NEIL Island

At Jetty:

When we were at Port Blair, our visit to Neil Island was almost cancelled. The tour operator told us that as the tickets could not be arranged, we would not be taken to Neil Island and as a substitute, it was planned to take us to Elephant Beach from HAVELOCK. But on our insistence, he finally agreed to follow the planned itinerary.

We checked out of our huts, had breakfast and were dropped to the jetty to catch Government ferry for Neil. The ship was not yet arrived and passengers were not allowed in. We settled in the make shift huts which had a cone shaped canopy above and were open from all sides. My wife explored the nearby shops and purchased some bananas. The bananas were one-third of the size of what we normally get in Delhi. Apart from the size, the taste was also altogether different. As none of us relished the taste, we had to throw them off at Neil. We both decided to take a stroll at the sea shore. Broken glass bottles were littered on the shore and we had to watch our every step. As we passed under the jetty bridge, cool air welcomed us. We went further ahead along the shore and sat there on a stone. The sea was calm and looking amazing under the clear blue sky. We could sit there for hours but for the ship that had perhaps arrived.  We could see passengers running to the jetty. We hurriedly came back. My friend and his family had already gone to the jetty along with the luggage. We spotted them in the crowd and followed. 

On way to Neil:

The Captain seemed to be in hurry. In less than 10 minutes, the ship started. It was around 10:00 AM. The sky was clear and I decided to travel on the deck instead of in the cabin. I sat on the floor. The ship had gathered speed. Sea was rough this time. The ship was not stable at all. It seemed to be riding on the waves. I tried to stand but the ship was shaking so vigorously that it was not possible to stand without support. I held the railing and sat down. In the meantime my friend joined me on the deck. We saw two girls going towards Captain’s Cabin. From there one could go to the front deck. We followed them carefully holding the railings and requested Captain to allow us to go to the front deck. We were allowed. As we came out in the front holding the railings, a splash of water greeted us. The Ship was still shaking badly. It was a different experience to watch the sea from the front deck. We could not stand there for more than 2 minutes and decided to come back. Later, our wives and children who wanted to go to front deck were not allowed. After 1 hour 45 minutes journey on the dancing waves, we arrived at Neil Island. The Ship was going to Port Blair but our destination had come.

Neil Island:

This Island is named after a British Solder James George Smith Neil. It is located at 40 KM north east of Port Blair. The jetty where we alighted is known as Bharathpur Jetty and is the only entry-exit point of this Island. The name Bharathpur surprised me. I asked my taxi driver twice if he meant Bharathpur. I never thought that this Rajasthan City famous for its Birds Sanctuary would also be there in Andaman, though for namesake.

It was around 11:30 and our next ferry for the Port Blair was at 4:30 in the evening. We had almost 5 hours to explore this Island. As we came out, there was a cafeteria. We inquired if it could serve us something in lunch without onion & garlic. The person sitting at counter showed his helplessness. My friend ordered lunch for them, to be served at around 2:30 and we, the couple  

decided to have bread biscuits etc. in lunch. Having ordered lunch, we left for our fist destination on Neil Island – The Natural Bridge.

The Natural Bridge:

Initially I thought that it would be a big bridge came up on its own. Our taxi dropped us at a place where there was no sign of any bridge. He told us that he would take us to the Natural Bridge. We had to walk quite a distance on a small hilly path which had abundance plantation on both the sides. As we came down in the open, we could see Sea in front of us. But the shore was far away.  On the left, a big hill made of Coral stretched out a stone arm that rested on another hill-mound on the right side giving a bridge like shape. We took some photographs and walked on the Corals to reach to the shore. On the way, we saw small fishes trapped in the water that had accumulated in the potholes. I realized that the Sea water must have come to this far on a high tide. Our driver, who was our guide also in this trip, cautioned us not to venture far in the sea as it was deep. There was not much to see and we returned soon.

Sitapur Beach:

Next destination was Sitapur Beach. This beach is like any other beach and is exposed to the open sea. This is prone to the high tides and is best for watching sunrise. We spent some time there and left for Bharatpur Beach.

Bharatpur Beach:

We were back at Bharatpur Beach. It is barely half KM away from the jetty. We hired a glass boat that was to take us to the Sea. This boat was made of fiber and fitted with removable Honda engine. The bottom of the boat was made of convex glass to enable the tourists to have a bottom view of the Sea. We were made to wear life jackets before boarding. The driver told us that last year there was an accident at Port Blair in which a boat carrying tourists to ROSS Island capsized drowning all the 40 occupants. Since then, it was mandatory to wear life jackets on the boat. I laughingly asked as to why he was not wearing one. He replied that he was capable of swimming back to  safety in case of an accident.

The boat took us quite far in the Sea. We saw corals, colorful fishes of many kinds in the sea bottom through the glass. The world under the Sea was clearly visible in the magnified form as the bright Sun light was illuminating the underworld.

I observed two poles stood apart in the Sea. I was told that the poles were there to mark the passage for the Ships coming to the jetty. This passage had deep water without rocks and was meant for the Ships. One Ship passed at some distance from our boat. The displaced water made our boat unstable. We returned to the shore safely. My friend finished his lunch. There was still an hour left for the Ship to arrive. We waited at the jetty and boarded the Ship when it arrived. This was same BOOMBIKA that we caught while coming from Port Blair to HAVELOCK. Our third day of the tour was coming to an end.