When you decide to visit the Andamans in India, you will most likely follow the same itinerary that most people do. Cover Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair), Swaraj Dweep and Shaheed Dweep on your first trip. Most likely you will spend 2 days in Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair), 2 days in Swaraj Dweep and 1 day in Shaheed Dweep. We were no exception. The only difference was that we spent 3 days in Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair) instead of two.
As we boarded the ferry from Swaraj Dweep to Shaheed Dweep, we noticed many familiar faces… yep, they were on the same itinerary as us 😊 We reached Shaheed Dweep around noon time. Once again, we reached the hotel well before check-in time and had to wait a while for our rooms to be ready. If there is one complaint we have about the islands it is that the ferry times and the hotel check-in/check-out times are a little off. But, all in all, it wasn’t a big deal.
After checking in, we had our lunch and then decided to chill till about 5pm. We then headed to Lakshmanpur – 1 (yep there is a Lakshmanpur – 1 beach and Lakshmanpur – 2 beach which are away from each other) to watch the sunset. It does take about 5 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the beach area. As we walked to the beach, we admired the tall trees on either side of the path. Just as we entered the beach area, we noticed shops… so many beautiful artifacts on sale – pearls, shells, jewellery and so many other things. Sunset-shopping-sunset-shopping … yikes! We decided to watch the sunset and then do our shopping. It was low tide time. We did not walk towards the water… maybe we should have. Not sure if we would have seen the magic that appeared on Lakshmanpur – 2 (more about it later). So, if you have a chance, do walk beyond the sand. We joined the rest of the folks on the beach and relaxed. It was a beautiful sunset.
As the sun set, the stars began to shine. It was then we noticed someone with a large telescope and folks bringing out their blankets. We quickly realized that this island was a magnet for astrophotography, especially for the milky way. As the tour that was happening was a private tour, we couldn’t just join. A little bit of research could have gone a long way … we could have signed up earlier.
In any case, we indulged in shopping instead. It was wonderful. In fact, having visited Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair), Swaraj Dweep and Shaheed Dweep, I think Shaheed Dweep has the best flea market type shopping options…. especially for shells and pearls. There will always be a doubt about whether or not the pearls are real, however, they are very beautiful. In fact, I regret not picking up pearls that I loved…. I thought I would find them in Sri Vijaya Puram but that did not happen. For your information, Lakshmanpur Beaches 1 and 2, and Bharatpur Beach have wonderful shopping options. After shopping for a bit, we returned to the hotel, had dinner and called it a night. Please note: shells and pearls – whether or not we should be using them in jewellery can be controversial – I leave it to personal choice.
The next morning we headed to Sitapur Beach to watch the sunrise. It was not on the itinerary, but we spoke to the driver and he agreed to come for an additional fare. It was absolutely wonderful watching the sun rise in the Andaman Sea. Luckily it was not very crowded. After watching the sunrise, we headed to Lakshmanpur – 2 beach. The driver insisted we hire a guide. Reluctantly, we agreed. Hands down the best thing we did on Shaheed Dweep.
As we approached the beach area, we noticed it was rocky and a bit mucky. Low tide. We saw the famous natural bridge at a distance. Instead of turning left towards the natural bridge, we went right. We stopped at a little pool. Our guide asked us to look into the water – suddenly another world opened up. Fish, weeds, lots of other things. We then headed towards the natural bridge. After clicking a few pictures at the natural bridge, we started walking further up. Again, we looked into little pools. Absolutely stunning corals and sea life. The pictures clicked just do not do justice to what the eye saw. Never before had I seen live corals so close (I do not snorkel or scuba dive). Simply spectacular! We slowly walked back and soon headed back to the hotel. After reaching the hotel, we took some time to freshen up, have breakfast and pack up.
Bharatpur beach was our last stop on the island before heading to catch the ferry back to Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair). Once we reached the beach, we left our luggage in the car and went to the beach. Note: please make sure you have an understanding with your driver regarding the time you will be back. The island is small and the number of taxis are limited. So, it is possible that your taxi is being used to ferry other customers during the time you are on the beach. It is not a bad thing, just something you should be aware of.
The path leading to the beach was filled with shops selling all sorts of artifacts (including beautiful pearl strings) where you can shop till you drop. On the beach itself, there were lots of options to eat. Since we got there right after breakfast, we weren’t too hungry. There are some nice areas on the beach to chill. They were many folks in the water swimming in a roped off area. There are some water activities as well. We decided to take a ride in a glass bottom boat. Once again we had an opportunity to look at gorgeous corals and sea life. It was an awesome way to end the Shaheed Dweep trip.
Soon we headed back to the dock to catch the ferry to Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair). The ride back was uneventful. We reached Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair) by lunch time. Our only regret was that perhaps an extra day or two at Shaheed Dweep to just chill and enjoy the beautiful night sky would have been very good.
Wandering Tales Travel Dreams 