Port Blair (officially renamed Sri Vijaya Puram) is the only entry point to the Andaman Islands, and most travellers get between half a day and two days there. The best things to do are the Cellular Jail and its evening light and sound show, the overgrown British ruins on Ross Island, Chatham Saw Mill, and Corbyn’s Cove beach. Private ferries to Havelock leave Haddo Wharf between 6:00 am and 2:00 pm, so plan everything around that.
Most Port Blair travel guides are written by people who have never had to make a 6:00 am ferry. I have flown in and out of that airport more times than I can count, and I have watched plenty of divers waste their one Port Blair day: turning up at the Cellular Jail on a Monday when the galleries are shut, or booking a 12:30 pm flight and assuming they can still catch a boat to me the same afternoon. So here is the version I give people on WhatsApp, with the timings that actually matter.
How much time do you really get in Port Blair?
Your Port Blair time is decided by your flight, not by your plans. The last private ferries to Havelock leave around 2:00 pm.
If you land before about 10:00 am, you can catch an afternoon ferry the same day. That gives you roughly three usable hours in the city, which is one attraction and a quick lunch, nothing more.
If you land after midday, you are staying the night. That is not a disaster. An overnight in Port Blair is the easiest way to see the light and sound show, which is the best thing in the city anyway.
Leave a two hour gap between your flight landing and your ferry departure. The drive from the airport to the jetty is only 20 to 30 minutes, but ferry operators want you there early and they do not wait. I have seen a family miss a Makruzz by four minutes. There is no next one.
Do you need a permit for Port Blair?
If you are an Indian national, no. You need one valid government photo ID (Aadhaar, voter ID, driving licence or passport) and that is it, for the islands, the hotels and the ferries. Carry the physical original. Photocopies and phone screenshots sometimes get argued about at jetty security, and you do not want that argument at 5:45 am.
Foreign nationals no longer need a Restricted Area Permit for Port Blair, Havelock or Neil. You need a passport valid for six months, a valid Indian visa, and you register with immigration when you land. That is a genuine relaxation from how it used to be.
Two exceptions still hold. Citizens of Afghanistan, China (including Hong Kong and Macau) and Pakistan, and people who trace their origin to those countries, still need prior approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs. And the tribal reserves are closed to everybody, Indian or foreign. The Jarawa, Sentinelese, Onge and Shompen areas are not a sightseeing option, and photographing anyone from those communities on the Andaman Trunk Road is a serious criminal offence. Take that one seriously.
The three jetties, and why people end up at the wrong one
Port Blair has three jetties and they are not interchangeable. Turning up at the wrong one costs you the day.
Haddo Wharf is where every private ferry to Havelock and Neil leaves from. About 4 km from the airport, 15 to 20 minutes by taxi. If you booked Makruzz, Nautika, Green Ocean or ITT Majestic, this is your jetty.
Phoenix Bay Jetty is about a kilometre from Haddo and handles the government ferries run by the Directorate of Shipping Services. Different boats, different building.
Aberdeen Jetty, inside the Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex, is only for the short hops to Ross Island and North Bay. Nothing goes to Havelock from here.
Check the jetty name on your ticket the night before, not in the taxi.
Ferries to Havelock: what to book and when
Private ferries cross to Havelock in 90 minutes to two hours and are worth the money.
Makruzz runs catamarans, which sit steadier in a swell. If anyone in your group goes green on a bus, book this one and do not think about it again. Departures are usually around 6:00 am, 8:00 am, 11:30 am and 2:00 pm, roughly ₹1,500 to ₹3,100 depending on class.
Nautika is the newest fleet, fast, with big windows. Usually 6:30 am, 7:30 am and 12:45 pm, around ₹1,600 to ₹1,900.
Green Ocean is the cheapest of the three at roughly ₹900 to ₹1,400, and it is the only one that lets you stand on an open deck during the crossing. Slightly slower. If you like being outside on the water, take it.
Book private ferries a few weeks ahead in season. October to May they genuinely sell out.
The government ferries are much cheaper and take 2 to 2.5 hours, but getting a ticket is a sport. Bookings open on the STARS portal exactly two days before sailing, at 9:00 am IST sharp, and locals are refreshing the same page you are. Be logged in by 8:55 with every passenger’s name, age and ID number already typed into a notepad file to paste in. Pay by UPI, because if the payment timer runs out your seats go straight back to the pool. Government ferries also want you at Phoenix Bay two hours early and shut the gate 30 minutes before sailing.
Honestly? Unless the budget is tight, pay for the private ferry and spend that morning sleeping.
Things to do in Port Blair, ranked the way I would actually do them
The Cellular Jail, and the two mistakes everyone makes
This is the one unmissable thing in the city. Built between 1896 and 1906, 696 solitary cells, seven wings around a central watchtower, designed so no prisoner could see or speak to another. Three wings still stand. You can walk into Cell 50 on the top floor of Wing 1, where Savarkar was held, positioned to look straight out at the gallows.
I have been maybe a dozen times now, usually because someone is visiting and I am playing guide. It still does something to me. The cells are about four and a half metres by two and a half. One barred door. One window set too high to see out of. That is the entire room, and men lived in them for years.
Mistake one: going on a Monday. The daytime galleries are closed on Mondays and all national holidays. Mistake two: arriving late afternoon. The complex closes at 5:00 pm but the ticket counter stops selling well before that, so get there by mid-afternoon at the latest. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm, with a hard lunch closure in between. Entry is nominal, around ₹30 for Indians and ₹100 for foreign nationals, cash at the counter. Give it two to three hours.
The evening light and sound show is the part I tell everyone to keep. It runs 45 minutes, narrated from the point of view of the old peepal tree in the courtyard, in Om Puri’s voice. Around ₹300 a seat, first come first served in an open air amphitheatre, so arrive half an hour early. Hindi shows run at 5:50 pm and 7:50 pm daily. The English show is at 6:50 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Book ahead on the official Andaman e-tourist portal, because it sells out in season.
Here is a useful quirk: the museum is closed on Mondays but the show still runs, and Monday’s 6:50 slot is the English one. So a Monday evening arrival is not a wasted evening at all.
I wrote a much longer piece on all of this in our Cellular Jail visitor guide if you want the full history and the ticket details.
Ross Island, where the forest ate a city
If you only have time for one more thing, make it Ross Island, now officially Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Dweep. It sits a couple of kilometres offshore and was the British administrative capital for about 85 years. They called it the Paris of the East and built ballrooms, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a church and a bakery on an island you can walk around in an hour.
Then a 1941 earthquake cracked it, the Japanese occupied it, and after Independence nature took it. Today giant ficus roots have swallowed the stone walls whole. The church is a shell with a tree growing through it. Japanese bunkers still sit around the shoreline.
It is also full of spotted deer, peacocks and rabbits that have no fear of people because nobody hunts them. You can feed the deer. Leave the peacocks alone.
Boats leave from Aberdeen Jetty every 30 minutes or so, first one around 8:30 or 9:00 am, and the crossing takes 15 to 25 minutes. Round trip runs about ₹370 to ₹470 plus a small island entry fee. Budget two to three hours on the island and wear real shoes, because you will walk two or three kilometres over broken ground. Golf carts are available for about ₹100 if walking is hard. Nobody stays overnight, the Navy administers the island and everyone leaves before dusk.
One thing to check locally: some sources say Ross Island closes on Wednesdays for maintenance and others say it runs seven days. Ask your hotel desk the day before rather than trusting any blog on this, including mine.
Chatham Saw Mill, if you like machines
Chatham is the oldest and largest working sawmill in Asia, running since 1883, on a small island joined to the city by a 100 metre bridge. This is not a polished museum. It is a live industrial site with 54 inch band saws cutting Padauk logs, and much of the machinery dates back to the British.
Go between 8:00 and 11:00 am while the mill is actually running, because the noise and the smell of cut Padauk are the whole point. It opens at 8:00 am and shuts at 2:30 pm, closed Sundays and public holidays, entry around ₹10. There is a Japanese bunker on site and a bomb crater from Allied raids, plus a forest museum with a chain carved from a single piece of wood.
The two museums worth an hour
Samudrika, the naval marine museum in Delanipur, is the one I recommend to divers specifically. Five galleries covering the marine life, corals, shells and geology of these islands. If you are diving in Havelock later that week, spending an hour here first means you will actually recognise what swims past you. Open 9:00 am to 5:00 pm with a lunch break, closed Mondays and national holidays, around ₹50.
The Zonal Anthropological Museum is the only honest way to learn anything about the indigenous communities of these islands, given that visiting them is rightly forbidden. Weapons, tools, clothing, photographs, documentaries. It is respectful and it is quiet. Open 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, closed Mondays, entry ₹10 to ₹20 for Indians. No photography inside.
Corbyn’s Cove and Flag Point, for an easy evening
Corbyn’s Cove is the closest beach to the city, six or seven kilometres out, a curved strip of sand with coconut palms and lifeguards. Let me be straight: the water here is nothing like Havelock. Lower visibility, no real coral to speak of. Come for jet skis, parasailing, sea-karting and a plate of fried fish, not for snorkelling. The coastal drive out is genuinely nice, and you pass old Japanese bunkers sitting by the road.
Flag Point at South Point is free, open all hours, and takes twenty minutes. Netaji hoisted the tricolour here on 30 December 1943, which made these islands the first Indian territory declared free of British rule, four years before the mainland. There is a 150 foot flagpole, lawns, sea views and a musical fountain in the evening. Good sunset spot before the light and sound show.
What I would skip
If your time is short, skip the water sports at Corbyn’s Cove. You are going to Havelock, where the same money buys you far better water. Skip North Bay’s snorkelling and quick try-dives too. It is convenient and cheap, and on a busy day the sand gets churned up until visibility is a few metres. If Port Blair is genuinely all the time you have, take it. If Havelock is on your itinerary, wait for it.
I would also skip trying to fit three museums into one layover. Pick one. Museum fatigue is real and the Cellular Jail deserves your attention more than a rushed hour anywhere else.
Where to eat
For a proper dinner, Amaya on the rooftop of SeaShell at Marine Hill is the best in the city, with grilled seafood and a view over the harbour lights. The red snapper is what to order. Book ahead in season.
For unpretentious local seafood, New Lighthouse Restaurant in the city centre grills whole fish, crab and lobster from that day’s catch, open air. Waves at Corbyn’s Cove does cold beer and fried fish with your feet more or less in the sand.
If you are vegetarian, you are well covered. Annapurna Cafeteria in Aberdeen Bazaar does proper South Indian meals and dosas, and Icy Spicy is the safe bet for chaat, momos and jalebi if you are nervous about street stalls.
If you are killing an hour before a flight, Lazeez is a rooftop place directly opposite the airport, and there is a KFC inside the airport complex.
Shopping, and the one thing you must not buy
Go to Sagarika, the government emporium in DAG Colony near Aberdeen Bazaar. It is fixed price, so there is no haggling, and the money goes to registered local artisans. Padauk wood carvings, bamboo and coconut shell crafts from around ₹100, legally sourced mother of pearl, jute, spices. Usually open 9:00 am to 7:00 pm and closed Sundays, though the closing day gets reported differently in different places, so ring ahead. There is a small Sagarika counter inside the Cellular Jail too.
Aberdeen Bazaar is the messier, cheaper option where bargaining is expected. Pearl jewellery starts around ₹500, spices from about ₹35 per 100g.
Now the important bit. Do not buy coral, and do not buy rare shells, however nicely they are displayed. It is illegal to collect, buy or carry them out of the islands, and it gets confiscated at the airport. More to the point, somebody broke a living reef to sell you a paperweight. I spend most of my life on these reefs and I can tell you they are not doing so well that they can spare it. Buy the wood carving instead.
Where diving fits into all this
Almost all Port Blair tourism happens in the gaps between flights and ferries, which is exactly what makes it useful to a diver.
Here is the part people plan badly. You cannot fly within 18 to 24 hours of your last dive, so you need a buffer day at the end of your trip anyway. Port Blair is the natural place to spend it. Ferry back from Havelock in the morning, spend the afternoon on Ross Island, do the light and sound show, fly out the next day. Your no-fly gap becomes the history part of your holiday instead of a wasted day staring at a hotel wall. (We explained the reason behind the wait in why you cannot fly straight after diving.)
The actual diving happens in Havelock, about two hours away by ferry. Water is 27 to 30 C, visibility runs 15 to 25 metres on good days, and the boat ride to most of our sites is about ten minutes. If you have never dived before, a try dive needs no swimming ability and no certification. If you are already certified, our fun dives run daily in season. And if you have four days spare, the RAID Open Water 20 course sends you home with a licence that works anywhere in the world.
Three plans that actually work
Half day, morning landing, afternoon ferry. Taxi straight from the airport to the Cellular Jail for a 90 minute visit (not on a Monday). Quick seafood lunch at Corbyn’s Cove. Be at Haddo Wharf by 12:30 pm for a 2:00 pm sailing.
Full day, afternoon landing, next morning ferry. Check in, then Flag Point around 4:30 pm for the sunset and the fountain. Cellular Jail light and sound show at 5:50 or 6:50 pm, booked online in advance. Dinner at Amaya. Catch the 6:30 am Nautika or 8:00 am Makruzz to Havelock.
Coming back from Havelock, flying out tomorrow. Ferry lands you at Haddo by early afternoon. Take the boat from Aberdeen Jetty to Ross Island and give it three hours. Next morning, be at Chatham Saw Mill at 8:00 am when the machines start, then Sagarika for souvenirs, then the airport.
Quick questions people ask me
Is Port Blair worth staying in, or should I rush to Havelock?
One night is worth it, two is usually too many. The Cellular Jail, the light and sound show and Ross Island are genuinely good, and that is comfortably one evening plus one half day. Beyond that, the beaches and the diving are far better in Havelock, so move on.
What is the best time to visit Port Blair?
October to May, same as the rest of the Andamans. The sea is calmer, ferries cancel less often, and the light and sound show is not getting rained out. June to September brings monsoon swell, and while the city itself is fine, ferry crossings get rougher and less predictable.
Can I see Port Blair and Havelock in a three day trip?
You can, but it will be tight and you will not dive much. A realistic version is one Port Blair evening, then two full days in Havelock. If diving is the point of the trip, give Havelock at least three days and treat Port Blair as bookends. Our things to do in Havelock guide covers how much there is to fill.
Is there scuba diving in Port Blair itself?
Yes, mostly at North Bay, and it is fine as a taster if you are never getting to Havelock. Visibility is lower and the sites get crowded with day trippers. If Havelock or Neil Island is on your itinerary, save your first dive for there. We compared the entry styles in shore dive vs boat dive.
How do I get around Port Blair?
Autos and taxis, and both work on negotiated fares rather than meters, so agree the price before you get in. The city is small and most of the sights are within six or seven kilometres of each other. If you are doing three or four stops in a day, hiring a taxi for the half day usually works out cheaper and saves you haggling at every stop.
Do I need to book the light and sound show in advance?
In peak season, yes. Tickets go through the official Andaman e-tourist portal, they need a government ID to match at the gate, and they are non refundable. In the quieter months you can often walk up, but I would not gamble a whole evening on it.
If you are coming this way anyway
Nobody plans a holiday around Port Blair. You pass through it twice, coming and going, and the difference between a smooth Andaman trip and a slightly frustrating one is usually how well you used those two passes.
So book your ferries before you book your hotels, and keep a Monday off your Cellular Jail plans. Everything else you can improvise.
When you get to Havelock, message us with your dates and how many days you have, and we will tell you honestly what fits. Even if it is one dive on your last free morning, do it. That is the bit you will still be describing to people a year from now, long after you have forgotten which ferry you took.
