Baratang

Baratang Island is located between the South and Middle Andaman Islands. During the British occupation of Andaman, a large number of migrant people were sent here to settle and cultivate. Baratang used to be the domain of the famous tribals of the Andaman and outsiders were not allowed to settle there. Over the years, there has been a major settlement of mainland people on the island now. There are several tourist attractions on the island including limestone caves, mud volcanoes, the Parrot Island and the forests and sea.

Orientation

Baratang is located between Middle Andaman and South Andaman. It is around 105 km from Port Blair and takes around 3 hrs to reach by road. Baratang is a relatively large island with a total area of about 242 square kilometres. There are a few villages on the Island such as Adazig, Nilambur, Katan, Nayagarh etc.

Things to do

The most popular tourist activity is a visit to the active mud volcanoes and a boat ride to the limestone caves. The mud volcano is an overland journey of about 20 minutes from the boating jetty. The limestone cave is a major attraction here. It includes a boat ride through the creek for about half an hour one way before you reach the vicinity of the limestone cave, here you have to take a walk through the beautiful mangrove forest to reach the limestone cave with its stalactite and stalagmite formations. Parrot Island is also a famous attraction for bird lovers, but tourist needs to spend the night here to enjoy Parrot Island.

Getting There

Private vehicles and government buses start from Port Blair early in the morning for Baratang. It takes around 3 hours to cross around 110 km from Port Blair to Baratang via Grand Andaman Trunk Road. The journey is subdivided into two phases- Port Blair to Jirkatang and Jirkatang to Bartang island.

From Jirkatang to Baratang, you will be passing through the Jarwa Tribe Reserves. All vehicles have to travel in convoy at fixed hours under the guidance of the Government. The Jarawa people are given their full right to privacy and tourism activity is not allowed in the Jarwa area. After passing through the Tribe Reserve you will reach Nilambar Jetty and a ferry will take the vehicle along with passengers to Baratang.