Before my holiday, I remember trying to research more about the stay in the Andaman’s and could only find the website of three different places on Havelock Island. After visiting, there’s actually plenty more places to stay and so I’ve put together a list of places I found. Note that most of the accommodation tends to be open air huts and many of the places end up having shared bathroom and toilet blocks. Some of the open air huts offer zippered tent covers to keep out insects though many places don’t have that. Here’s the list of places I found following the main road from the jetty and Beach No. 2 to Beach No. 5. The contact numbers should be correct, at least at the time of this writing (based on the pictures of the signs I took).
Happy Resort – A collection of eco huts by the beach with a little restaurant offering beer.
Sea Shells – A new development owned by the same people who run the Silver Sand, I ended up staying in these self contained huts made of concrete and wood. At the time I stayed, it didn’t have hot water in the bathroom though it was a very new place.
Eco Villa (+91 3192-282072) – I think this is more of the open air hut style accommodation. I didn’t really venture in, so I can’t really say.
The Wild Grass Huts (+91 9434269965) – As the name mentions, it’s definitely the open air hut style. Once again, another place I hadn’t visited.
Amazon Beach Resort (+91 9933294025) – Located down a very rocky road 200 metres off the curve on the main road, this is open air hut style accommodation.
Café Del Mar (+91 3192-282343) – Run by the same people as the Barefoot resort on the other side of the island, this is home to the Barefoot Scuba diving school. Once again very much the Bungalow Beach Huts.
Holiday Inn Beach Resort (03192-282208 or 9933233372) – More open huts by the beach.
Pristine Beach Resort (+91 3192-282344) – Offering bamboo cottages and huts by the beach, also has a pretty good restaurant called The Poseidon.
Island Vinnie’s (+91 3192-282187)– The home of Dive India, Island Vinnies is run by a guy, unsurprisingly called Vinny. It’s a nice friendly place that I spent a lot of time at because of the open water diving course. Individual huts with zippered closures ensure good night’s rest and they have a communal block of toilets and showers. The owner also has a couple of very big and friendly dogs called Frodo and Sam that enjoy swimming in the water and catching crabs.
El Dorado – Didn’t have a contact number and I think it’s just more eco huts by the beach.
Pelicon Beach Resort (+91 9932081673) – Eco friendly huts and cottages on the beach. Quite a nice restaurant here.
Sunrise Beach Resort (+91 3192-282408 or +91 3192-282387) – Nothing to add here as I didn’t visit.
Orient Legend Resort (+91 3192-282389) – More eco huts located on Beach Number 5.
The Wild Orchid – I ate here one night (I think unfortunately the only one that gave me food poisoning) though the atmosphere here is very friendly and very enjoyable. The restaurant attracts a big crowd at night.
Dolphin Resort – I think this is the government run resort, though they didn’t have a contact number on any signs I could see. A quick search on the web should uncover their number pretty easily.
Coconut Grove – Another place I didn’t visit.
Emerald Gecko – Apparently run by the same people as the Wild Orchid this places offers bamboo lodges and huts. Their restaurant offers a cut down menu of that offered at the Wild Orchid. Still very nice food though.
The Silver Sand – Probably the nicest villas on the island with the biggest ones easily accommodating an entire family. They don’t offer that many facilities
There’s a number of other eco resorts on the way to Beach No. 7, though I didn’t take any pictures of them so I can’t write up about them. The only other resort worth mentioning is the Barefoot resort located on the other side. Most of the people who I talked to staying there were very happy with the services offered there although it’s a bit of a trek (20 minutes by bike) so probably not the most ideal place to stay if you want to go diving every day (since they leave early and from the other side of the island). It’s great if you want to chill and relax on the beach, do some kayaking or hiking.
Hey!
I spent couple of hours reading around your blog. It’s awesome!
I’m heading to the Andamans for a week and probably taking PADI open water course. I saw you took it in DiveIndia.
Do you recommend taking them? where is it best to stay if in such case? Vinnies?
Your post covering all the accommodation on the island rocks! It is pretty hard digging out info around the web.
Thanks!
hey
the blog was really helpfull. and I thank the guy to spare so much of time on sharing his experience… hats off to him.
Nice blogg. I’ve been looking around the internet for ages trying to find some info on where to stay. This has really helped and put my mind at ease. Cheers
Hi,
I’ll be on Havelock from the 4th till the 20th of january.I don’t know which guest-house(resort) to pick.I want to take diving courses that’s for sure.I e-mailed “Pristine beach resort”and they ask 700rps for a single bedroom.(it was mentioned 250rps in the lonely planet!)I’m desperately trying to find a picture of what those seaside huts look like but I can’t find any!Has anyone been to pristine beach resort before and could give me some details?Do they have regular wooden doors or do they have this “zipper”system”(things like that).700rps is a bit more than what I was willing to give.400rps would be just nice…waiting for your answers!!!:-)
I’ll tell you all about it when I come back.
Cheers
Delphine
Hi Delphine,
I can’t remember what the Pristine beach resort is like although I think most of them were huts from what I remember. If you’re going to dive, I’d recommend Island Vinnie’s as most of the boats leave there early although I can’t remember what the prices were like.
Cheers,
Patrick
Hi,
Me and my boyfriend are planning to go to Havelock Island in January for couple of weeks. Thinking to go for Pristine Beach resort, but as well can’t find any pics of the huts/cottages, I found somewhere they built new duplex cottages, is that true, has anyone been there? Tried to contact them with all this questions but no answer yet, I will let know if I found something out though. I also heard that the food is really good there at the Pristine resort, has anyone eaten there? Any info would be a great help! There is not much info on their website..
Looking forward to hear your answers!!
Thanks a million in any case!!!!
Irina
P.S. Did anyone take a helicopter ride from Port Blair to Havelock? Is it safe;)?How many people did it sit, did you have to book? Thanks a lot!!!
Hi Irina,
I don’t remember any new duplex cottages. What I remember when I was there was that it was mainly the sea side huts with mosquito screens. The food at the Pristine is pretty good as well (I had a lunch there once)
I didn’t take a helicopter ride from Port Blair to Havelock so I can’t really answer your questions about that. Good luck!
Thanks a lot Patric!
By the way the blog is very helpfull!!
Thanks agian!
Thanks a lot Patric!
By the way the blog is very helpfull!!
blog very helpful ..trying to book accomodation for December this year -09..would like basic hut on beach but with private bathroom
thanks
Heather, Scotland
Headin to Andaman on the 5th to 10th Dec 09 from chennai, travelling by myself, anyone care to join me there ?!…
very difficult to reserve hut from europe…do we need reservation from the 31 dec to the 8 january???
thanx
simona
Thanks for the list, just searching, like mad trying to understand the accomodation situation there. My gf and I are leaving Mumbai for Chennai tomorrow (28th Dec) there for one night, then on a 7:00am flight to Port Blair on the 29th. We have been travelling India the last 2 weeks and had very little time to plan where to stay in Andamans/Havelock. Tomorrow we will call a few places, but I think we will essentially go to PB and talk to the travel office there to help us find some budget accomodation. It’s a bit of a risk, we hope it works? Wish I’d found your list a little sooner. Anyway thanks.
Hi,
Nice informatics for the tourists, if you need any information i can help.
vijay
It’s great you have gone to the trouble of listing some places to stay as it’s hard to find much informaion to do with accommodation on Havelock Island.
Pitty you didn’t include their rates. You would have been given gold stars for that.
The search continues.
hey…can anyone tell me a good place to stay at, but these facilities are a must:
television,personal bathroom,a confortable bed for 2, if possible a fridge
A great blog and I hope to travel to Havelock in March 2011, does anybody have any reasonable prices for a room on the beach with own toilet and shower and for game fishing excursions. Many thanks for any help from anybody, bye for now
To all whom it may concern travelling to the Andaman islands(Oh have fun, it’s a really nice, memorable place to visit)-
BUT sorry to the blog owner/writer, as of December 26th through Jan 28th 2010, this blog is totally out-of-date. NOW in Havelock you’ll find it very very difficult to NOT find a place to stay. Don’t be afraid (like we were) to just go and find a place. There’s a wide assortment of 45(or more) hostels/hotels/and even luxurious places to stay.
In no way is this meant to discourage anyone from going, because it hasn’t been over run by Marriots and Sheratons, BUT all the locals and mainland Indian people/businesses have realized, that it’s a good place to invest. And you’ll see signs of that in the hotel/accomodation business.
The few local places listed above in this blog were all there(when we went), some owned by foreigners are fading(and probably looking to sell), but most are expanding and growing. BUT it’s 100% been realized as a place to invest for the accomodation business. It has seen a great “underground traveller” wave of popularity recently and they know it. As of Jan 2010, even the biggest hotel chain in India was in the process of realizing a property. BUT eventhough the island has grown, it’s still not a place for mass mass tourism. We showed up 1 day after Christmas 2010(the busiest time of year) and found, with absolutely no trouble, a very very cheap place to stay, in the coolest area.
However it should be said that although we loved the character of the place and the peole, it’s a bit OVER-SOLD, because the diving isn’t really good at all(from experienced divers who have seen; Great Barrier reaf, Zanzibar, Mexico, Isreal) BUT that said if you want to check-off a new exoctic place on your list of dive countries, it’s there! BUT don’t expect miricales underwater.
In general the place is ‘quite’ wild with mostly local Indian tourists. But make no mistake this island does cater to unpretensious international tourists AND NOW even to the pretensious ones. BUT it’s still a very small number compared to other minor international tourist destinations).
So worth it… yup! Thailand in the early 90’s it isn’t. We would rather say it’s a nice place with nothing more to do then have a very very quite get away, with a few hippsters that think it’s “the” coolest place in the world right now, we think it isn’t. But overall it’s a great, quite, and slightly dirty, get away.
Have a great trip!
Headin to Andaman from chennai, travelling by myself, anyone care to join me there ?!… hey
the blog was really helpfull. and I thank the guy to spare so much of time on sharing his experience… hats off to him.
Headin to Andaman from chennai, travelling by myself, anyone care to join me there ?!… hey
the blog was really helpfull. and I thank the guy to spare so much of time on sharing his experience… hats off to him.
tariffs shown on the website of resorts are always fixed or there are chances of negotiation also ?
No idea unfortunately
Hi
Me and my wife stayed at sunrise beach resort we were there one of there staff killed a little dog with a stick!! They tried to do it behind one of there lodge’s whilst the dog was trying go past out of site as it was afraid. We rushed the dog to the veterinary hospital but it died from its injury.
They are horrible people there, that didn’t care at all smiling before I found the dog which they were going to leave to suffer it was a terrible experience for us.
Please don’t stay there they are awful people.
Ian
Andaman is such an amazing place to be visit. The beautiful beach, tasty food, awesome accommodation and wonderful surroundings always makes you feel good. Thanks for the information.