Discover The Thrilling Side Of The Andamans

From kayaking in the night and scuba diving to trekking up a mountain, Sumeet Keswani discovers the thrilling side of the Andamans.

- Sumeet Keswani

When it comes to holidaying, most people find themselves torn between beaches and hills. For me, this battle has always been fought between the ocean and the forest. Do I dive into the blues and luxuriate on the shore, kissed relentlessly by the doting sea; or do I wander in the wilderness, autumn leaves the hue of sunset crumpling beneath my feet and birdsong perched on my shoulder?

The Andamans is one place that doesn’t make me choose. Islands covered with lush green tropical forests and surrounded by pristine blue waters—it’s my own personal brand of paradise. I devised the itinerary for my second trip to the islands around the most and the lesser visited places. My first base was the most popular one, Havelock, located around 40km northeast of Port Blair. The journey to the jetty involved a five-hour flight from Delhi and a 90-minute ferry ride from Port Blair, during which I was reintroduced to the history and attractions of the islands by a recorded audio-visual of the late Tom Alter in his warm, soothing voice. Once I was at Havelock, all I wanted to do was lounge on a hammock by the sea. But I wasn’t here to indulge clichés. Not this time. So, after I had checked into the Barefoot Scuba Resort on Beach No. 3 (Govind Nagar), I headed straight back to the jetty. A little way down the road (read beach) awaited my instructors, Bhupender Kumar aka Bhupi, Unnikrishnan, and a local boy named Gidyon. What did they all have in common? A love for kayaks. While Bhupi had been kayaking for 27 years in the waters of the Ganga with Snow Leopard Adventures, Unnikrishnan was a navy personnel trainer and goldmedallist at the national level, and Gidyon was a Karen settler who knew these waters better than I know my way to the nearest Big Bazaar.