Experience the best of Havelock Island

Havelock Island is the largest of Ritchie's Archipelago in the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, reached by ferry from Port Blair. Its interior is evergreen forest, and settlements of Bengali-speaking families, who were resettled here after the Partition of India, are spread along its main road. It took its old name from the British general Sir Henry Havelock.

Radhanagar Beach, a long arc of white sand backed by forest, is the most celebrated, and Elephant Beach and Kalapathar Beach offer reef snorkelling and quiet shores. Divers explore coral gardens and schools of fish, and the island is the Andamans' main dive base. Neil Island, a smaller island, lies to the south by boat.

Fresh fish and prawns come straight from the boats, and Bengali-style curries, coconut and bananas fill the menus at beach shacks. Seas are calmest and weather driest between November and April, while the monsoon from May brings heavy rain and rougher water.