Visiting Lakshadweep Islands is by far the best beach choice in India, a place to enjoy sand, sun, and sea. It is perhaps the best honeymoon destination in India, albeit very less explored. People have heard about it, found them in the map off the Western Coast of India in the Arabian Sea, but hardly found much info on how to reach the islands and where to stay. Having been there, I thought of writing a few words about it.
LAKSHADWEEP BY AIR
The airport in Lakshadweep is one of the best in the world. It’s a narrow strip of land located in the island of Agatti. Each day a small 48-seater Air India aircraft (AI 9505) originating from Bangalore at 6:55 AM reaches the Agatti airport at 10:05 AM, after a half-an-hour hop in at Cochin. People willing to visit Lakshadweep can either take the flight from Bangalore (good air connectivity wil major cities in India) or Cochin (if they want to visit the Chinese Fishing Nets of Cochin, Backwaters of Kerala, Tea Estates of Munnar or Spice Plantation of Thekkady).
There is no place to stay in Agatti and one has to go to extremely beautiful Thinakara, Bangaram or Kadmat and stay in Beach Resorts there, owned and governed by Lakshadweep Tourism.
LAKSHADWEEP CRUISE
The other way to go to Lakshadweep is the cruise that departs from Cochin These are fixed day departures, scheduled by the Lakshadweep Tourism. The dates are published a couple of months earlier. The cruise is a 4 night/5 days journey, covering 3 islands, typically Kavaratti, Kalpeni and Minicoy. You don’t get to cover these islands if you fly into Lakshadweep.
THE LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS
While the flight option gives you flexibility with respect to days and duration, the other option gives you cruise experience, which is otherwise unavailable in India. But whichever option you choose, the islands of Lakshadweep will blow your mind – white sand, turquoise green water, live corals and colorful fishes! You have not seen anything like this in India, with great weather almost all year round, the best time to visit Lakshadweep is from October to May. With many Lakshadweep tour packages springing these days, it’s not very hard to pick the right one, just remember to plan and book a couple of months ahead. Because of a limited number of seats in flight or cruise and only a handful of cottages in the islands ( 10 – 12 in each island) things get sold out very fast.
So, what are you waiting for?
Planning for Lakshadweep Holidays? Call INDIA Trotter to guide, plan and organize one for you.
