A DOORWAY TO THE DEEP

Havelock pulses with life, but Chidiyatapu offers the Andamans' quiet soul, granting the rare privilege of diving beneath the surface without another soul in sight. Here luxury isn't a room, it's an ocean.

- Shikha Shah

In a world consumed by chaos, crowds, and the relentless tug of connectivity, solitude has become the most elusive of luxuries. And truly savouring meaningful indulgence often requires more than spending power—perhaps the nerve to abandon the map and venture beyond the familiar.

Recently, my curiosity won over convenience and drew me to Chidiyatapu —a quiet peninsula at the southernmost tip of South Andaman Island. The Andaman & Nicobar Archipelago, adrift nearly 1,200 kilometres from mainland India, nearer to the coasts of Myanmar and Thailand, already feels like India’s last frontier. On its edge lies the so-called “Bird Island,” just 25 kilometres (a 45-minute drive) from Port Blair's Veer Savarkar International Airport, but seemingly a world away from the capital's bustle. The drive itself is a slow unfurling of emerald forests, peppered with glimpses of the sea.

Home to about 40 families, mostly farmers and fisherfolk, Chidiyatapu is where everyone knows each other, and life moves at the tempo of the sun and sea. Here, Wi-Fi falters, and time slows.

A haven for divers

Despite its languid pace, this sleepy hamlet has quietly earned a reputation among those who seek adventure in silence. Chidiyatapu draws divers from across the world—beginners chasing their first descent and seasoned professionals seeking uncharted waters. And at the heart of its emerging diving scene is Lacadives, a PADI 5-Star dive centre poised on a prime stretch of beach with an enviable view.