Baratang Island in Andaman and Nicobar

Baratang Island is a part of the Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands India. This is said to be the best part of your trip to Andaman Islands. Here you can see the wild nature as well as its beauty. Your trip to Andaman would be incomplete without a trip to Baratang and Jirkatang.

Baratang Island, simply known as Baratang is situated about 90 kms away from Port Blair, the capital city of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It's known to be the main attraction in the Middle Andamans. This island is inhabited mainly by the local Jarawa tribals and this is the place where you could visit to get away from the regular tourists attractions in Andaman and Nicobar.

You could see local Jarawa tribal on your way to this island from Port Blair. It's sensible not to make contact with them and respect their ancient lifestyle. This island is surrounded by dense mangrove forests and comprises of natural wonders like mud volcanoes and limestone caves.

Parrot Island, mud volcanoes, limestone caves and the beach are the main attractions on this island. The limestone caves could be reached by a speedboat from the island jetty in about an hour and the mud volcanoes are about 4 kms away from the jetty at Baratang. The cost for a two way ride amounts to Rs 200 per head. Parrot Island is another attraction here where you could find huge gathering of parrots during sunset.

Climate

This island possesses a tropical climate which is warm, damp and composed. The temperature normally ranges from 18C to 34C. Extreme hot climate is prevented due to the proximity of the sea and the abundant rainfall. An average of 3000mm of rainfall is received by this island from the north east and south west monsoons that extend over a period of 8 months. The humidity is high varying from 66 to 86%. The best season to visit Baratang Island is from October to May.

Baratang Island near Gateways

The added benefit of this island is that, it's connected by road from Port Blair and reachable throughout the year. The major tourist spots like Merk Bay beach; Lalaji Bay Beach, Spike Island, etc. are easily reachable from Baratang within 30 to 40 minutes by sea. Travelling towards North Andaman is also very convenient as the main highway leading towards Diglipur passes by this island.

Lime stone caves are around 7 to 8 kms from Baratang jetty through boats. These natural growing caves are made up of lime stone surrounding gorgeous green jungle. These lime caves full of marvelous stalagmites, stalactites and pillar rocks could be accessed by a 45 minute boat ride through the creeks. It's a great life time experience for the tourists as the boat passes through fine-looking creek full of mangroves from the Nilambur jetty.

The only known example of mud volcano in India is possessed by Baratang. On 18th February 2003, a mud volcano started erupting on this island. There was a minor fissure eruption at the same spot in 1983. The last major eruption occurred in March 1983 which was of a larger magnitude compared to the recent eruption. This is a rare occurrence and is found in only select places around the world. In India, Andaman is the only place where such volcanoes are found.

Overall Baratang Island is a fantastic place to visit with its eco friendly beach, plenty of marine life and dense forest.