Museums In Andaman: The 7 Best Ones To Visit In Port Blair (2026 Guide)

This is the most important historical site in the Andamans and the reason most people put ‘museums’ on their Port Blair list at all. Built by the British between 1896 and 1906, the Cellular Jail held India’s freedom fighters in solitary ‘cells’, among them Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Batukeshwar Dutt and Yogendra Shukla. Three of the original seven wings survive (the rest were damaged during the WWII Japanese occupation), along with the gallows, a small museum gallery and an art gallery. The unmissable part is the evening Light & Sound show, which tells the jail’s story through the voice of the old peepal tree in the courtyard.

You’ll find it at Atlanta Point in central Port Blair. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 AM–12:30 PM and again 1:30 PM–4:45 PM, and closed on Mondays and government holidays. Entry is around Rs 30 for Indians and about Rs 100 for foreign nationals, plus a small camera charge. The evening Light & Sound show is ticketed separately at roughly Rs 300 per adult and Rs 150 per child, with separate Hindi and English slots each evening; buy early in peak season, because it sells out. This is the stop for freedom-struggle history, and the most moving hour of any Port Blair trip.

For the full history, ticket details and show timings, see our dedicated guide to the Cellular Jail in Andaman.

Run by the Indian Navy, Samudrika is the best place to understand the marine world you’ll be snorkelling and diving in. Five themed galleries cover the islands’ geography, people, archaeology, marine life and a shell collection, with displays on coral reefs, mangroves and the local ecosystem. The showpiece is the skeleton of a blue whale recovered from the Nicobar group, and there’s a small aquarium and a landscaped garden in the complex. It’s an easy, air-conditioned hour and a good primer before you head to the reefs.

It sits in Haddo, about 2 km from the Aberdeen Bazaar centre, and opens 9 AM–12 noon and 2 PM–5 PM with a lunch break in between; it’s closed on Mondays and national holidays. Entry runs around Rs 50 per person, plus a small camera charge. Come here for marine life and corals, and for a quick natural-history overview before you start island-hopping.

The Anthropological Museum (also called the Zonal Anthropological Museum) is the most culturally significant museum on the islands. It documents the four Negrito tribes of the Andamans the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese and the Mongoloid Nicobarese and Shompen of the Nicobar group, through tools, weapons, hunting gear, clothing, models of dwellings and rare photographs. Some of the communities shown, like the Sentinelese, remain almost entirely uncontacted, which makes this one of the very few windows into their way of life. Photography of certain exhibits is restricted, so follow the signs.

It’s at Middle Point in central Port Blair, open 9 AM–1 PM and 1:30 PM–4:30 PM (some listings run it through to about 5:30 PM), and closed on Mondays and public holidays. Entry is around Rs 20 for Indians and about Rs 150 for foreign nationals, with concessions for students and free entry for young children. Come here if you want to understand the islands’ indigenous tribes – it’s the single most educational stop in Port Blair.

Not to be confused with Samudrika, the Fisheries Museum, widely known as the Aquarium, is a compact museum near the Andaman Teal House in Delanipur. It holds more than 350 species of marine life found across the Bay of Bengal and the wider Asia-Pacific, displayed as preserved specimens and in small tanks: reef fish, corals, shells, starfish, sea snakes and the odd preserved shark. It’s modest and a little old-fashioned, but cheap and quick, and children tend to love the live tanks. It’s in Delanipur, near the Teal House, open roughly 9 AM–3 PM, with entry around Rs 5 for adults and a few rupees for children. It’s a fast, budget-friendly aquarium stop, especially with kids.

Tucked beside Asia’s oldest saw mill on Chatham Island (connected to Port Blair by a road bridge), the Forest Museum is run by the Andaman & Nicobar Forest Department and tells the story of the islands’ timber and forestry. Exhibits include polished cross-sections and crafted pieces in the islands’ prized woods padauk, gurjan, satinwood, marble wood and other native timbers, plus tools, photographs and models of forest life. Pair it with a look at the historic Chatham Saw Mill next door. It’s on Chatham Island in Haddo, open 8 AM–12 noon and 2:30 PM–5 PM, and closed on Sundays the one major museum that closes on Sunday rather than Monday. Entry is around Rs 2 per person. It’s one for wood and forestry buffs, and an easy add-on to the Haddo cluster.

The Zoological Survey of India’s regional museum in Haddo is a small but genuinely interesting natural-history gallery, and it’s free. The collection covers the fauna of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands – preserved marine creatures, corals, starfish, mollusc shells, reptiles, birds, skeletons and fossils and is a favourite with families because there’s no ticket and plenty for children to point at. It’s at 11 Horticulture Road in Haddo, open roughly 9 AM–5 PM (a little later on Sundays), and entry is free. It’s a no-cost, family-friendly natural-history stop right next to Samudrika.

Opened in 2003 and part of the national network of science museums, the Regional Science Centre is the most hands-on museum on the islands, built for curious kids and anyone interested in how the Andamans were formed. Interactive galleries cover island geology and the archipelago’s volcanic origins (including Barren Island, India’s only active volcano), ocean science, and general science and technology, with plenty of buttons to press and exhibits to play with. You’ll find it near the Science Park in Port Blair, open around 10 AM–6 PM and closed on Mondays, with a nominal entry fee. It’s one for families with children, and for anyone curious about the islands’ volcanic, under-the-sea origins.