Andaman Dairies – North Bay Island

Indian Kala Pani ie the Andaman Islands have turned into India’s hot destination in the recent past. Pristine beaches and turquoise water have popularized it to be the hottest destinations for travelers of any category and age. Millions of travelers, especially honeymoon couples, flock into Andaman to enjoy its scintillating beaches and tropical forests. Islands have astoundingly beautiful and maintained white sandy beaches that are superior to other well-known beach destinations within India and Abroad. The archipelago has not only beaches but also secluded islands. Though these islands do not have a human presence, yet surely have a strikingly gorgeous landscape. One such isolated yet the exquisite island is North Bay Island.

North Bay Island is one of the most visited places in Andaman. The island is close to the capital city Port Blair, and you can reach the island within half an hour from the jetty point. This paradisiacal place has stunning marine life, trademark bluish waters, and abundant coral reefs surrounding big boulders. On top, the beautiful island offers a huge number of adventure sports to thrill-seekers.

Enchanting coral reefs, which have numerous colors to make huge black stones colorful and lively, are the selling points of the island. Though on the island, there is nothing much to see except a lighthouse that opens for limited hours, yet its glory is good enough to drag thousands of people. Generally, it is packaged together with Ross Island to spend the entire day, and you would be provided 5-6 hours to visit both the islands.

Adventure buffs can enjoy the various activities at North Bay. Few popular activities are listed below:

Scuba does not need much introduction lately. A few star-studded movies have already given a dream to swim with the fishes in the open sea. During the activity, you swim with the fishes in the ocean at 60-70 feet (20-25 meters) depth and watch hundreds of different fishes. A few pounding on you, a few others swimming with you, and some running away from you anticipating you as a bigger fish.

Swimsuits and oxygen gas cylinders are provided by the vendor along with a guide. Though, as per the government guideline, a trained guide must accompany one diver, yet a group generally consists of one guide and a couple of people.

Sea Walk is another heart-pounding water activity. Just like Scuba, it is also done under the water at the same level as Scuba. The difference is that you cannot wander much far from the anchored location during the Sea Walk. Traveler dives from the ship, which is anchored near the coast, and floats in its proximity. Once he hits the bottom, he feeds the fishes around. As this area is highly utilized and attracts a lot of disturbance, so it certainly spoils the swimming experience for the fishes, hence moving these fishes far from the ship. However, some lucky few can still interact with many fishes on a sun-kissed warm day.

Dolphin Boat Ride is mostly marketed as the best Russian ride. Its Adventures are formulated so well that you wouldn’t even want to miss the experience. This High-speed Dolphin Boat has a magnifying glass at the bottom to show the living creature of the sea. It would be fair to call the Dolphin boat a very high-speed glass-bottom boat. However, the premium charged for the speed is quite heavy, therefore, a traveler has to dig the pocket deeper to experience the unworthy ride.

Semi Submarine Ride is another glass-bottom boat ride. In the boat, magnifying glasses are glued on the sides rather than the bottom. Half the boat is submerged into the water and you are taken to the AC cabins. The marine life does not change but just the price and manner of watching the aquatic life changes.

Snorkeling is another little less adventurous sports activities. In scuba, we dive deep into the ocean to witness the world of fishes and corals, however during snorkeling we float at the surface. While swimming, we search the fishes and the corals with our bare eyes. Due to the clarity of the water and penetration of sunrays on a sunny day, the experience is surely surreal and worth the money spent.

Glass Bottom Boat Ride is commonly for people who are either scared (like me), or old, or carrying kids, or too lazy to change the wet clothes. The boat’s bottom is replaced with a huge magnifying glass that can peep into the ocean to 20-25 feet on a sunny day. Barring all the reasons for not trying at-least Snorkeling, Glass Bottom boat ride is worth the money you spent on it.

Please note that water sport activities like swimming, snorkeling, Scuba, Glass Bottom Ride, Sea Walk remains closed on Wednesday.

However North Bay Island is still the most visited island, yet it has lost its glorious coral reefs. Had the Tsunami not hit Andaman, North Bay Island was the most beautiful island. Huge boulders under the water were filled with millions of colorful corals. Millions of small or big grown-up corals rainbowed the black rocks. Corals, which take 100s of years to reach a certain stage, were illuminating the water with colorful droplets under the sun. It was no wonder that North Bay Island was also known as Coral Island.

Long gone the days, the tsunami, which hit the archipelago the most, had not spared anything. The Corals, which were even sensitive to human touch, could not sustain the powerful waves and strong wind. Corals, which were alive, vanished untimely and left the black or grey patch on big boulders.

Though the period has faded, yet the past is still alive with the locals and especially the travel agents. However, People sell North Bay Island as the best coral island.

I do not recommend North Bay Island to my co-travelers, there are few reasons to skip it from four and five night’s itineraries.

I know that it is difficult to trust me, ie another travel agent. When thousands of people are visiting the island every day, then why I am advocating against it.

Marketing has been the main pillar behind such unprecedented demand for North Bay. It has been marketed so well that it is extremely difficult to remove it from the itinerary.

The island receives such unflinching support from Islanders because it creates earning opportunities for Port Blair locals. Tour Agent, boat operator, and water sports vendor all share the part of the cherry ie commission. All the activities at North Bay are highly commissionable, and it is virtually unlikely that a person will sit for three hours at the shoreline. You will at least be tempted to enjoy the lowest cost activity in those three lonely hours. That’s the reason, North Bay Island is promoted quite well.

I recommend you to visit North Bay Island only if you have more than 5 nights.  However, if you are traveling for 4 Nights or 5 nights, it is a crime to include North Bay in your itinerary.

Please note that you must cover North Bay Island before heading to Havelock or Neil Island.

If you have any queries and questions about the sight, please add a comment. We would answer you as soon as possible. If you are planning to travel to Andaman, Kerala, Rajasthan, Ladakh, Kashmir, Jain Tirth Yatra, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and any other place, give LazYatra a chance to plan it for you. You can call me at +91-9540-611-889 or +91-9911-61-5555 or mail us team@lazyatra.com