What makes the snorkelling at Cinque Island different from Elephant Beach at Havelock?

The practical difference comes down to where the two sites sit relative to the main South Andaman island’s river systems and harbour. Elephant Beach at Havelock is an excellent snorkelling site on most days and is the most accessible reef experience in the Andamans for a first-time visitor. Cinque Island sits further south, away from the turbidity that affects South Andaman’s nearshore waters, and in calm conditions the water around the reef is among the clearer available in this part of the archipelago. The reef character is also different — Cinque is inside the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park and the reduced boat traffic and protected status mean the reef has faced fewer of the direct pressures that high-footfall sites accumulate over years. Both sites are subject to sea conditions on the day and neither comes with a visibility guarantee. This cinque island andaman package includes both so the comparison is available to the traveller directly rather than on trust.

What birds are found at Chiriya Tapu and what does the birding experience actually involve?

Chiriya Tapu earned its local name — Bird Island — from the concentration of species that the dense mangrove forest and the forest-sea edge supports. The Andaman Islands as a whole hold a number of bird species found nowhere else in India, including several endemics specific to the archipelago. Chiriya Tapu’s mangrove belt and the forest immediately behind it are among the better locations on South Andaman for encountering these species in undisturbed habitat. The birding experience at Chiriya Tapu is not organised — there is no guide station, no hide and no defined trail with interpretation boards. It is a forest edge where birds are present and the experience depends on patience, quiet movement and a reasonable pair of binoculars. This cinque island andaman package does not include a specialist birding guide in the standard price — travellers who want a specialist guide should ask the Bon team about adding one at the time of booking.

What is the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park and why does the permit system exist?

The Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park was established in 1983 and covers approximately 281 square kilometres across 15 islands off the south coast of South Andaman. The park was created to protect the coral reef ecosystems, seagrass beds, mangrove forests and the marine species — including sea turtles, dugongs and diverse reef fish — that depend on them. The permit system for entry to the park and its islands exists to limit the number of visitors at sensitive reef sites on any given day, reducing the physical damage from boat anchoring, snorkeller contact with coral and general disturbance. The Cinque Island permit in this cinque island andaman package is included in the cost and arranged by the Bon team before departure. The glass bottom boat at Wandoor operates within the park under a separate permit. The conservation context of the park — why these restrictions exist and what they protect — is something worth understanding before entering the water at any of its reef sites.

How does the Cinque Island day visit permit work and what restrictions apply on the island?

Entry to Cinque Island requires a day visit permit issued under the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park regulations. The permit is arranged through the forest department and limits the number of visitors at the island on any given day — availability is subject to the day’s permit allocation and the Bon team secures the permit as part of the booking process for this cinque island andaman package. No overnight stay is permitted on Cinque Island — it is a day excursion only. No food or plastic may be taken onto the island under the marine park rules. The island has no facilities — no toilet, no shelter and no fresh water. Snorkelling is permitted in designated areas around the reef under the permit conditions. Touching or standing on coral is prohibited and operators are required to brief visitors on reef contact rules before entering the water. The permit and all associated entry charges are included in the package cost.

How does this cinque island andaman package balance the marine ecology experience with the beach holiday at Havelock?

The five days in this package divide into two distinct registers — Days 1 to 3 are the south Andaman marine ecology and history circuit, Days 4 and 5 are the island beach experience at Havelock. The marine ecology days cover the Cellular Jail history, Chiriya Tapu forest and birding, Cinque Island reef snorkelling inside a protected marine park, Wandoor glass bottom boat and Ross Island colonial ruins. The Havelock days cover Radhanagar Beach and Elephant Beach. The sequencing is deliberate — by the time the group reaches Havelock on Day 4 they have seen the south Andaman reef system across two distinct sites and the beach at Radhanagar arrives as a different kind of experience from a standing start. Travellers who want only the beach and reef at Havelock without the south Andaman ecology days should look at the standard six-day city-origin packages in the Bon Voyagers series. This cinque island andaman package is for the traveller who wants both in the same trip.

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Lagoon 5 Days Cinque Island Andaman Package | Pellucid

Andaman & Nicobar Island

Overview

Overview for Cinque Island Andaman Package

Cinque Island sits south of the main South Andaman Islands — two uninhabited islands, North Cinque and South Cinque, accessible by boat from Chiriya Tapu in approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Both are part of the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park and neither has any tourist infrastructure. The reef around Cinque sits away from the river runoff and the harbour turbidity that affects the water quality at sites closer to Port Blair, and the snorkelling conditions here are among the clearer available in South Andaman on a calm day. Chiriya Tapu itself — the southernmost point of the main South Andaman island, approximately 30 kilometres from Port Blair — is known locally as Bird Island, a name earned by the density of the mangrove forest and the species the forest holds that are not found on the mainland. Most Andaman itineraries drive past Chiriya Tapu on the way to somewhere else. This cinque island andaman package stops there, takes the boat to Cinque and gives the south Andaman marine world the time it actually deserves.

Bon Voyagers manages the complete programme from Port Blair Airport arrival. Day 1 covers the Cellular Jail and Port Blair. Day 2 is the south Andaman marine day — Chiriya Tapu forest in the morning, Cinque Island boat excursion with snorkelling at midday, sunset at Chiriya Tapu in the late afternoon. Day 3 covers the Wandoor Marine National Park reef and Ross Island. Day 4 takes the ferry to Havelock for Radhanagar Beach. Day 5 is the morning at Elephant Beach before the return ferry to Port Blair and the departure. Private AC Ertiga or Xylo class vehicle covers all road transfers. Boat tickets for Cinque Island, Wandoor and Ross Island, Cinque Island entry permit, ferry tickets Port Blair to Havelock and return, and all charges are included. Daily breakfast and dinner on MAP basis throughout.

Duration

5 Days, 4 Nights

Starting From

₹16,000/ person

₹21,000Save ₹5,000

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Detailed Itinerary for Cinque Island Andaman Package

Day 1 • Arrival at Port Blair and Cellular Jail: cinque island andaman package

The cinque island andaman package begins at Port Blair Airport where the Bon Voyagers representative meets the group on arrival. The first afternoon is the Cellular Jail — the colonial prison built between 1896 and 1906 across seven radiating wings where political prisoners from across India were held during the British period. The evening light and sound show runs approximately 45 minutes in the jail courtyard after dark, in Hindi and English on alternate evenings. An early night follows — Day 2 requires an early start for the Chiriya Tapu drive and the Cinque Island boat departure, and the low tide window around midday on the day determines the crossing timing. The Bon team confirms the Day 2 schedule based on conditions and the permit arrangement before Day 1 ends. Overnight in Port Blair.

Day 2 • Chiriya Tapu, Cinque Island and Sunset: cinque island andaman package

The drive from Port Blair to Chiriya Tapu covers approximately 30 kilometres through South Andaman, taking around 45 minutes to an hour. Chiriya Tapu is the southernmost point of the main South Andaman island — the forest closes around the road in the final kilometres and the junction where the mangrove begins is where the Andaman bird life concentrates. The morning at Chiriya Tapu is for the forest edge and the mangrove belt — the density of the canopy and the birding it supports, several species specific to the Andaman Islands, in a forest that has not been cleared for resort development because there is no resort development here. The boat to Cinque Island departs from the Chiriya Tapu jetty in the late morning — approximately 30 to 45 minutes across to North Cinque, entry permit checked at the boat, snorkelling in the reef area around the island in the midday hours with equipment hired locally. The return is mid-afternoon. The Chiriya Tapu sunset over open water to the south closes the day on this cinque island andaman package. Overnight in Port Blair.

Day 3 • Wandoor Marine National Park and Ross Island: cinque island andaman package

Wandoor village sits approximately 29 kilometres from Port Blair on the south coast of South Andaman and serves as the entry point to the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park — 15 islands and a substantial area of coral reef established as a protected marine area in 1983. The glass bottom boat at Wandoor moves over the reef sections of the park allowing the coral formations and reef fish to be viewed from the surface without entering the water — the reef here has experienced bleaching in some areas over the years and the glass bottom boat presents what is actually there rather than what promotional images suggest. The marine park context — why it was established, what the permit system protects and what the reef holds where it is healthy — gives this day on the cinque island andaman package an ecological dimension beyond pure recreation. The afternoon covers Ross Island — now Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island — the colonial ruins, the forest reclamation and the deer. Overnight in Port Blair.

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Day 4 • Port Blair to Havelock Island: cinque island andaman package

The private ferry from Port Blair to Havelock departs Phoenix Bay Jetty and covers approximately 57 kilometres in around 1.5 to 2.5 hours. After two days in the south Andaman forest and marine park circuit, Havelock arrives as a shift in register — the Cellular Jail, the mangrove birding at Chiriya Tapu, the glass bottom boat at Wandoor and the coral snorkelling at Cinque have given the group three distinct marine and ecological experiences before they reach the island that most Andaman visitors see first and only. Radhanagar Beach on Havelock’s western side — the long arc of white sand backed by forest, no commercial strip on the beach itself — lands differently when it follows three days of reef, forest and marine park rather than arriving as the opening experience. The afternoon on Radhanagar is unhurried. This cinque island andaman package uses Havelock as the beach counterpoint to the south Andaman ecology days. Overnight at Havelock.

Day 5 • Havelock Morning and Port Blair Departure: cinque island andaman package

The final morning of the cinque island andaman package is at Elephant Beach on Havelock’s northern edge — a 45-minute boat ride from the main jetty to a bay where coral formations are visible at relatively shallow depths close to the shore. Snorkelling equipment is available for hire and sea walking and scuba introduction dives are available from registered operators at charges paid locally. A traveller who snorkelled around Cinque Island on Day 2 arrives at Elephant Beach with a reference point for comparison — the reef at Cinque and the reef at Havelock are different in character and the difference is interesting rather than one being simply better than the other. The return ferry to Port Blair takes approximately 1.5 to 2.5 hours. The Bon Voyagers vehicle meets the group at Phoenix Bay Jetty on arrival and drops at Port Blair Airport. Transfer timing is coordinated around the confirmed departure flight.

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Lagoon 5 Days Cinque Island Andaman Package | Pellucid

Overview for Cinque Island Andaman Package

Plan Your Trip with Experts

Lagoon 5 Days Cinque Island Andaman Package | Pellucid

Plan Your Trip with Experts

Overview for Cinque Island Andaman Package

Journey Route Map for Cinque Island Andaman Package

Port Blair

Chiriya Tapu

Cinque Island

Wandoor Marine National Park

Havelock Island

Port Blair

Detailed Itinerary for Cinque Island Andaman Package

Day 1 • Arrival at Port Blair and Cellular Jail: cinque island andaman package

Day 2 • Chiriya Tapu, Cinque Island and Sunset: cinque island andaman package

Day 3 • Wandoor Marine National Park and Ross Island: cinque island andaman package

Day 4 • Port Blair to Havelock Island: cinque island andaman package

Day 5 • Havelock Morning and Port Blair Departure: cinque island andaman package

What’s Included & Excluded for Cinque Island Andaman Package

Inclusions

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Best Time to Visit Cinque Island Andaman Package

Frequently Asked Questions About Lagoon 5 Days Cinque Island Andaman Package | Pellucid

What makes the snorkelling at Cinque Island different from Elephant Beach at Havelock?

What birds are found at Chiriya Tapu and what does the birding experience actually involve?

What is the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park and why does the permit system exist?

How does the Cinque Island day visit permit work and what restrictions apply on the island?

How does this cinque island andaman package balance the marine ecology experience with the beach holiday at Havelock?

Still have questions?

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