How is this ross and smith islands andaman package different from the Diglipur Andaman Package in the Bon Voyagers series?

The Diglipur Andaman Package is a six-day circuit where the Ross-Smith sandbar is one of four major experiences alongside the Saddle Peak summit trek, Kalipur Beach and the Moricedera mangrove stop at Rangat. This ross and smith islands andaman package is a five-day itinerary where the sandbar is the centrepiece and the surrounding days are built to support and frame it — Karmatang Beach at Mayabunder on Day 1, the sandbar on Day 2 afternoon timed around low tide, a full northern beach day at Kalipur and Ram Nagar on Day 3 and the return with a Baratang stop on Day 4. The Diglipur package includes the Saddle Peak trek — a full day physical commitment — and suits travellers who want the trekking dimension. This package skips the summit and spends more time on the northern coastline. The two serve different travel priorities and together cover North Andaman more completely than either does alone.

What does the sandbar between Ross and Smith Islands actually look and feel like when you are standing on it?

The sandbar is a raised strip of pale sand that sits barely above the surface at low tide — in most conditions the water laps at ankle height on both sides as you cross. The eastern and western channels have slightly different colours because the depth and the seabed beneath them differ, and that difference is visible when you stand at the midpoint and look down both sides simultaneously. The crossing itself takes only a few minutes at a walking pace but most people slow down considerably once they are on it — the combination of open water in every direction, two forested islands at either end and no other structure visible anywhere has a particular quality that is difficult to describe in advance and immediately obvious when you are there. This ross and smith islands andaman package times the Day 2 boat departure from Aerial Bay specifically to put the group on the sandbar during the low tide window when the crossing is at its clearest and most walkable.

What does Karmatang Beach at Mayabunder offer and why is it worth an overnight stop rather than passing through?

Karmatang Beach north of Mayabunder is a long, undeveloped beach that serves as a documented nesting site for olive ridley turtles between approximately October and March. The beach itself — outside the nesting season — is a wide, quiet stretch with no commercial infrastructure and the kind of late afternoon light that the north Andaman coastline produces when the forest runs close to the waterline. The Mayabunder overnight in this ross and smith islands andaman package is also the opportunity to encounter the Karen community settlement in the town — a community of Burmese Karen descendants who have lived in the Andamans for generations and maintain their own weaving tradition and language. Most Andaman itineraries pass through Mayabunder without stopping. Spending a night here gives the journey north a human dimension that the sandbar alone, for all its visual drama, does not provide.

How long does the sandbar crossing window last and what happens to it when the tide comes in?

The sandbar at Ross and Smith Islands is accessible for approximately 2 to 3 hours around the low tide peak on any given day — the exact window depends on the tidal range on that date, which varies through the month. As the tide rises the sandbar narrows progressively and the water on both sides deepens from ankle height to knee height to waist height until the crossing is no longer walkable. At high tide the sandbar is fully submerged and invisible from the boat — two separate islands with a stretch of open water between them. The Bon team checks the tide table for the specific travel dates before departure from Port Blair and builds the Day 2 schedule for this ross and smith islands andaman package to arrive at the islands within the low tide window. If the low tide falls at an inconvenient hour on the travel date — very early morning or after dark — the Day 2 schedule is adjusted to maximise the crossing opportunity.

What does the North Andaman road journey show a traveller that the south island circuit does not?

The south circuit — Port Blair, Havelock, Neil — is largely a boat and beach experience. The north is primarily a road and forest experience with the ocean as punctuation rather than the constant backdrop. The drive through Middle and North Andaman covers forest corridors that close over the road, small settlements with a different character from the Port Blair tourist economy, the convoy passage through the Jarawa Tribal Reserve which makes the protected status of that territory immediate and concrete rather than abstract, and a gradual thinning of everything — traffic, signage, phone signal, infrastructure — as the road moves north. By the time the group reaches Diglipur on this ross and smith islands andaman package the distance from Port Blair is felt as something more than kilometres. The north shows that the Andaman Islands are an archipelago with depth and geography, not just a collection of beaches at the end of a flight from Delhi or Mumbai.

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Offshore Ross and Smith Islands Andaman Package | Turquoise

Andaman & Nicobar Island

Overview

Overview for Ross And Smith Islands Andaman Package

There are very few places in India where you can walk between two islands on a natural sandbar with the sea at ankle height on both sides and nothing man-made in any direction. The sandbar connecting Ross and Smith Islands in North Andaman Islands is one of them. It sits barely above the waterline at low tide — a raised strip of pale sand between two forested islands, the water on the eastern side a different shade from the western side depending on the depth of the channel beneath. The walk across takes a few minutes and the thing most people do when they reach the middle is stop and stand there for longer than they planned to. There are no boats anchored nearby, no jetski operators, no food stalls at the tree line. It is the kind of place that the Andaman Islands used to be more of before the south circuit got popular. This ross and smith islands andaman package is built to get you there and give the north the time it deserves.

Bon Voyagers manages the complete ground programme from Port Blair Airport arrival. The journey north is broken into two days — Mayabunder on Day 1 with an evening at Karmatang Beach, then Diglipur on Day 2 with the Ross and Smith Islands sandbar visit timed around the afternoon low tide. Day 3 covers the northern beaches at Kalipur and Ram Nagar and the Alfred Caves. Day 4 is the long return drive to Port Blair with a stop at Baratang en route. Day 5 is the departure. Private AC Ertiga or Xylo class vehicle covers all road transfers throughout. Boat tickets to Ross and Smith Islands, all entry permits and charges are included. Daily breakfast and dinner on MAP basis at all hotels throughout.

Duration

5 Days, 4 Nights

Starting From

₹16,000/ person

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Detailed Itinerary for Ross And Smith Islands Andaman Package

Day 1 • Port Blair to Mayabunder and Karmatang Beach: ross and smith islands andaman package

The ross and smith islands andaman package begins at Port Blair Airport where the Bon Voyagers representative meets the group on arrival. The drive north to Mayabunder covers approximately 240 kilometres through South and Middle Andaman, taking around 7 to 8 hours including the convoy passage through the Jarawa Tribal Reserve near Jirkatang — the section of the Andaman Trunk Road where stopping and photography are strictly prohibited under Indian law. Mayabunder is a small North Andaman town with a quiet market, a working harbour and the Karen community settlement nearby — descendants of Burmese Karen people brought to the Andamans during the British period who have maintained their own language and weaving tradition across generations. The evening covers Karmatang Beach — a wide, undeveloped stretch north of the town and a documented nesting site for olive ridley turtles between approximately October and March. Overnight at Mayabunder.

Day 2 • Mayabunder to Diglipur and Ross and Smith Islands: ross and smith islands andaman package

The drive from Mayabunder to Diglipur covers approximately 80 kilometres through North Andaman, taking around 2 to 2.5 hours. The morning is the drive. The afternoon is the sandbar. The boat from Aerial Bay jetty near Diglipur to Ross and Smith Islands takes approximately 30 minutes and the departure time is set by the Bon team around the low tide window for the travel date — the sandbar is only walkable when the tide has dropped enough to expose the sand, and the crossing window lasts approximately 2 to 3 hours around the low tide peak. Ross Island in the North Andaman chain is a separate island entirely from the Ross Island near Port Blair — forested, smaller and connected to Smith Island by the sandbar rather than anything built. Standing on the sandbar between the two in this ross and smith islands andaman package is the moment the trip is built around. Overnight at Diglipur.

Day 3 • Diglipur Full Day, Northern Beaches and Alfred Caves: ross and smith islands andaman package

Kalipur Beach north of Diglipur is the morning — a wide, open beach facing the Bay of Bengal directly and a documented leatherback and olive ridley turtle nesting site between approximately October and February. Turtle sightings are not guaranteed and the beach is worth visiting on its own considerable terms regardless of the season. The sand at Kalipur is coarser than Radhanagar and the wave action is stronger — this is a different type of beach from anything in the south island circuit and it takes a few minutes to adjust to the scale and the openness of it. Ram Nagar Beach in the afternoon is quieter still — less visited than Kalipur, with a long empty shoreline that rewards walking rather than sitting. Alfred Caves near Diglipur, accessible by a short walk through forest, are limestone formations worth the late afternoon detour before the return to the hotel. This ross and smith islands andaman package uses the full Diglipur day across these three sites. Overnight at Diglipur.

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Day 4 • Diglipur to Port Blair via Baratang: ross and smith islands andaman package

The return drive from Diglipur to Port Blair on Day 4 of this ross and smith islands andaman package covers approximately 320 kilometres in 9 to 11 hours with stops. The route passes through the Baratang area in the late morning or early afternoon depending on the departure time — if the convoy timing through the Jarawa reserve allows, the Bon team arranges a brief stop at the Baratang mud volcanoes, a short walk from the main road where low mounds of grey clay show the slow subsurface gas activity that makes Baratang one of the more unusual geological sites in India. The mud volcano stop is subject to convoy schedule and road conditions and cannot be guaranteed — the Bon team confirms availability on the day. The convoy through the Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the return applies the same rules as the northbound passage. Port Blair by evening. Overnight in Port Blair.

Day 5 • Port Blair Departure: ross and smith islands andaman package

The final morning of the ross and smith islands andaman package is in Port Blair. Groups with afternoon or evening departure flights have the morning for Ross Island near Port Blair — Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island — reached by boat from Aberdeen Jetty, the colonial ruins standing in various stages of reclamation by the forest, deer moving through the cleared paths. The Ross Island near Port Blair and the Ross Island in the North Andaman chain that this package visited on Day 2 share a name and nothing else — the colonial administration named several islands Ross after the same surveyor and the two are entirely separate places. North Bay is available for a glass bottom boat ride over the reef before the airport drop. The Sagarika emporium near the clock tower is the practical last stop for Andaman craft and spices at fixed prices. Overnight not required — Port Blair Airport departure.

Crafting Your Journey

Bon Voyagers

Offshore Ross and Smith Islands Andaman Package | Turquoise

Overview for Ross And Smith Islands Andaman Package

Plan Your Trip with Experts

Offshore Ross and Smith Islands Andaman Package | Turquoise

Plan Your Trip with Experts

Overview for Ross And Smith Islands Andaman Package

Journey Route Map for Ross And Smith Islands Andaman Package

Port Blair

Mayabunder

Diglipur

Ross and Smith Islands

Port Blair

Detailed Itinerary for Ross And Smith Islands Andaman Package

Day 1 • Port Blair to Mayabunder and Karmatang Beach: ross and smith islands andaman package

Day 2 • Mayabunder to Diglipur and Ross and Smith Islands: ross and smith islands andaman package

Day 3 • Diglipur Full Day, Northern Beaches and Alfred Caves: ross and smith islands andaman package

Day 4 • Diglipur to Port Blair via Baratang: ross and smith islands andaman package

Day 5 • Port Blair Departure: ross and smith islands andaman package

What’s Included & Excluded for Ross And Smith Islands Andaman Package

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Frequently Asked Questions About Offshore Ross and Smith Islands Andaman Package | Turquoise

How is this ross and smith islands andaman package different from the Diglipur Andaman Package in the Bon Voyagers series?

What does the sandbar between Ross and Smith Islands actually look and feel like when you are standing on it?

What does Karmatang Beach at Mayabunder offer and why is it worth an overnight stop rather than passing through?

How long does the sandbar crossing window last and what happens to it when the tide comes in?

What does the North Andaman road journey show a traveller that the south island circuit does not?

Still have questions?

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