Barefoot, Silver Sand, Wild Orchid, BarefootScuba, DiveIndia

Just returned from New Year%26#39;s in the Andamans. Had to split my trip between Barefoot at Havelock (Jungle Resort) and Silver Sands. Dived with Dive India and Barefoot Scuba as well. And had a few meals at Wild Orchid, and received a tour of the rooms there. So here%26#39;s my 2 cents for whatever its worth:

Barefoot is by far the best accommodation in the Andamans. No question, no comparison. For starters it is the only resort on Beach No.7 - all others are 10 kms away. The resort is also unique, in that it is very generous with space and, most importantly, it is refreshingly different, a %26#39;concept%26#39; resort. The resort feels like a world of its own.

SilverSand - the less said the better. Terrible value for money. The only reason I stayed there was because Barefoot was full up for New Years (I enquired in July) and I could only get a booking in Barefoot 4 days before and again immediately after New Years, at the time I enquired. In retrospect, if I had had known better about rip-off Silver Sand, I would have spent my money at Wild Orchid - which is at least priced within its station. Admittedly the rooms at Silver Sand are better appointed than Wild Orchid, but Wild Orchid is better value than SilverSand by far. Silver Sand has no character, no atmosphere, is run by a 19 year old boy (owners are conveniently absent at the first hint of trouble), differs substantially from what is advertised on the website, it%26#39;s....oh, why bother. It%26#39;s just upsetting.

So here%26#39;s my accommodation tip: In order of preference - Barefoot a clear first. Wild orchid next (on price), then, (and only if you have a gun to your head), Silversand.

At Wild Orchid, the rooms are within 5 feet of the main road, so noise is a problem. But your hosts there seem very nice. The same main road actually cuts through Silver Sand resort, so if you make the mistake of booking there, do ask for the cottages on the seaward side of the main road (!!!)

Diving: Dive India and Barefoot Scuba are both good. Barefoot scores on the individual attention front (they do not crowd their boats and only take 4 divers per instructor/divemaster) whereas Dive India is buzzing. For courses I would definitely say Barefoot Scuba should be the preferred choice. For a fun diver with less than 50 dives, again, I%26#39;d recommend Barefoot Scuba. For a seasoned diver i%26#39;d think perhaps Dive India - they have more of an atmosphere because of sheer volume of divers they take on per day and us seasoned divers :) don%26#39;t really need to be watched over. All in all, I don%26#39;t think you can go wrong with either.

There is a 3rd dive center i believe - but I never dived with them, so can%26#39;t comment.

Oh, and I too paid in advance for all my accommodation - didn%26#39;t see that as a problem, and it wasn%26#39;t - although it did mean that I was stuck with Silversand for 4 days 23 hours and 59 minutes longer than I would have liked. But I%26#39;m NOT going to get started again

Barefoot, Silver Sand, Wild Orchid, BarefootScuba, DiveIndia

Since Ive recommended Barefoot elsewhere on this site, its nice to get a confirmation of my opinion!! Very comprehensive review but you should also go to the hotel review section and review each property there. Sadly some strange properties seem to be in the top 10 hotels in India!! Mostly those that give their guests free internet access to pump up their ratings, I suspect.

Barefoot, Silver Sand, Wild Orchid, BarefootScuba, DiveIndia

Thanks - that%26#39;s really useful. I%26#39;m going diving in Havelock in February and I%26#39;m trying to suss out accommodation. Any comments on Emerald Gecko (part of Wild Orchid) or the Dolphin Resort?

Hi Bobcat

Emerald Gecko has far more atmospher than Dolphin (government run). Easy winner between the two. Also, when I was on the island, the President of India visited - and the government cancelled all confirmed bookings at Dolphin and threw out all guests because of the %26#39;VIP%26#39;.

No contest, in my book.

Narked

Thanks Narked

Have taken your advice and booked at Emerald Gecko. Will report back in February.

Bobcat

Thanks for the detailed trip report. Very useful for an offbeat destination like Andaman. I was just wondering what the quality of the dives were in Havelock island compared to other destinations you have been to and some description of fish life, pelagics etc.

Thanks ...

Hi!

i%26#39;m planning to go to havelock to dive in a few weeks,

and I%26#39;d like to know what is your opinion about divesites, compered to other places, such as the red sea, sipadan or zanzibar.

anyone whos has been also there can tell me about ,please? IT%26#39;S WORTH GOING THERE?

I just returned last week from Havelock Island. I did a dive at the ';wall'; before getting too sick to dive any more (nothing to do with the dive shop, Andaman Dive Club, just too much travel and too little sleep caught up with me). The visibility was terrible, the reef was totally dead but the fish were beautiful.

The people that went out on the following day to a site about 2 hours out said it was beautiful and nothing like the previous day%26#39;s dive.

I have to concur on all fronts with the comments about Silver Sand which is where I stayed. It is totally overpriced but we were forced to stay there after we arrived at a hotel that had our reservation but found it was still under construction. I urge you not to book with www.makemytrip.com.

We had a nice lunch at the Emerald Gecko.

Just returned from 9 days on Havelock and I would have to say ... whatever you do, don%26#39;t go there! When you stumble upon a really special place, a desert island paradise that has been unspoilt by tourism, so very rare in this day and age, you want to keep it a secret so that when you go back, it has remained unspoilt and uncommercialised, and you don%26#39;t run into hordes of packaged tourists from the UK.

There are two dive operators on Havelock and I dived with Dive India who I thought were great - the brothers Johnny, Dixon and Jackson, and the rest of the crew. Dive India and Barefoot try and co-ordinate the diving so they don%26#39;t go to the same dive sites at the same time which is good (unlike the Similans where 10 dive boats dive the same dive sites at the same time and you can%26#39;t go half and hour earlier or later because it%26#39;s simply not allowed!).

I did 10 dives in 5 days - they go out at 7.30 am, the dive sites are around an hour and a half away, you do your first dive, and then you can all decide whether you want do the second dive at the same site or move on to another site. I suppose that was the only downside - they only do 2 dives a day plus a night dive.

The diving varied from very nice to amazing and viz was generally good. Not as many sharks and turtles as Sipidan, I didn%26#39;t see any manta rays or whale sharks, but good coral (although there was plenty of evidence of tsunami damage, but not as bad as the Similans) and abundant fish life. Johnny%26#39;s Gorge was by far the best site which reminded me a lot of Sipidan%26#39;s best dive sites - so good that we chose to stay and dive it again. Jackson%26#39;s Bar is another great dive site - I%26#39;m so gutted because I was diving somewhere else when the second dive boat came in and they reported seeing a whale there!

Just to clarify Narked%26#39;s crowded boat comment, Dive India have 2 dive boats going out to different sites each day. They don%26#39;t have more than (I think) 8 divers on a boat and if they have this many, they have 2 instructors/dive masters and they split the group and go separate ways. There were days when we just had 3 or 4 divers on the boat, but usually there were 5 or 6. But it%26#39;s worth booking all your dives when you register as some of the sites fill up pretty quickly.

I stayed in a lodge at Emerald Gecko which I loved because it%26#39;s very laid back and relaxed and the food is excellent. I checked out Wild Orchid and their Red Snapper restaurant which is a bit more upmarket with a much larger menu, but I was happier at the Gecko. The restaurant at Emerald Gecko filled up quickly in the evenings so you need to bag a table early, especially on Saturday nights when they had live music. I didn%26#39;t bother to check out the Silver Sand, and Barefoot is way over there on Beach No. 7. Nice beach but no shade! The Dolphin looked nice - I think it has just had a paint job, but it felt a bit institutionalised. My vote goes to Emerald Gecko.

What else ... the worst thing about the Andamans is having to overnight in Calcutta on the way. It%26#39;s a filthy black hole and my experience is that they lie, they cheat and they rob you. As a girl travelling on my own, I suppose I was easier to intimidate. I should have been savvy enough not find myself in a frightening situation, but I arrived in Calcutta late at night and booked myself a prepaid taxi but found myself in a taxi with the driver and his mate who then proceeded to demanded more money for the journey to my hotel.

And you will need to stay in Port Blair for one night on the way back. I%26#39;d recommend the Megapode%26#39;s Nest.

That%26#39;s all!

thanks for your report bobcat!!

I%26#39;m leaving to india next week and I expect to dive in havelock (via kolkata....) in april!!!

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