Imagine a tropical island with thick forests, pristine white sandy beaches and shimmering turquoise waters. Andaman islands is one of India’s lesser known travel destinations located about 1400 km from the Indian mainland.
Of the archipelago’s 572 islands only a few dozens are inhabited. Of this only a handful remian open to tourists. Imagine how remote it is.
I have always been enchanted by the oceans and its reefs and so I decided to head to Andamans, one vacation and signed up for a scuba certification that lasted a little more than a week.
For 10 days, I stayed at a beach shack in my dive resort. There was no network what so ever (you don’t get vodafone signals out there). Time had no bearing on my routine. I woke up each morning before sunrise to the sounds of birds chirping and dive cylinders being filled and slept to the lullabies of the waves crashing the shores.
In between I’d head out for dive lessons or dive excursions that sometimes lasted until sunset. Most days I’ end up eating lunch on the dungi (local name for dive boat) in the middle of the ocean with my fellow divers and a few fisherman.
Evenings would be spent exploring nearby places, chatting with the dive and local communities and cafe hopping on a rented 2- wheeler.
While I was here, I saw my first star fish, swam with my first shark, went on a night dive and saw bioluminescent waters!
I had reconnected with nature! I had lived life like an islander.
Visiting Andamans has been an experience of a lifetime for me and I hope you guys get to experience it too!
Here are more details for those who’d like to visit Andamans.