Notes for the Andaman Islands

Created by sue. Last modified on 2009-05-03 17:25:09
Countries: India

Sent by SV "Mata'irea" who cruised the Andaman Islands from March 11 to April 9, 2009.

We have just spent a month in the Andaman Islands. Our stay in these islands has been one of the highlights of our circumnavigation. Empty surf breaks, huge fish, all the lobster one could possibly eat, deserted islands, gorgeous beaches, healthy and varied coral, giant manta rays, fascinating indigenous tribes, friendly locals, delicious and cheap food, and a charming port of entry and departure - what more could a cruiser ask for? Our "Best Of" list for the Andamans includes:

Best Deserted Island: North Button
Best Coral: South Button
Best Aquatic Life: Twin Islands
Best Beach: South Bay, Rutland Island
Best Agent Who Isn't An Agent: Ravi

A detailed write-up about and pictures from our 30 day visit to these islands is available here.

We were surprised to find these islands to be practically empty of cruising boats. We can only attribute that to the wealth of misinformation circulating among cruisers about the Andamans. The following is our attempt to clear up a few of the rumors and provide some suggestions for making your trip to the Andamans as hassle-free as possible.

Visa Application

Applying for an Indian visa through Emotion Travel in Phuket, Thailand requires the following:
(a) two 2 inch passport photos with a blue background per applicant
(b) a completed application in black pen
(c) a basic travel itinerary with vessel and crew details, and
(d) 4700 Baht per applicant.

The information on the Andaman Islands on Noonsite currently includes the following erroneous statement about the required Indian Visa: "The embassy MUST endorse BY HAND the visa stamp in the passport with the following words: "Visa also valid for visit to permitted places in Andaman and Nicobar Islands for tourism only." If this is not endorsed then they will not let you in."
That is simply not true. For several years yachts have successfully visited the Andamans without this "Andaman Endorsement."

Under no circumstances should you get the "Andaman Endorsement" offered by Emotion Travel in Phuket, Thailand. This will limit you to a 15 day stay at an additional cost of 1500 baht per visa. Just show up in the Andamans with your valid 6 month Indian visa and you will receive a 30 day Restricted Area Permit from the Immigration Officers upon arrival. If you show up with the 15 day Andaman Endorsement, Immigration cannot extend your visit to 30 days. We met three boats this season who were limited to 15 days by getting the Andaman Endorsement through Emotion Travel.

(Thank you for this update, we have amended what we say on noonsite).

The date of expiry stamped on your original Indian Visa is the date you must leave the Andamans. In other words, if you arrive with the date of expiry on your visa a week away, Immigration will only permit you to remain in the islands until that date (ie, one week), not 30 days from when you arrive. We saw this happen to another yacht while we were in the Andamans. So, arrive in the Andamans at least 30 days prior to the expiry date of your Indian Visa.

Arrival in the Andamans

The following published resources include thorough and accurate descriptions of what to expect of the clearance process:
- Andaman Sea Pilot (2007/2008 edition)
- Kate Hubert's article, Cruising the Andamans (January/February 2007 issue of SEA Yachting), and
- Tui Tai's cruising notes based on their 2007 and 2008 visits to these amazing islands (available on S/V Crystal Blues's website http://www.svcrystalblues.blogspot.com/).
We will not reiterate the information contained in the above publications here. Below are just a few suggestions from us to make your clearance process as quick and painless as possible.

S/V Crystal Blues' website contains links to sample request letters and documents necessary for inwards and outwards clearance. These forms are incredibly helpful. Preparing all the required paperwork ahead of time took some time and effort, but it made the clearance process go very smoothly.

During inward clearance, you will receive and countersign a Restricted Area Permit from Immigration that limits you to Little Andaman and islands adjacent to South and Middle Andaman Island. This precludes visiting outlying islands such as North Reef and the Table Islands as they are considered adjacent to North Andaman. If interested in visiting these Northern islands, you should question Immigration on this prior to signing the Restricted Area Permit as other departments (such as Forestry and the Harbor Master) will refer to this document as to the reason why North Reef (for example) is out of bounds.

Avoid the Forestry Department in Port Blair. You can have a great Andamans cruise without obtaining any special permits from the Forestry Department. Adding islands under Forestry control (such as Cinque and Interview) to your planned itinerary will add at least a day to your inward clearance process and cost you some $40 USD per night for a vessel plus two crew. Our advice would be to leave islands that are under Forestry's jurisdiction off of your itinerary. We included Cinque and Interview on our itinerary and paid the required fees to Forestry for a permit. We did not find these islands to be any more impressive than other islands in the Andamans. If we visited the Andamans again, we would give these islands a pass and save ourselves the hassle of dealing with Forestry in Port Blair.

Cruising the Andamans

The anchorage waypoints in the Andaman Sea Pilot are not very accurate (some are just dead wrong). We found those in Kate Hubert's article and Tui Tai's cruising notes to be much more reliable.

Contrary to the statements in the 07/08 edition of the Andaman Sea Pilot, the power lines are most definitely in place across the Homfray Strait. With a mast height of 21 meters, we cleared them, but it looked pretty close. If planning to transit the Homfray Strait, we would recommend inquiring about the height of the lines with either the Harbor Master or Coast Guard.

Avoid Forestry on outlying islands. If you seek out the Forestry officials at their office on Havelock Island, they will likely ask you to pay additional fees to visit islands North of Havelock (such as Outram, Inglis, John Lawrence, Henry Lawrence, etc.), islands which, per the terms of the Restricted Area Permit that you will receive from Immigration, you shouldn't have to obtain Forestry approval or pay fees to visit. If you do not go looking for them, Forestry most likely will not come find you as they are not equipped with patrol boats except at the Cinque and Twin Islands.

Departing the Andamans

We had perfect weather for our March 11 to April 9, 2009 stay in the Andamans with light winds, settled conditions and very little rain. However, April 10th turned out to be too late to set out for Sri Lanka this year as we had strong Southwest winds set up against us as well as some extremely violent squalls (40 knot squalls with a baseline wind of 15 knots) in the Bay of Bengal. These conditions persisted for several days in the early part of our passage and eventually developed into a feeder band for Cyclone Bijli. If leaving the Andamans for points West we would recommend leaving during the tail end of the Northeast Monsoon or the early part of the transition to the Southwest Monsoon at the latest.

When your 30 days are up, that is it, you have to go. None of the standard reasons for extension (weather, engine problems, etc.) are permitted in the Andamans. For one boat that visited the Andamans this season, this meant scrambling late into the night to get extra impellers made for his malfunctioning main engine sea water pump. For us, that meant setting out into extremely squally and unfavorable weather that eventually turned into a cyclone on our way to Sri Lanka. If you are not going back to Thailand or Malaysia from the Andamans, keep this in mind. The Harbor Master and Customs will be sympathetic to your plight but Immigration (who are also the police) is unmovable.