phoenix Bay Jetty and covers approximately 57 kilometres in around 1.5 to 2.5 hours depending on sea conditions. Havelock — Swaraj Dweep — is where this andaman kayaking package does its primary work. The afternoon after arriving at Havelock is for the introductory guided paddle session — a one to two hour session in sheltered water near the island's eastern coast where the guide assesses the group's paddling ability, corrects stroke technique and ensures everyone is comfortable in the kayak before the longer and more demanding sessions ahead.

Life jackets are worn throughout all paddle sessions. The introductory session is not optional — it is the foundation for Day 3 and Day 4 and the guide uses it to calibrate the following day's route to the group's actual ability rather than their estimated ability. Overnight at Havelock.

Day 3 is the centrepiece of this andaman kayaking package. The morning session is the mangrove channel paddle — the interior side of Havelock Island has mangrove waterways that narrow into shallow forest channels where the motorboats that carry most island visitors cannot enter. The kayak moves at paddle pace through sections of the channel where the mangrove root systems are close on both sides and the canopy reduces the light overhead. The guide leads the group through the navigable sections and the pace is slow enough to observe the mangrove ecosystem — the mudskippers on exposed root surfaces, the waterbirds in the canopy, the small fish in the shallow water visible through the hull below.

The afternoon session paddles the route to Elephant Beach bay from the island's north side — the same bay that the motorboat reaches in 45 minutes is reachable by kayak in around 1.5 to 2 hours of open water paddling, with the reef visible below in the shallow sections of the approach. Overnight at Havelock.

The ferry from Havelock to Neil Island takes approximately 30 to 60 minutes. Neil — Shaheed Dweep — is the smaller and quieter island and the Day 4 kayaking session uses the mangrove creek sections near the island's interior. The Neil Island mangrove creeks are shallower and shorter than the Havelock interior channels but the character is specific to Neil — the island's smaller scale means the forest is always close and the paddling is never far from the shore. Bharatpur Beach on Neil's eastern side is the afternoon programme — the calm, shallow water suits those who want a swim after two days of paddle sessions and the beach is accessible by kayak from the creek area on the return.

Laxmanpur Beach in the late afternoon is on foot — the natural bridge at Laxmanpur, the coral rock formation shaped by wave erosion, is the Neil Island feature that the paddle has not covered. This andaman kayaking package uses the afternoon on Neil for the contrast between the kayak experience and simply standing on the shore. Overnight at Neil Island.

The ferry from Neil Island back to Port Blair takes approximately 1 to 2 hours. The Neil morning before the ferry is an open hour — Sitapur Beach on the eastern tip at low tide, the reef edge exposed, a final quiet island moment before the return crossing. Back in Port Blair the afternoon covers Ross Island — now Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island — reached by boat from Aberdeen Jetty, the colonial ruins of the former British administrative headquarters standing open to forest with deer moving through the cleared paths.

North Bay is available for a glass bottom boat ride over the reef. The Sagarika government emporium near the clock tower carries Andaman craft at fixed prices for a final purchase. The five days of this andaman kayaking package have covered the Andaman Sea at surface level in a way that no boat-based itinerary replicates. Overnight in Port Blair.

The final morning of the andaman kayaking package is in Port Blair. Groups with afternoon or evening departure flights have the morning for the Aberdeen Bazaar — the working port market with shell craft, local spices and the daily commercial energy of a harbour town — or a final hour at Corbyn's Cove Beach, a sheltered bay 15 minutes from the city centre.

The Bon Voyagers vehicle drops at Port Blair Airport for the return flight. The six days have covered the Andaman Sea from the surface of a kayak rather than from the deck of a boat — the mangrove interior of Havelock, the Elephant Beach reef approach from the water, the Neil Island creek system and the open channel paddling of the Ritchie's Archipelago. That perspective is the specific thing this andaman kayaking package offers and nothing else in the series delivers it.