The Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a wonderful chain of islands in the Bay of Bengal. They have a fantastic variety of coral reef which is home to some great scuba diving (more on that later!) as well as an interesting cultural heritage of indigenous tribes. The islands over the past decade have seen a large influx in commercial tourism as a spot for newlyweds Indian couples on their honeymoon as well as a diving hotspot for people from all over the world. The epicenter for the tsunami in 2004 that devastated eastern India and surrounding areas was not far from the Andamans and had a serious impact on the islands.

My personal exposure to the islands has been limited to the southern area of the islands. It's a quick two and a half hour flight into Port Blair from Chennai. A short ride from Port Blair took us over to Wandoor, located on the southeastern side of South Andaman Island  The program collaborates with the primary environmental NGO on the islands the Andaman and Nicobar Environmental Team (ANET). ANET, which is located in Wandoor, was put together to study the massive diversity of organisms present on the island. The organization hosts researchers from all over and additionally functions as an educational center for students. Their role currently is to provide a base for researchers and works to promote the conservation of such a unique and precious island.

While at ANET, the program focused on the unique location and multiple environments found at and near ANET's campus. It is situated between the mangroves and the jungle and a short walk away leads you to a varied intertidal zone and beach. These three ecosystems and their transitioning zones provide an excellent area to study a countless number of organisms and interactions. The students spent the week we were there formulated and collecting data on individual research projects in these areas. The staff and researchers at ANET are a dedicated and fun group who have a true passion for their areas of interest and for the conservation of the Andaman Islands. ANET additionally has a scuba diving operation and  I was able to get two dives in between the coast of Chidia Tapu and Rutland Island on the southwest side of the island. The first dive was quite relaxed and casual going down deep and then working my way up along a small shelf. The second dive was shallow and although there was a bit of a current, the area had a decent variety of different corals and fish. The laid back island lifestyle paired with the remote and simple living facilities and wonderful people found at ANET made it hard to leave after the week was over. 

The next couple of days were spent over on Havelock Island for the student's spring break. Now I mentioned the draw of tourism to the islands and a majority of that lure is based over on Havelock. Havelock is home to a variety of small resorts and dive shops and that's about it. My experiences in 2009 on Havelock were positive and the island had a small to medium level of development to accompany the tourism draw. Flash forward four years, the island has become so developed and entrenched in making a quick dollar from tourism that the slow underdeveloped nature of Havelock that I once knew has been replaced and the streets are now lined with small restaurants and shops all over. It was disheartening and in addition to the influx of a higher density of tourism is a higher density of land use and trash. Although the island itself was a bit disappointing, the diving around the islands here was still spectacular. I was able to do some local dives some I had done four year earlier as well as new sites. The resort we stayed at was the same one I stayed at on my program and is a comfortable beachfront place geared towards scuba diving and has an excellent and friendly staff. The people who work there are so nice and friendly and happy, I mean i can't blame them their job is to live on a tropical island and scuba dive! Tara and I also had the privileged of taking the 'slow boat' to the only active volcanic island in India and dove all day along it which I will share about in my next post...stay tuned!