Lakshadweep Islands - Paradise in the Indian Ocean

 

 

LAKSHADWEEP – PARADISE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

The beautiful islands of Lakshadweep have suddenly come into prominence after Honourable PM Shri Narendra Modi posted photos and videos of the pristine sea shores and blue sea on his social media accounts Twitter YouTube

Suddenly there has been a frenzied interest in Lakshadweep ,  but the irony is that even though Lakashadweep is very much part of India since 1947, very few people had heard about it and a few actually thought that the islands are some foreign country!!

So where and what is Lakshadweep exactly ?  Read on to find out !!

Lakshadweep islands are actually an archipelago (group of islands) situated in the Arabian Sea about 400 kms west of the Kerala coastline. The name Lakshadweep means “Hundred Thousand Islands” in the Malayalam language and also in Sanskrit .The whole archipelago with about 36 islands is spread  out over an area of almost 20,000 sq km in the Arabian Sea. Even though this area is huge, individual island are quite small with the average breadth just 1.6 kms. Interesting thing is that most islands are uninhabited and only 10 of them are inhabited!! Namely Agatti, Amini, Andrott, Bitra, Chetlat, Kadmat, Kalpeni, Kavaratti, Kiltan and Minicoy. Kavaratti is the Administrative Headquarters of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.  

Almost all the inhabited islands are coral atolls, What are atolls ? Find out here; Basically small  islands  surrounded by a ring of coral reefs and a lagoon (body of water).

 

Photos by Anuj Chauhan on Unsplash

 

The above Photos  look  like Maldives ? YES, these islands are similar to the ones in Maldives!! And why not, Maldives is only 700 kms to the west of the Lakshadweep islands and are geologically built quite similarly!!

How to Reach Lakshadweep ?

One can reach Lakshadweep via air or ship.

The airport is on Agatti island There are flights of Alliance Air from Kochi (flying time of just one and half hour)  and Bengaluru but the schedule is quite erratic. They have said that they will soon have two daily flights to Agatti from Kochi. New airline Fly91 has also announced that it will start flights from Goa’s Mopa airport to Agatti. The other islands can be accessed by short ferry rides from Agatti Island.

People who want a ship journey to these exotic islands, then there are the round trip packages by boat organized by the Lakshadweep Tourism; the most popular one is the 4 nights / 5 days itinerary by the ship M.V. Kavaratti that starts from Kochi and stops at the exotic islands of Minicoy,  Kavaratti and Kalpeni. The ships offer AC cabin accommodation of two types – two berth and four berth cabins. All meals are included in the package price. Days are spent on the islands  to do various water based leisure and sports activities, night stay on the ship. Bookings can be done online or The Lakshadweep Tourism Department has appointed GSAs  in various cities in India or Contact your favourite travel agent for booking of these trips. But please book much in advance as the trips get sold out very very fast!!

 

For the ardent sun and sea seekers, there are of course options to stay on a few islands – namely Minicoy, Kavaratti, Minicoy, but the most popular of them is the resort on Bangaram Island. You reach Bangaram by a short ferry ride from Agatti Island. The Bangaram Island Resort has 30 elegantly furnished AC huts built on the beach, added advantage being the numerous adventures like scuba diving, beach games, swimming, snorkelling and deep-sea fishing that one can while staying there!!.

There also lot of other resorts mainly on Agatti Island like the White Pearl Beach Resort, Turtle Nest Resort, Wundervoll Resort, and some others like Coral Paradise Beach Resort, Caroline Resort, Agatti Beach Resort, Se Shells Resort, White Paradise etc and one good resort on Kadmat Island , namely the  Kadmat Island Beach Resort  

Cordelia Cruises which is a 5 star cruise also has 3 / 4/ 5 nights itineraries that take you to Lakshadweep from Mumbai /Kochi / Goa. In their itineraries, the ship reaches Agatti Island  in the morning and you can take an optional shore excursion which takes you onto the island. Here you an enjoy a plethora of water sports like snorkeling, Kayaking, canoeing etc etc. You can also take trip around the island if that interests you. A special cultural show is also organized.

Which is the best time to visit ?

The Lakshadweep Islands have a typical  tropical climate with temperatures in summer from March to June going upto 33° C and not so cool winters with average minimum temperature a bearable 20° C. Like other parts of India, the monsoon season is from June to September bring plenty of rainfall to the islands. Best time to visit is of course from October to May. Light cotton tropical clothes are ideal throughout the year.

Why to go to Lakshadweep ?

Lakshadweep is relaxed, pristine, untouched, virgin, unhurried – an ideal location for a relaxed holiday. The shallow sea with a protected lagoon, crystal white beaches, plus the vast expanses of the shallow lagoons provide an ideal setting for water sports enthusiasts. A whole range of water sports can be done here.  All the islands with resorts offer kayaks, canoes, pedal boats, sail boats, wind surfers, snorkels sets,  glass-bottomed boats and other facilities to tourists who wish to indulge in water sports in the unpolluted lagoons. Kadmat, Kavaratti , Minicoy and Bangaram have facilities for scuba diving. Deep-sea fishing buffs can pursue big game fishing. Barracuda, Sail Fish, Yellow Fin Tuna, Triveli and sharks are abundant in the seas around Lakshadweep. Local boats with experienced crew can be hired.

For the adventure enthusiasts and scuba divers, you can explore three ship wrecks in the sea south of Minicoy Island. These wrecks are virtual underwater museums and fish species found here are larger than average normal size found else where perhaps due to consumption of Ferrous material leaching out of the shipwrecks!! Manta Ray can be seen in almost all dive sites along with  Sharks, bull rays, turtles, school of jacks, red snappers, black snappers, napoleon wrasse, barracuda, sweet lips.

Most importantly, you don’t need a passport to visit these exotic islands!!  Indian Nationals just need to apply for a permit to visit.

Even though currently the flight options are not so plenty, in the near future many airlines will have flights to Agatti . There will be many more hotel and resort options also with the Taj Group of hotels having announced two Greenfield hotel projects on Suheli and Kadmat islands. Soon other hotel groups will also follow suit in setting up resorts here.

So next time you want a beach holiday, don’t think of Maldives or Mauritius, but think of Lakshadweep!!