TRAVEL TO ANDAMAN ON A BUDGET; HOW TO REACH ANDAMAN ISLANDS

Andaman is growing as a Tourist spot and inviting a rush of tourist towards its beauty. The stunning beaches and picturesque view is like the cherry on the top for the Tourist. But being an Island, limits the options of reaching Andaman. Andaman is accessible from mainland through airways and waterways. But sometimes it can become costly to reach Andaman especially during tourist seasons, through this post we will help you with some useful hacks to reduce your expenses to reach Andaman so that you may spend the vacation like you want it.

Catch a Flight:

Andaman is connected by flights from Chennai, Kolkata, Vizag and Delhi. Direct flights are available from these cities. For people from other cities they have to first reach any of these cities to catch a flight to Andaman. The air fare depends on the time you want the tickets and how soon you are planning the vacation.

During the peak times, the tickets cost will be at a rise. It will cost a lot on your pockets so either you can avoid those times or you can book your tickets through agents and tour operators.

Find a Group Ticket Guy:

It will be very costly if you book the tickets directly so the best option will be to get it through Tour operators. Some operators offer tickets in group that will be very cheap. In famous booking websites, if the tickets are available at around Rs.12000/-, in group tickets it will be available for around Rs 6000/- which is comparatively low.

Look for promotional offers:

You can also opt for the websites which offers tickets at discounts or on sale. Sometimes you can get tickets at cheap rate. Many website have alert system. So keep an alarm and whenever there is a drop in Airfare in Andaman route, you will get a mail.

Chartered Flight:

There are also Chartered flights operated by Andaman Administration which operates weekly once from Chennai and Kolkata. The tickets available for the tourist/ non- islanders are Rs 5000/- during off season and Rs 8000/- at normal times. The tickets for these flights will be available at Residence Commissioner Office, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Chennai and Residence Commissioner Office, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Kolkata.

Sail and Save:

Another way of access to these Islands is through ships. Ships are available from Chennai, Kolkata and Vishakhapatnam ports. It will take roughly three days to reach Andaman through ships. In ships there are different class of reservation like the Bunks, 2nd class Cabin, 1st class Cabin and Deluxe.

The bunks would be not preferable to travel as it is not convenient but 1st class Cabin and Deluxe are available which could be opted for if you have time. The rates for various class of tickets slightly varies with ships but it will be around Rs 9280/- for Deluxe and Rs 7690/- for 1st class Cabin. 2nd class Cabin will cost around Rs 6110/-.

Most of the tourists avoid ships as it takes time to reach Andaman but if you have the time and you are coming during November to February, coming in ship might not be such a bad idea.

Book packages, which come with flight tickets:

Most of the travel packages to Andaman, starts only at Port Blair, which means that it doesn’t include airfare. This also means that for visiting Andaman one will have to pay for Airfare + Tour Packages + other costs including tickets/scuba diving/sea walk etc. This is always advisable to pick a package which will cost a little more than ordinary package but will also include Airfare.

There are many tour operators in Andaman who book tickets of every flight in bulk and then sell those tickets (known as group tickets) in high rate.

These guys also use these group tickets for their own guests and hence tourist get flight ticket in almost half rate.

The best benefit of buying such package is that even in rush season the flight tickets remain affordable.