Due to greater distance and time constraints, people often miss out on the chance to visit places in North Andaman. What many people don’t know is that apart from having nice places to visit, you can also get really good sea food here. Here’s a list of places that you should definitely try and visit in North Andaman!
Diglipur and Kalpong Hydro Power Plant
This is the largest town of North Andaman with an area of 800 sq. km and is famous for oranges, rice and sea food. The only river of Andaman Islands, Kalpong river originates from Saddle Peak and flows through Diglipur into Aerial bay on the east coast, covering a distance of 35 km.
Kalpong river is considered the life line of North Andaman as the hydro power plant built over it provides cheap and clean energy to major towns like Diglipur and Mayabunder. It has 2 dams. The first is 34 meter high concrete structure and the second is a 27 meter high rock filled structure.
It is beautiful to see the sky mirrored in a huge body of clear water, nestled between the green slopes of mountains. Diglipur has many small outlets where you can get amazing crabs, lobsters and fish. If you love sea food, this is one place you should definitely visit. This town is well connected by road to Port Blair. It takes 12 hrs by road to reach and is on the way to Ramnagar beach and Alfred caves.
Kalipur beach
This beach is known for turtle nesting and also happens to be the only beach in the world which is the nesting ground for 4 species of sea turtles- Olive Ridley, GreenSea turtle, Leatherback and Hawksbill turtle. It is a learning experience to watch how the turtle hatchery is maintained and cared for by a team of dedicated forest officials.
Turtle nesting takes place from November to March and the best time to visit is December/ January. Kalipur is only 18 km from Diglipur and Diglipur is connected to Port Blair by the Andaman Trunk Road.
Ramnagar Beach
This is yet another beach which boasts of favourable turtle nesting grounds. In addition to that, this beach is suitable for bathing and also offers a natural trail for nature lovers and trekkers in the nearby forest. Ramnagar is 25km from Diglipur and to reach it one has to take a diversion at Kalara junction of Andaman trunk Road.
The beach curves into a bay, with sandy patches in the middle and mangroves and rocks at both edges. A narrow creek also runs along the right side, with pieces of drift wood deposited on the other side of the creek.
Lamiya Beach
It is only a few kilometers from Kalipur beach. Situated at the foothills of Saddle peak, it is not commercialized. Though it doesn’t have much to offer, one can enjoy the scenic beauty, relax and listen to the sounds of waves. It is reachable by road from Diglipur and is slightly ahead of Kalipur.
Mud volcano
The mud volcanoes are found in the green jungles of Shyamnagar in Diglipur. A 15 minute trek takes you to a series of fascinating mud spewing craters. There are benches where one can sit, observe and marvel at this wonder of nature.
It is amusing to listen to the bubbling noises and let your imagination run wild; who’s to say it isn’t molten chocolate running out through some underground factory! This place is approachable by road from Diglipur which is just 20 km away.