Weekend at Havelock Island, India

(Now also read it on about.com, a part of The New York Times Company)

Two reasons that made us select a weekend at Havelock Island: One, the Times magazine rated the Radhanagar beach as the best beach in Asia in 2004 (the only one from India to figure in the list), and two, many of my friends have been recommending it over the years.

Cruise to Havelock from Port Blair

Already at Port Blair, I along with my wife and two daughters departed by a high speed cruise catamaran called Makruzz at 0845 Hrs last Sunday. The catamaran, bought by a local company from Damen shipping in Singapore, has a capacity of about 280 passengers seated on two decks in three classes. We chose to travel by the Premium class (the middle one with one way fare per person of Rs. 650) and that got two of us the window seats. The catamaran is 37 meters in length and built to international specifications. While the kids sat next to their window seats, munching chips bought from the central kiosk, I and my wife sipped hot tea, seeing the islands appear and disappear around us. It rained for a while, but for most of the travel of ninety minutes it was clear with a good view.

The Barefoot resort

It will be difficult for anyone to sustain the enthusiasm for long, as the driver takes you through totally uninhabited parts of the island before finally breaking off on a dirt road, tall trees standing stout all around. So, the arrival at the resort was slightly discomforting for all of us, particularly the children.

The biggest hut with a thatched roof was the reception and we were welcomed by the front office manager, Mr. John. He showed us various accommodation options and we chose the duplex Nicobari hut at Rs. 6500 (off season discount included). Made entirely of wood, the structure sits on wooden stilts on all the corners with a large palm leaf canopy on top and has a folding five step staircase that can be folded up to keep the reptiles and insects away during the night.

From inside the hut, the foliage outside could be seen from everywhere: if one wants, through the sliding windows the curtain of which can be rolled up; and if one doesn’t want, still through the glass top bathroom and nylon net sealed three feet difference between the roof and the walls.

Within ten minutes, we had our first wave of happiness. It felt strangely comforting to be right in the middle of a jungle, the waves of the sea within hearing distance.

The Radhanagar beach

We threw our travel clothes away and donned our swimsuits. Then all of us ran towards the beach. Through the woods, the beach emerges like a blue green gem initially before you come across the powdery white sand all around it hugging like a pearly necklace. The beach mat, the umbrellas, the mobile phones all abandoned at the edge, four of us jumped into the inviting waters. Though it was midday it wasn’t sunny; the clouds had been playing hide and seek with the sun all day long and we didn’t exactly miss the sun. The Indian sun can be pretty harsh at such places, so we had prayed for a cooler respite and we were lucky to have got just that.

The best thing about staying at the resort – we realized at that moment –was the fact that since there was no other resort in the vicinity we had the entire stretch of sea and sand to ourselves. The visitors who come to the beach can reach only up to the far end on the other side where the road ends and we could see many of them looking like ants climbing over each other in the hazy distance. It was luxury to be having a beach all to ourselves, a forest guard sitting in the distance on his lookout post and the manager coming occasionally to check if all was fine with us. It took us two hours before the scenery began to wear its effect off and stomach grumbled with hunger.

The Crocodile menace

The deadly crocodiles were definitely on our minds when we took the dip. Now, I don’t know how wise we were to venture in waist deep waters, just a little distance from the spot where an American tourist was attacked by a deadly salt water crocodile very recently (God rest her soul in peace). She was incidentally a guest at Barefoot resort, also the place of our stay. It was a wayward incident we were convinced by the resort staff. Anyway, what is life without a little bit of risk. That said, we decided to forego all our earlier plans to go snorkeling. The girls didn’t simply have the courage and I didn’t see any reason.

Dolphins Ahoy!

Next day, having rested really well and woken up to the cacophonic early morning discussions of the local birds and also having finished an early morning stroll on the beach, bathed and fresh, we were proceeding for breakfast at eight, when the Front desk manger, Mr. John, told us about the Dolphins. Giving the breakfast a slip for the time being, we scurried through the woods a little distance away, where, as I said before, the road got the visitors to the beach, to be in the middle of the action. A crowd of about fifty people had already gathered but there seemed to be no Dolphins. I asked a bystander and he said the two Dolphins had been washed ashore an hour or so ago, but the forest officials had put them back into the sea. But we could see their fins in the distance, so we waited. Surprisingly, a little later the Dolphins were once again washed ashore. The crowd thronged on the people who rescued them. I learnt later they were the forest officials. I hope their efforts revived the drowsy looking beautiful mammals.

Diverse ecosystem

Most of the islands in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, I would like to mention, support diverse ecosystems. While on one patch you might have tall Mahua (Madhuca Longifolia) Dido (Bombax Insigne) and wild Jamun trees, on the other all you can see are short shrubs, while still on others you can see the coconuts and the areca-nut trees growing alongside palm trees. This diversity supports all kinds of life. We spotted parrots, mynahs and beautiful butterflies too.

The Vijaynagar beach

The next day, after checking out from Barefoot Resort (the checkout time here is nine in the morning but they allowed us the luxury of a late check out) we headed for the second beach called Vijaynagar beach. This beach has almost all the resorts dotting all along its curve. We selected the Wild Orchid for our lunch at the recommendation of our driver. The restaurant is called the ‘Red Snapper’ and when we ordered Prawn curry in coconut gravy and a Biryani, along with beer and coke we had no idea what was in store for us. Both the prawn curry and the Biryani turned out to be the best I have ever eaten. After the lunch we headed once again to the beach, our luggage in the safe custody of the front desk. This beach is not half as good as the Radhanagar beach: there are rocks dotting its shore line, which can become dangerous to navigate during high water, and there are too many people.