Andaman Tourism Opens: The Andaman & Nicobar administration has announced that all tourist spots in the South Andaman district will be opened for tourism activities with immediate effect 8 Feb 2022.
The tourists are allowed to visit Baratang/North & Middle Andaman on production of double dose covid certificate/ All other passengers viz. unvaccinated and partially vaccinated passengers (those who have taken only 1S1 dose of COVID vaccine) shall have to produce RT-PCR negative test report
General Guidelines defined for traveling to Andaman Islands during COVID :
What are the guidelines for testing for tourists coming to Andaman after August 03 2021?
On arrival at Port Blair :
1. The tourists need to carry COVID-19 negative test report from mainland based 1CMR approved lab using Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR). However, the sample for RTPCR test should have been taken within 48 hours prior to starting the journey from the origin station. (For e.g. if the tourist takes a flight from Delhi at 0600 hrs. on 1st September, 2021, the sample for RTPCR test should have been taken not before 0600 hrs. on 30th August, 2021).
2. The tourists/visitors on arrival at Port Blair airport have to undergo mandatory Covid-19 screening with RTPCR test free of cost. Thereafter the tourists/visitors are allowed to move to their respective hotels. However, they will have to be under quarantine at Port Blair in their hotel rooms until the result of RTPCR tests are received. In case of RTPCR positive test results, the tourists/visitors shall remain in
institutional quarantine in hotels notified by the Hoteliers Association in consent with the A&N Administration, on rates as specified or to the designated hospital/ Covid-19 care centre on case-to-case basis.
3. Tourists may also have to undergo random Rapid Antigen Test conducted from time to time on payment basis as prescribed by A8N Administration.
What if the tourists test positive after arriving at the Andaman Islands?
If the tourists tests positive during their stay in the Islands, he/she will need to undergo institutional isolation as per existing health protocols. The
cost of such isolation for govt. facility will be paid by the tourists as fixed by the administration from time to time.
If the patient wants to stay at hotels, he/she can stay in the hotels if all the conditions below are met:
a) Patients are not symptomatic and not more than 60 years old.
b) Request/ undertaking is made by patient in writing.
c)lf allowed by doctors.
Hotels will make necessary arrangements to designate a part of their rooms for institutional isolation for this purpose.
Game Fishing at Cinque Island
At a distance of 39 km from Port Blair, the Cinque Island is an isolated island in the Andaman Archipelago, on the north side of Duncan Passage, between Rutland Island and Passage Island. They are part of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Cinque Island is situated on the south-western coast of South Andaman in the Bay of Bengal. The Island is geologically classified into North Cinque Island and South Cinque Island. The two islands are connected by a sand bar and therefore are often considered a single Cinque Island. Both divisions of Cinque Island are a part of the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, which is popularly known as Wandoor Marine National Park.
Jolly Buoy, Redskin and Cinque are the most frequented and popular Islands of Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park. Cinque Island is surrounded by coral reef gardens that extend to a few hundred meters into the deep sea. It offers a vista of its coral reefs, sea weeds, colorful fishes, shells, starfish, sea anemones, salt-water crocodile, turtles and water snakes. This Island has also a fine sandy-beach and tropical rain-forest.
The island is famous for underwater diving and other activities like game fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling. The view of submerged corals and sunset attracts hordes of nature lovers to Cinque Island. The best time to visit Cinque Island is from October to May.
There is no scheduled ferry service to Cinque Island. Chartered boats of permitted category are allowed from Port Blair and Wandoor. To visit, one may contact private boat operators in Port Blair to hire a boat with due permission from the Forest Department. Cinque Island can be reached in 3.5 hours from Wandoor and in 2 hours from Chidiya Tapu.
Game fishing activity which is very famous in the Cinque Islands. Variety of fish such as Angle Yellow Fin Tuna, Big Eye Tuna, GT, Wahoo, Barracuda, Grouper’s, Red Snapper just to name a few are out there in the sea. This activity is an amazing experience and one must try it.
