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What to Do & See in Baratang?
Approximately 150 km north from Port Blair is Baratang island. It is a small island with only 3 small districts within – South Creek, Adazig, and Nilumbur. Baratang island is a part of the North and Middle Andaman group of islands. If you want to enter a world away from the chaos of the modern world, then Baratang is the place you must visit. The island is so remote that the central region of the island has almost no inhabitants at all therefore mobile networks are pretty scarce and thus the Internet is very rare.
A brief peek into the history
During the colonial period, Baratang island was a place of a rush. This island was a hub for plantations, logging, and agriculture. Imagine huge logs cut down manually and towed through jungle floors by Asian elephants. The logs had to be transported to sawmills nearby, so the colonials found an innovative and cost-effective way to do so. Instead of burning down tons of diesel on the bumpy jungle road, they made rafts out of the same logs and then towed them along with the water current using minimal effort. This still continues on a very small scale and you can still find rafts tied using logs at the jetties of the Baratang.
The Journey
Ride through the mangroves to see the Limestone caves. There are ways to reach Baratang island either you can go for a boat ride or you can go for the road journey. The journey takes place on the Andaman trunk road were in a region reserved for Jarawas vehicles have to follow convey system.
Baratang island has now emerged as a famous tourist spot in recent years. The eruption of Mud Volcano, the popular Limestone caves, the untouched Baludera beach, and the almost ethereal Parrot island have made Baratang a tourist hub.
Here’s a list of Top 5 Things To Do in Baratang
#1 Visit Limestone Caves
The Limestone cave formations at Nayadera and the vast mangrove-covered creeks are the main attractions for tourists in Baratang. The island is known for limestones, which deposit themselves either above the soil or under the ground forming interesting formations and layers. You can easily get a boat at the Nilambur jetty, which will take you to the famous caves. On the way, you can admire scenic coastline covered with mangrove forests and you even pass through mangrove-covered canals making the ride more exciting.
Once you reach the wooden jetty at Nayadera you will have to walk down for about 1.2kms to view this beauty of nature. The walls of caves here are covered with massive formations dangling from the ceiling like chandeliers. The water is constantly dripping from the ceiling making the stalactites and stalagmites shine and glow. The sad part of this site is that people visiting the caves are destroying these wonders of nature by littering and signing names on the ancient formations.
#2 See the Mud Volcano
A short ride from the Nilambur jetty and another 160 meters walk up a rocky path are what it takes to reach the mud volcanoes. These small muddy craters are created by natural gases emitted by decaying organic matter underground that push mud upwards. Please note that this is not a visually stunning sight, as most of the time there is just a pile of dried or small bubbling puddles of mud. However, Andaman is one of the few places in the world where these Volcanoes are found and you may thus want to give it a visit. Eleven mud volcanoes have been reported in the Andaman group of islands, of which eight are located in Baratang and Middle Andaman. The other three you can find in North Andaman.
How to get there: No special permits are required for visiting the mud volcano. But if you do decide to visit this attraction and you are not on a tight schedule try to catch a local bus from the jetty in direction of Baludera beach – it will save you money. The public jeep however will be faster and will cost you around 200 per person.
#3 Take a trip to Parrot Island
The sight of thousands of parrots returning home before sunset is an experience that draws nature lovers to Parrot Island.
Visiting this small island is an interesting escapade that combines bird watching, boat rides, and a view of a beautiful sunset. Parrot Island in Baratang is a flat island, covered with lush green trees and mangroves. The trees are home to a large number of parrots that can be observed returning to their nests, as the sun begins to set. Though the experience is enchanting, one needs to halt for a night at Baratang to be able to see this. The boats for Parrot Island leave no sooner than 4.15 pm and by that time they get back, there are no return buses left for Port Blair. The whole trip lasts for about 2.5 hours.
#4 Spend some time at Baludera Beach
Only 9km from the Nilambur jetty, this serene beach is hidden away from the crowd. Once you are here you will see a lovely curved sand bay entwined with mangrove trees on one side and fallen old trees on the other side. The water is warm and after and perfect to cool down after a busy day of site seeing. Most of the time you’ll have the beach all by yourself as few tourists end up here and the locals come only on weekends to have picnics. There are limited facilities and only a small shop at the bus stand. Do bring snacks and some food if you are planning to stay for a while.
#5 Eat local Thalis
There are several small dhabas around the Nilambur jetty where you can relish the taste of local Andaman food. The Andaman cuisine is actually a blend of cuisines from different parts of the country because of the diversity in settlers from all over India. The dhaba thalis (meals) serve a mixture of dishes from Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. You can also try some local snacks. My personal favorite is “Goli”, a snack prepared by frying a paste of refined flour mixed with sugar. It has a crispy outer crust and a soft inner core and is best had with a cup of tea. Talking about thalis, the Nilambur jetty has a canteen at the jetty itself (Port Canteen) where you can try “Macchi suruva” and ”bhaath” I.e. fish curry and rice. After a long day or bumpy ride, under the sun, having this as lunch will make your day.
The journey to Baratang should be on your list if you are visiting the Andaman Islands. Make sure you have enough days at hand because there is so much to see and often people get stuck with the limited time in the Islands. I also suggest you stay a night in Baratang, so you can take a trip to see Parrot island.
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The kayaking experience was super fun and knowledgeable. Mr.Ali was very friendly and ensured we had a clam and a relaxing paddling experience and enriched us with facts about mangrove trees, it’s ecosystem and Abadman islands and clicked some cool pics 🙂
Ross Island is ideally a two part trip, the morning to evening portion includes going around the island looking at the ruins from the era of the British and Japanese rule. the late evening portion includes a spectacular sound, light & video show (yes you read it correctly!!) which has been created specially for Ross island by Revathi (the actress)
This is a over hyped, and not worth the time and money spent to reach here. It used to be called the “Paris of the East” when the British settled here. But everything is destroyed now.
The only good place here is a beach that is on the other side. You will need to climb down and up a lot of steps to get there.
It was a perfect location for family fun, the erstwhile Ross Island has all the history of a mini Paris, albeit at the cost of all Indian labour and is an example of the British opulence over poverty stricken India. Perfect for taking pics and the picturesque light house was delightful. We took the buggy as we were a large family with kids. There are deer and peacocks too.
