Port Blair
The arrival island, and far more than a transit stop.
- Ideal nights
- 1 to 2 nights, usually split across arrival and departure
- Best time
- October to May. December to February is coolest and busiest.
Island guides
Where your nights are best spent
The islands are not interchangeable, and ferry timings decide more of your itinerary than any brochure will admit. Here's how we actually allocate nights.
Havelock (Swaraj Dweep)
Radhanagar, scuba, and the reason most people come.
- Ideal nights
- 2 to 3 nights
- Best time
- October to May. Diving visibility peaks December to April.
Neil Island (Shaheed Dweep)
Slower, smaller, and the one people wish they had stayed longer on.
- Ideal nights
- 1 to 2 nights
- Best time
- October to May. Check tide timings for Natural Bridge.
Baratang
Limestone caves, mud volcanoes and the Andaman Trunk Road.
- Ideal nights
- Day trip from Port Blair
- Best time
- November to April. Avoid during heavy rain — creek crossings suspend.
Diglipur
North Andaman, turtles and the highest peak in the islands.
- Ideal nights
- 2 to 3 nights, and only on longer trips
- Best time
- December to March for turtle nesting; November to April otherwise.
How to choose between Andaman destinations
Start with the fixed transport sequence, not a list of beaches. Port Blair is the air and ferry gateway; Havelock (Swaraj Dweep) needs enough time for its beaches and marine activities; Neil (Shaheed Dweep) works around tide and ferry windows. Baratang and Diglipur add road, convoy and permit constraints, so they suit travellers with spare nights rather than a tightly packed first visit.
A practical itinerary normally protects the final night near the departure airport and leaves a buffer around inter-island transfers. The destination pages above explain how many nights are useful, how each island is reached and which season changes the plan. Use those facts to remove unnecessary crossings before choosing hotels.
Build the route in this order
- Confirm arrival and departure flight times in Port Blair.
- Place the ferry sectors and protect their reporting buffers.
- Allocate nights by island, weather and the activities that matter most.
- Choose stays and transfers only after the sequence is realistic.