Lakshadweep trip report

kshastry

I hope most of you will find this useful.

I recently did a trip to Lakshadweep islands arranged through SPORTS (Lakshadweep tourism). The flavour of this tour was titled "Coral Reef". It was a 5 day / 4 night trip covering 3 islands, Capital Kavaratti, Minicoy and Kalpeni. You can get more details at their websites (www.lakshadweeptourism.com)

The tour was well organized and managed (compared to Indian standards). Though SPORTS is a "babudom" (govt entity), it was surprizingly staffed with courteous and helpful people, both in Cochin office and in the islands. On several occassions the tour manager and staff went overboard to ensure that things stayed in order.

The best time to visit Lakshadweep is December and January (so they say). I had booked this trip in August itself to ensure that I hit LD at best of time. I reported to SPORTS office in Cochin at Willingdon to collect my boarding pass. I was given a small kit containing boarding pass, receipt and a cool looking LD T-Shirt!

We were let in to board the Ship (M/V Tipu Sultan) after security check and verifications at Cochin docks. The ship was old (60's) and showed its age. It could only do 12 knots per hour. But it was kept in sea-going conditions and things seem to work. This ship along with its other three sister vessels are the lifelines for LD. It has three class cabin (1st Class with a/c cabins, tourist class with a/c relcining chairs and a non-a/c chair class). The chair class is usually used by locals of LD who travel to mainland for business, shopping, health and education reasons.

SPORTS offers tourist packages only in 1st class and tourist class. The tourists will do island tour in day time and spend the night onboard the ship, during which it sails to next island. I travelled in tourist class which I found to be decent and secure. Only complaint is you can't sleep in those chairs with a/c in full blast. Eventually everyone ended up sleeping on the deck of the ship or wherever they could find some space to stretch legs. The food is served in an exclusive on-board cafeteria reserved for tourists, Veg and Non-Veg separate (which is good!). The quality and quantity of food were EXCELLENT! There was morning tea, breakfast, lunch, evening tea and dinner.

I wouldn't wish to say much about the places as they are to be seen and experienced. Beaches are heavenly, desolate and rival any tropical paradise on earth. There is a diving facility at Kavaratti for those who want to experience SCUBA diving. The SPORTS staff at the islands organize the visits which includes sea bathing, snorkelling, boat rides, visits to aquarium, handicrafts and villages. The day time breakfast, lunch and tea are also taken care by them.

Locals are friendly, though seem little reserved at times, may be due to language issues. Malayalam is widely spoken. Some of them do speak English and Hindi. There were folk dances of locals arranged in all the three islands. The locals are of Muslim faith.

Overall, it was a great trip. The only sore point was, a loud mouthed Bengali family who kept on chattering, muttering and shouting non-stop for 5 days. (No, I am not against any language group or community) It seemed that alpha-male of that family could speak English. He kept translating the things to his family which were immediatley returned with a barrage of questions in Bengali, which were in-turn translated into English and posed to the organizers. This continued through-out the trip. There were also some jerks who smoked, spat and made politically inappropriate comments about the things around. Well, I think thats something you have to live-with everywhere you go.

Some notes:

1. Foreigners are allowed into only two islands, Agatti and Bangaram, while Androt (of late Mr.Sayeed) is off-limits to tourists.
2. It is advisable to carry the essentials (like film rolls, battery and cosmetics) in sufficient quantity. The shops in LD are far and few.
3. Do not carry heavy luggages and food. It will be very difficult to manage them while transferring from ship to boats v.v. at the islands.


Here are some pictures taken in the trip:

The Ship, M/V Tipu Sultan

Crystal clear waters! Inviting and safe

A beach in Kavaratti

A beach in Minicoy

Cheers,

Kshastry

edwardseco

Excellent, most appreciated..

Bigzero

thanks for the post, kshastry! and nice pictures too!

by the way, did you happen to check out the local food? whats it like?

looking forward to more pics...

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Serena

Yes, thank you very much Kshastry!
It's so diffucult to have reports from Lakshadweep!
How much for your trip? Do you know something about accomodation on Agatti or Bangaram?

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LavieQ

Great report Shastry. The photo of MV Tipu Sultan is priceless! THe ship is certainly showing it's age, but looks adventurous; ,much like a trip to Cuba perhaps. If "foreigners" are not allowed on one of the island, does that mean they have to stay on the ship while the injuns (err.. citizens ) get to go ashore?

aadil

Beautiful trip report, hope to make it there someday!!! Thanks for sharing on IM!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

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anilkhare

gr8..


there is WWF world wild life fund which also organises these trips from bombay which are very reasonable and informative. The package for members are a bit cheap ... but annual membership is only around 200 or something. Office of WWF is in one of the buildings opposite new excelsior theater near vt where there is a lic office on the ground floor. you got to ask around as the office is in a inner building which is connected by a stair case from the outer building


so next time u could have a very cost effective trip to lakshwadeep


anil

steven_ber

Looks lovely, thanks for sharing the info.

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lonelyaztec

Beautiful pictures !!

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sald

Great report. Had wanted to know for a long time how the Lakshadweep Tourism packages are...

I had visited the island in Feb last year...and like kshastry rightly says, these are to be experienced and can't be put in words.

@Serena,
I stayed at Agatti during my stay. Agatti and Bangaram are the only 2 islands which have privately owned and operated resorts. The rest have govt. owned acc.

The resort at Agatti is really nice. No luxury here though. Basic on-the-beach cottages with ensuite bathrooms and a nice sit-out balcony facing the sea. The bathrooms could do with some refurbushing though. The beds are comfortable and rooms are very clean. No hot water here limited a/c rooms since electricity is scarce (the island is abt 27 sq kms. only!!). But hey when a fantastic lagoon is just outside, who needs a to shower in the room, huh? Brushing etc. may be a problem since the water is hard and salty....

Food is very good...no 5 star spread but nice food and served very warmly and lovingly by the extremely friendly staff.

Dod not stay at Bangaram...but did visit there. Rooms again are basic since the islands are not self-sufficient in infrastructure. Amenities and all are the same. But the price is like twice or thice of that at Agatti. IMHO the price difference could be due to:
1. Bangaram is uninhabited so its just the guests and resort staff on the island
2. Bangarma is the ONLY island amon all in LD which can serve alcohol!! This is cos its uninhabited and no locals stay here
3. Bangaram is one of 4 islands encircled by the largest lagoon in Asia

On the whole, i beileve the accomodation is not relevant. Both islands are FANTASTIC and NOT-TO-BE-MISSED in your lifetime.

Serena

Wow, thank you sald!!
Really love to be there some day......

kshastry

Thanks for the responses. Here are some more tid-bits.

1. I couldn't try any local food. The food is arranged by the organizers and you get the typical North/South Indian stuff (Chappatis, Rice, Dal, Sabzi, Papad etc) both in Ship and in Islands, served as buffett. The local food constitutes rice, fish, meat and poultry.

2. The Lakshadweep waters have some of the best breeds of Tuna fish. I got to know that a canned tin of Tuna (1 Kg) could cost anywhere between Rs.130 to 180, which is expensive in Indian terms. The locals have a traditional way of curing Tuna which preserve it for years. Since I am a strict veggie, this is as far as I can go.

3. The best part of visiting LD is to experience the marine life. The lagoons around the islets have variety of fishes and corals. The organizers arrange for snorkelling. I recommend that if possible, try to get a quality snorkelling gear yourself. This will give an uninterrputed time to watch the underwater life since the ones available with the organizers need to be shared around. I had my own stuff and had a great time!
Warning: Corals are sharp like razor blades. Do not attempt to touch or stand on them. They are living things. You will be bleeding in no time.

4. Make sure that you are fine and fit. Avoid taking elderly people or infants to islands. There is a lot of hiking and climbing to do. The transfer to boats from ship is no easy either. I saw babus taking their whole family trees with them and having hard time. Remember, this is not a pilgrimage!

bearable

Thanks for a great report. Hope to go there sometime next year.

theshutterbug

Sounds great ! im planning this on 2nd Feb or 7th feb !!

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aadil

Hi Amit,

Good you found what you were looking for!!! Hope you enjoy your trip down there and how I wish I could join you there too. But alas I will be working then. Hope to make it there someday soon anyway.

Cheers,
Aadil.