Situated 1,000km off the east coast of idea in the bay of bangal, the Andaman & Nicobar Island comprise our most remote territory.The approximately 300 islands are really the summits of a submarine mountain chain stretching from Myanmar’s Arakan yoma range to Sumatra, separating the Bay of Bengal from the Andama sea. At 732m, Saddle peak in North Andamans.The waters of the Andaman, rich in coral reefs and marine life, have long been acknowledged as one of the best preserved diving sites in the world. But with 85 percent of the land under forest cover, and no less than 12 types of forest, ranging from giant evergreen to moist deciduous, mangrove and littoral, among others, there’s a lot of action above the waterline as well.

As of now, tourism in the Andaman’s is largely centered in the islands around port Blair (South Andaman) as well as Havelock, which is further north. Tourism in the Andaman still remains largely of the budget variety and low-impact, higt-end tourism is a reality yet to materialize.

Andaman and Nicobar are separated by the Ten Degree Channel. The Nicobar Islands are not open to foreign nationals. The only island mainland Indians can visit here without needing to procure a permit (which in any case is difficult to come by) is Great Nicobar, the southernmost island in the chain. The town here, Campbell Bay, was ravaged by the tsunami. There’s government guesthouse here but it’s almost always full. The helicopter service is whimsical, with limited seating. The only other approach is by a long sea journey, but schedules for this too are irregular. So Nicobar is really a no-no at this point.

 Port Blair & Around: port Blair has a number of museums-Anthropological Museum, Fisheries Museum, Samudrika (Naval Marine museum), Zoological Survey of India Museum and Forest Museum. But the star attraction remains the Cellular jail. Don’t miss the Sound and light show here. Other sites of patriotic interest include the Ross and Viper islands, both short boat rides away.

The climb to Mount Harriet (365m) is an easy day trip from town. Mount Harriet National park is a butterfly hotspot. Two kilometers from here is kalapathar, the spot from where convicts were pushed to their death. Corbyn’s Cove and chiriya Tapu are extremely popular beaches. There’s government organic farm at Sipper Ghat.Just 30km southwest of port Blair, the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park offers excellent snorkeling in the coral beds surrounding jolly Buoy and Red Skin islands.

 Havelock & Around: Port of Ritchie’s Archipelago, Havelock is noted for the Radhanagar beach (Beach no.7), dubbed by time magazine as one of the finest in Asia. Other islands you can explore nearby include Baratang, Neil and Long. Infrastructure for diving is well developed in Havelock and there are excellent dive sites in the vicinity.

 The forests support a profusion of epiphytes, primarily ferns and orchids. There’s also a stunning diversity of mangrove species. The Andaman padauk. Noted for its fine grain wood, is the state tree.

Mammals include the Andaman wild pig, crab-eating macaque; Andaman masked palm civet, Andaman spiny shrew, a variety of bats and, under the sea, dolphins, whales and dugongs (the state animal). The spotted deer you’ll see here were introduced. An attempt to introduce the leopard around 1962 proved unsuccessful. There is also a population of feral elephants.

Reptiles include the saltwater crocodile, the Andaman codra, a variety of geckos and lizards, water mnitor, reticulated python, kraits and pit vipers, the pelagic sea snake, olive Ridley and leatherback turtles among others, and the rare king cobra.

Around 300 bird species have been recorded here. Endemic bird species of the Andaman Islands include the Andaman serpent-eagle, Andaman crake, Brown coucal, Andaman Scops-owl, Narcondam hornbill, Andaman woodpecker and Andaman drongo. The Nicobar pigeon is believed to be the closest living relative of the dodo.