Neil Island is in the Andaman Islands.
Neil, with its very relaxed vibe and long, deserted beaches is a place to chill out after the "bustle" of Havelock Island. Neil is quite small compared to Havelock. Its widest part is about 5 km in length. You can walk the whole island in about an hour or two.
- Beach #8: Snorkeling here plus a small cave to check out. Lots of shells around if you are a shell collector.
- Natural bridge: A small strip of land that connects the mainland to a small(3*3) island of sorts (not worth it but the rockpools around this at low tide are worth checking out).
- Sitapur beach: Lovely sunrise. Serene beach. Good for a swim.
Beach #8: Snorkeling here plus a small cave to check out. Lots of shells around if you are a shell collector.
Natural bridge: A small strip of land that connects the mainland to a small(3*3) island of sorts (not worth it but the rockpools around this at low tide are worth checking out).
Sitapur beach: Lovely sunrise. Serene beach. Good for a swim.
- Sunset point is the west most point of the beach west of the jetty which the guesthouses are on. There are ravenous sandflies, so if you're spending any time there then take a hammock. Pretty sunsets. If you snorkel directly west off the point there is some wonderful snorkelling. There's sometimes a current. Snorkeling near beach with the caves and also off Havelock if you choose to take the private ride. Mantas to be seen on the ride if you are lucky. Get here in the morning. check the rockpools, snorkel then bail in the afteroon.
- Snorkelling is also very good around the jetty at Neil. edges of the shallow reefs have some live corals, many different kinds of fish and lots of anemones with resident clown fish. Great variety of shells are available but are not supposed to be taken from the islands.
- India Scuba Explorers, Beach#1 (get to beach #1, on the left side of the road about a 300m before Tango Resort, +91 9474238646. A PADI Dive Resort offering all PADI courses and daily dive safaris to spectacular new dive sites around the unexplored waters of Neil Island.
Sunset point is the west most point of the beach west of the jetty which the guesthouses are on. There are ravenous sandflies, so if you're spending any time there then take a hammock. Pretty sunsets. If you snorkel directly west off the point there is some wonderful snorkelling. There's sometimes a current. Snorkeling near beach with the caves and also off Havelock if you choose to take the private ride. Mantas to be seen on the ride if you are lucky. Get here in the morning. check the rockpools, snorkel then bail in the afteroon.
Snorkelling is also very good around the jetty at Neil. edges of the shallow reefs have some live corals, many different kinds of fish and lots of anemones with resident clown fish. Great variety of shells are available but are not supposed to be taken from the islands.
India Scuba Explorers, Beach#1 (get to beach #1, on the left side of the road about a 300m before Tango Resort, +91 9474238646. A PADI Dive Resort offering all PADI courses and daily dive safaris to spectacular new dive sites around the unexplored waters of Neil Island.
The main bazaar has a few eateries serving the usual Indian fare.
At the beach resorts, food has to be ordered generally at least two hours in advance as the "cook" travels to the market gets the supplies and prepares it.
- Gan Garden Restaurant. Take main road from bazaar towards sunset point, opposite football pitch is Gan Garden, nice family run restaurant, good choice of meals and they will happily cook any fish for you that you manage to catch yourself or buy from the fish market for a small charge! The family will also happily arrange other activities for you, Gan can organise jungle trips and Sanjay can organise snorkelling or fishing trips on their speed boat! Trips are all around ₹500 per person and will be a full day trip including lunch!
- Green Heaven restaurant. The restaurant is very friendly, has great food (try the grilled fish or chocolate pancake) and the service is positively instant compared with the glacial service at the resorts!
Gan Garden Restaurant. Take main road from bazaar towards sunset point, opposite football pitch is Gan Garden, nice family run restaurant, good choice of meals and they will happily cook any fish for you that you manage to catch yourself or buy from the fish market for a small charge! The family will also happily arrange other activities for you, Gan can organise jungle trips and Sanjay can organise snorkelling or fishing trips on their speed boat! Trips are all around ₹500 per person and will be a full day trip including lunch!
Green Heaven restaurant. The restaurant is very friendly, has great food (try the grilled fish or chocolate pancake) and the service is positively instant compared with the glacial service at the resorts!
Coconut milk.
Alcohol is also available in most of the resorts.
Two options:
1) Leave via the ferry that got you here sometime in the evening
2)You can manage to get a private boat ride to Havelock from here for around ₹1000 if interested.For Indians this is not a problem but foreigners be aware, the police at the jetty on Havelock do check your RAP (restricted area permit) on the way out and EXPECT to see an entry number on it, which you will not have if you came privately. This is done, precisely to stop tourists making unauthorised visits to islands they should not be on and the authorities take this quite seriously so DO expect trouble if you decide to do this. (Of course if you left by the same method and went back to where you came from nobody would be any the wiser).