26 December 2014
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| Lighthouse in North Bay |
Our package was Ross Island + North Bay combo. Once we
winded up our Ross Island tour, the boat took us to North Bay which took about
30 minutes. Technically North Bay is connected to Port Blair by landmass but I
do not think there is a road to reach the place. Many places in Andaman are
well connected by boat than road. So to reach North Bay, boat is easiest mode
of transport.
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| Corals in North Bay |
As we neared North Bay we were told about the options for
viewing marine life. The large boats cannot anchor at North Bay. Building a
Jetty requires digging in water thus damaging corals. Hence the big boats that
we travel anchor at a distance and the passengers have to travel to the shore
on small boats.
There are many options to view corals. One option is to ride
on a glass bottom boat and have a look at the corals. Since water is clear in
Andaman the corals can be viewed without much difficulty. All other options
like Scuba diving, Snorkelling and sea walking require the person to get into
water. We decided to try glass bottom boat as we had planned to do other
activities in Havelock.
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| Brain corals |
North Bay has good amount of corals which we could see from
the glass boat. They are in various forms and shapes. The most distinguishing
one was the brain coral. The boatman said that it was only seen in Andaman
which I seriously doubted.
North Bay has some eateries that serve bad food. We were
hungry and hence we ate whatever that was available. Later, we went to the part
of the sea that was less crowded and happily played in water. One need not worry about getting wet as
changing rooms are available.
At 4PM we got the call from boatman to start. Reluctantly we
got out of water and prepared for our return journey to Port Blair. The return
journey was turbulent due to rough sea.
Note: At Aberdeen Jetty, boats are available for Ross Island
and North Bay separately. Combined packages for Ross Island and North Bay are
also available. We had taken the combo package. The same boat will be available
for the entire journey.
Labels: Andaman, beach, coral, North Bay, travel
