What makes the Andaman Islands a significant wildlife destination beyond the coral reef and the beach?

The Andaman Islands are unusual as a wildlife destination for reasons that have nothing to do with the reef. The archipelago contains the only active volcano in South Asia — Barren Island — whose volcanic ecosystem is found nowhere else in the region. It contains a population of feral elephants on Interview Island, descendants of colonial-era working animals living wild on an uninhabited sanctuary island, with no equivalent on any other Indian island. It contains Kalipur Beach, one of the few confirmed leatherback turtle nesting sites in India — a critically endangered species. The Saddle Peak forest holds approximately thirteen endemic bird species found nowhere else on earth. The seagrass ecosystems around the marine park historically supported dugong populations. These wildlife dimensions are geographically distributed across the length of the accessible archipelago and are largely invisible to the standard Andaman tourist who covers Port Blair, Havelock and Neil Island and returns with photographs of the reef and Radhanagar Beach. This andaman wildlife package exists because the reef and the beach are not the whole story.

How does this andaman wildlife package structure five distinct wildlife encounters across seven days without any of them being guaranteed?

The package is structured around wildlife habitats rather than wildlife guarantees — each day is in a place that holds a specific wild population, the visit is timed and managed to maximise the probability of encounter and the experience of being in that habitat is the primary product regardless of what appears. The Wandoor reef is there whether or not a dugong swims through the seagrass. The Barren Island volcanic ecosystem is there whether or not dolphins surface alongside the boat. The Interview Island forest is there whether or not the elephants appear on the path. The Kalipur leatherback beach is there whether or not a turtle comes ashore. The Saddle Peak forest is there whether or not the Andaman woodpecker calls at dawn. This andaman wildlife package guarantees access to five of the most significant wildlife habitats in the Andaman Islands across seven days. The wildlife in each habitat is genuinely present and genuinely wild. What a wild animal does on any given day is not a tourism product and this package does not pretend otherwise.

What is the connection between the volcanic ecosystem at Barren Island and the endemic species at Saddle Peak — is there a single biodiversity story across the Andaman chain?

The Andaman archipelago formed through volcanic and tectonic activity over millions of years — Barren Island is the currently active remnant of that process while the main Andaman islands are the older, settled geological expression of the same forces. The isolation that this volcanic origin produced — islands sitting hundreds of kilometres from the nearest mainland — created the conditions for endemic speciation. Species that arrived on the islands and were then cut off from the mainland populations over generations diverged into the distinct forms that are now the Andaman endemics. The Andaman woodpecker, the Andaman serpent eagle and the other endemic species exist because of the same geographic isolation that keeps Barren Island uninhabited and keeps the Interview Island elephant population self-contained. The chain's biodiversity story runs from the oldest inhabited islands to the youngest volcanic one — this andaman wildlife package crosses that story from the reef south to the summit north and back.

Does this andaman wildlife package run year-round or does the leatherback nesting season affect when to book?

The core wildlife circuit — Barren Island, Interview Island, Saddle Peak endemic birds, Wandoor reef — runs during the October to May open season when sea conditions allow the open ocean crossings and the forest department sites are accessible. The Barren Island crossing is not advisable during the June to September monsoon. The Kalipur leatherback nesting window is approximately October to February — bookings during this window give the Day 6 Kalipur visit the possibility of active nesting activity with the forest department programme operating. Outside the nesting window the Kalipur visit covers the beach and the nesting site context without active nesting. The package is noted as available year-round in the October to May window with the Kalipur nesting opportunity specific to October to February. The Chiriya Tapu birding and the Moricedera waterbird session are productive year-round within the open season. This andaman wildlife package is most completely delivered between October and February when all five wildlife dimensions are simultaneously in their active season.

Who is this andaman wildlife package designed for and what does it ask of the traveller?

This andaman wildlife package is designed for the traveller whose primary interest in the Andaman Islands is the wildlife rather than the beaches. The ideal traveller finds more meaning in the possibility of a leatherback track on a nesting beach than a confirmed hour at Radhanagar, more interest in a morning of endemic birding on a forest trail than a glass bottom boat ride and more satisfaction in the fact of a feral elephant sanctuary existing on an uninhabited island than in the knowledge of what it would cost per night to stay at a Havelock resort. The package asks for physical readiness — the Saddle Peak pre-dawn session, the long drives between north Andaman sites, the full day at sea on the Barren Island crossing and the open water boat to Interview Island are all physically demanding in different ways. It asks for patience — the wildlife encounters on this circuit are not produced on demand. It asks for the understanding that the Andaman Islands as a wildlife destination are among the least documented and most significant in South Asia and that most of the people who visit these islands every year leave without knowing what this andaman wildlife package covers.

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Feral 7 Days Andaman Wildlife Package | Untamed

Andaman & Nicobar Island

Overview

Overview for Andaman Wildlife Package

The Andaman Islands sit at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea in a position that has produced one of the most unusual assemblages of wildlife in Asia. The archipelago contains the only active volcano in South Asia at Barren Island — the volcanic ecosystem there exists nowhere else in the region. It contains the only population of feral elephants on any island in India, living wild on Interview Island in Middle Andaman since the colonial timber operations that brought them here ended. It contains Kalipur Beach near Diglipur, one of the few confirmed leatherback turtle nesting sites in India — the leatherback is the largest living reptile and critically endangered. The Saddle Peak National Park forest holds around thirteen bird species found nowhere else on earth. The Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park at Wandoor protects coral reef and seagrass ecosystems where dugongs have historically been associated with the surrounding waters. This andaman wildlife package covers all five across seven days — a circuit of the Andaman Islands built entirely around its wildlife rather than its beaches.

Bon Voyagers manages the complete ground programme from Port Blair Airport arrival. Day 1 covers the Wandoor Marine National Park reef and the Chiriya Tapu endemic birding. Day 2 is the Barren Island chartered boat cruise — the full day at sea and the volcanic approach. Day 3 drives north to Rangat with the Moricedera mangrove waterbirds in the afternoon. Day 4 is the Interview Island full day wildlife sanctuary excursion from Mayabunder. Day 5 moves to Diglipur with the Saddle Peak forest entry in the afternoon. Day 6 opens before dawn at Saddle Peak for the endemic birding window and closes at Kalipur Beach for the leatherback nesting site. Day 7 returns to Port Blair and the departure. Private AC Ertiga or Xylo class vehicle covers all road transfers. Chartered boat for Barren Island, boat for Interview Island, Moricedera and Wandoor, forest department permits and all entry charges are included. Daily breakfast and dinner on MAP basis throughout all seven days.

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Detailed Itinerary for Andaman Wildlife Package

Day 1 • Wandoor Marine National Park and Chiriya Tapu Birding: andaman wildlife package

The andaman wildlife package begins at Port Blair Airport where the Bon Voyagers representative meets the group on arrival. The first day establishes the two ends of the Andaman wildlife spectrum that the following six days will cross. The morning is Wandoor Marine National Park — the glass bottom boat from Wandoor jetty moves over coral reef formations and seagrass beds within the protected park boundary, the reef ecosystem that has evolved in these waters across thousands of years and the seagrass habitat that has historically supported dugong populations in the surrounding waters. Dugong sightings in the park area are not guaranteed and are uncommon. The reef and the seagrass are the ecosystem — the dugong is its most celebrated resident. Chiriya Tapu in the afternoon is the forest-sea edge birding — the mangrove belt at the southernmost accessible point of South Andaman where the Andaman teal and several endemic species are active in the canopy before the day heat builds. This andaman wildlife package opens south and goes north from here. Overnight in Port Blair.

Day 2 • Barren Island Chartered Boat Cruise: andaman wildlife package

The chartered boat departs Port Blair early morning for Barren Island — approximately 135 kilometres northeast across open Andaman Sea, a crossing of around 6 to 8 hours depending on sea conditions. Barren Island is the only confirmed active volcano in South Asia and the island is uninhabited. No landing is permitted — the boat approaches and circles the island, allowing views of the black lava coastline, the caldera rim and the crater from the water. Dolphins are commonly sighted on the open ocean run to the northeast — the crossing itself passes through waters that carry several cetacean species. The volcanic ecosystem at Barren Island — the lava coastline, the crater structure, the absence of the kind of terrestrial life that the other Andaman islands support — is a specific ecology found nowhere else in this archipelago and in this part of Asia. Seabirds work the thermal updrafts around the island. The return crossing brings the group back to Port Blair by late evening on this andaman wildlife package. Overnight in Port Blair.

Day 3 • Drive North to Rangat and Moricedera Mangrove Waterbirds: andaman wildlife package

The northbound drive on Day 3 of this andaman wildlife package covers approximately 170 kilometres to Rangat through the convoy passage of the Jarawa Tribal Reserve — the government-escorted section of the Andaman Trunk Road where stopping and photography are strictly prohibited. The Moricedera mangrove creek in the late afternoon is the third wildlife site of the circuit — a tidal waterway navigable by small boat through dense mangrove forest where herons, kingfishers and brahminy kites work the root systems and the creek edges. Estuarine species move through the mangrove root zone on the incoming tide. The mangrove ecosystem at Moricedera is a different biological layer from the reef at Wandoor and the volcanic coast at Barren Island — the tidal creek as a productive wildlife habitat is specific to this Middle Andaman geography. An early night at Rangat follows — Day 4 requires the morning boat to Interview Island and the early departure from Mayabunder. Overnight at Rangat.

View Remaining Itinerary

Day 4 • Interview Island Wildlife Sanctuary: andaman wildlife package

The drive from Rangat to Mayabunder covers approximately 70 kilometres in around 2 hours. The boat from Mayabunder harbour to Interview Island departs as early as the crossing conditions allow — approximately 1 to 1.5 hours across open water to a designated wildlife sanctuary with no permanent human population. The feral elephants of Interview Island are descendants of animals brought here during the British colonial period for timber extraction work and left on the island when the operations ended. They are wild animals in dense forest and their movements are unpredictable — sightings depend entirely on where they have moved on any given day. A sighting is not guaranteed. The saltwater crocodile is also present in the waters around Interview Island — the boat operator navigates accordingly and no entry into the water at any point on the island is permitted for this reason. The forest department permit for the sanctuary is arranged before departure. What this andaman wildlife package delivers on Interview Island regardless of elephant sightings is a day on an uninhabited island inside a wildlife sanctuary where the forest is in charge. Return to Mayabunder by afternoon. Overnight at Mayabunder.

Day 5 • Mayabunder to Diglipur and Saddle Peak Forest Entry: andaman wildlife package

The drive from Mayabunder to Diglipur covers approximately 80 kilometres in around 2 to 2.5 hours. Diglipur is the northernmost accessible town in the Andaman chain and the gateway to Saddle Peak National Park — the highest point in the archipelago at approximately 732 metres and the most significant endemic bird forest in the Andaman Islands. The afternoon entry into Saddle Peak National Park on Day 5 of this andaman wildlife package is the orientation before the pre-dawn programme tomorrow — the forest department check post, the lower trail section, the forest character at this elevation. The Andaman woodpecker and the Andaman serpent eagle have been recorded on the lower trail sections. The forest closes over the trail within the first few hundred metres of the park boundary and the bird activity at this afternoon hour gives a preview of what the dawn session tomorrow produces at full volume. Overnight at Diglipur.

The pre-dawn start at Saddle Peak is the endemic bird centrepiece of this andaman wildlife package — the group enters the forest trail before first light when the Andaman woodpecker, the Andaman shama, the Andaman drongo and the Andaman serpent eagle are most vocal and most active. No specific sighting is guaranteed — the forest is wild and the birds move on their own schedule. The pre-dawn window from approximately one hour before sunrise through to two hours after is when the forest is most productive. The birding session runs until mid-morning when the forest activity drops. Kalipur Beach in the afternoon is the leatherback nesting site — a wide, open beach north of Diglipur where the forest department runs an active nest protection programme between approximately October and February. Outside the nesting season the beach carries the physical scale and character of a confirmed nesting site — the wide sand above the tide line, the forest edge, the track marks where turtles have come ashore in previous seasons. The drive south to Rangat in the late afternoon covers approximately 150 kilometres in 4 to 5 hours. Overnight at Rangat.

Crafting Your Journey

Bon Voyagers

Overview for Andaman Wildlife Package

Plan Your Trip with Experts

Plan Your Trip with Experts

Overview for Andaman Wildlife Package

Journey Route Map for Andaman Wildlife Package

Port Blair

Wandoor

Chiriya Tapu

Barren Island

Rangat

Mayabunder

Interview Island

Diglipur

Saddle Peak

Kalipur Beach

Port Blair

Detailed Itinerary for Andaman Wildlife Package

Day 1 • Wandoor Marine National Park and Chiriya Tapu Birding: andaman wildlife package

Day 2 • Barren Island Chartered Boat Cruise: andaman wildlife package

Day 3 • Drive North to Rangat and Moricedera Mangrove Waterbirds: andaman wildlife package

Day 4 • Interview Island Wildlife Sanctuary: andaman wildlife package

Day 5 • Mayabunder to Diglipur and Saddle Peak Forest Entry: andaman wildlife package

What’s Included & Excluded for Andaman Wildlife Package

Inclusions

Exclusions

Best Time to Visit Andaman Wildlife Package

Frequently Asked Questions About Feral 7 Days Andaman Wildlife Package | Untamed

What makes the Andaman Islands a significant wildlife destination beyond the coral reef and the beach?

How does this andaman wildlife package structure five distinct wildlife encounters across seven days without any of them being guaranteed?

What is the connection between the volcanic ecosystem at Barren Island and the endemic species at Saddle Peak — is there a single biodiversity story across the Andaman chain?

Does this andaman wildlife package run year-round or does the leatherback nesting season affect when to book?

Who is this andaman wildlife package designed for and what does it ask of the traveller?

Still have questions?

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Day 6 • Pre-Dawn Saddle Peak Endemic Birding and Kalipur Leatherback Beach: andaman wildlife package

Day 7 • Rangat to Port Blair and Departure: andaman wildlife package