to see our photos from the Andamon Islands click on the link below
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015661&id=1112916442&l=f1b4cdaeaa
We flew to Port Blair from Chennai. Port Blair is the capital of the Andamons, and is mainly public buildings and ferry terminals. Stayed one night, then caught the ferry to Havelock, where we stayed fot 9 nights. As part of the Meet and Greet service, we were picked up in Pt Blair, and taken to the ferry, then taken to the resort.
We stayed at Island Vinnies resort, which operates in conjunction with DiveIndia. the resort is on the beach, amongst the coconut palms. Had a tent with an ensuite (and an iron roof), and heard the occasional crashing of coconuts.
the diving ran very smoothly. Peter had 12 day dives and one night dive, which has more than doubled his experience. He went to some excellent sites. One day we both went snorkelling from the dive boat, and saw some amazing coral. Almost met nice people from all over the world, common interest diving.
We had a package that included all meals, and we ate most of them there, but they did not have a beer license, so we had to go down the road on a few occasions.
Havelock is very isolated, my mobile phone did not work, I did not see the internet (though it was available in town), did not see a paper or TV, and in the middle of it all, the Mumbai bombings. Snippets of news came through, but we had lots of difficulty differentiating fact from fiction. The police and army presence increased, and the army visited every resort with lists to check their records were correct. We even had a navy ship standing off Beach no 7, which is "the beach" in Havelock - another one of the best 10 beaches in the world.
We hired a scooter to get around, we were on Beach no 3, and beach 7 was about 10km away. Beach 7 was definitely the best beach for swimming, though beach 3 was good until you saw beach 7.
On the way home, the meet and greet was reversed, we were driven to the ferry, picked up in Pt Blair and taken to our hotel, then picked up this morning and driven to the airport. This was really great. We will have very fond memories of our 11 days in the Andamons.
to see our photos from the Andamon Islands click on the link below
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015661&id=1112916442&l=f1b4cdaeaa
