14 Best Water Sports in Andaman: Prices, Best Spots & When to Go

This is what most people fly in for. A beginner Discover Scuba dive runs Rs 3,500 to 6,500 depending on depth and certification level, lasts 30 to 45 minutes in the water, and needs no prior experience: a certified guide holds your BCD the whole way down. Elephant Beach off Havelock and North Bay off Port Blair are the two easiest first-dive sites, with soft coral, clownfish and parrotfish at 6 to 12 metres. Age is commonly 10 and up, and no certification is needed for a Discover Scuba dive; the guide manages your buoyancy and depth throughout. The cheaper end of the range is a shore dive off Elephant Beach, where you wade in from the sand. The higher end buys a boat dive to a deeper site with better coral and bigger fish. Two tips from the counter: dive in the morning when the sea is flattest, and do it on day one, so you have a spare day if the weather forces a reschedule rather than losing the experience on your last morning.

The cheapest look at the reef, at Rs 600 to 1,500 for a 30 to 45 minute session. You float face-down in a life jacket while a guide tows or shadows you and points out coral heads and fish, so it suits families and nervous swimmers who want the reef without the commitment of a dive. Elephant Beach, North Bay and Neil all have shallow reef within wading distance of the sand, so you are over living coral within minutes of getting in. Bring a quick-dry towel and reef-safe sunscreen, and carry your own mask if you own one: the rental fit is hit-or-miss and a leaky mask ruins the session. The sun off the water is stronger than it looks, so a rash guard beats a fresh coat of sunscreen every twenty minutes.

Andaman’s signature act, and the one that sells out first. You wear a weighted helmet fed with surface air and simply walk the sea bed at around 4 to 7 metres while fish circle your face and the guide feeds them bread to bring them in close. It costs about Rs 3,500 for 20 to 30 minutes and is done only at North Bay, where the sheltered bottom stays calm enough for the helmet system to work safely. No swimming, no diving skill and no getting your hair wet, which is why it wins over travellers who would never put their face underwater. Minimum age is about 7, and glasses-wearers can keep them on inside the helmet. If you do one paid activity in Andaman, most people make it this way, so book it a day ahead in peak season.

Strapped into a canopy and towed behind a boat, you rise 60 to 90 metres over the water for a 10 to 15 minute flight, high enough to see the reef line and the shape of the coast. Rs 3,200 to 3,500 buys the view over Corbyn’s Cove or Elephant Beach. Take-off and landing are from the boat deck, so you stay dry unless you ask the crew for a dip, when they let the line out to dunt your feet in the sea. The harness does the work and there is no running or jumping involved, which makes it far gentler than it looks from the beach. Anyone comfortable with heights can do it, and tandem flights let a nervous first-timer go up with a friend.

Fast, loud and cheap at Rs 500 to 1,200 for 10 to 15 minutes. At the Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex in Port Blair and at Corbyn’s Cove you can either ride pillion with an operator who does the driving, or, in the marked and roped-off zone, take the throttle yourself after a quick briefing. Kids ride behind an adult in a life jacket. Because the ride is short and the queue moves fast, it is the easiest thrill to slot between the slower boat activities while you wait for a sea-walk or scuba slot. Keep phones and sunglasses on the shore; both end up in the sea more often than the operators would like.

The inflatable towed behind a speedboat that everyone remembers from the photos. Rs 500 to 600 per head for a 10 minute ride where the guide’s unspoken job is to tip the whole row into the sea at least once, so expect to get wet and hold the handles tight. The sofa version is a wider, more stable ride for younger kids; the banana is the bumpier one older children ask for again. It is best done as a group of four to six at North Bay or Corbyn’s Cove, since the fun is collective. Life jackets are compulsory and you do not need to swim, but you will surface spluttering and laughing, so leave the good camera on the boat.

The dry-feet reef tour. From a boat with a clear panel set into the floor you watch coral gardens, shoals and the occasional turtle drift past for 20 to 30 minutes, priced Rs 500 to 2,500 depending on the boat and whether it is a shared or private run. North Bay is the spot, and the reef there is shallow enough that the view through the glass is genuinely clear on a calm morning. This is the pick for grandparents, toddlers or anyone who wants the reef without a mask, and it pairs neatly with a sea walk in the same trip so the non-swimmers in the group still get their coral. Go early, before boat traffic stirs up the sand.

A quick Rs 500 to 1,000 blast across the bay, 10 to 15 minutes of spray and speed with the throttle open. It doubles as the transfer to the activity pontoons and reef points at North Bay and Corbyn’s Cove, so you often get the ride thrown in with whatever else you book rather than paying for it twice. No skill or swimming is needed, just a life jacket and a hand on the rail. It is the cheapest way to feel the open sea if the slower boats are not your thing, and a good warm-up for kids before the bigger activities.

A two-seat personal watercraft you actually steer yourself, offered at Havelock for around Rs 3,500 per 20 to 30 minute session. After a short briefing on the throttle and steering you are off across the bay under your own control, which is the appeal: unlike a pillion jet-ski ride, you decide where it goes. The hull sits low and stable, so it feels safer than a jet ski while still moving quickly, and two people share one kart, one driving and one along for the ride. It suits couples and anyone who wants agency on the water without a licence or prior experience. Book it on Havelock, since Port Blair does not run it.

The quiet one, and the most rewarding for anyone tired of engines. Paddle the Havelock mangrove creeks or head out from Mayabunder for Rs 1,000 to 2,500 across a 1 to 2 hour guided trip, gliding under the tree canopy where the water is glassy and the only sound is the paddle. Night kayaks scheduled around a new moon can light the water with bioluminescent plankton that glows blue with every stroke, a completely different Andaman that few day-trippers ever see. Minimum age is usually 12 with a guide, and a double kayak lets a beginner share the effort with a stronger paddler. Go with an operator who knows the tides; the creeks empty at low water.

A half-submerged boat with a viewing cabin below the waterline, so you sit in air-conditioned comfort at eye level with the reef and stay completely dry the whole time. Rs 2,000 to 2,500 for a 20 to 30 minute run at North Bay, with wide windows on both sides of the cabin. It is the single most comfortable way to see coral for anyone who cannot get in the water, is travelling with very young children, or simply would rather watch than swim, and there is no contact with the reef at all. The commentary points out the coral species and fish as you go, which makes it more of a guided tour than the glass-bottom boat’s quick look.

For a slower, wilder day away from the crowds, a licensed boat takes you out from Havelock or Port Blair on a 3 to 4 hour catch-and-release trip for tuna, barracuda, snapper and trevally past the reef line. Price varies with the boat size, the crew and the season, so confirm the rate and what tackle is included at the counter before you commit. This is the one activity where the open swell really moves, so bring a hat, water and motion-sickness tablets taken an hour before you sail. Mornings are best for both the fish and the calmer sea, and the operators return most catches to keep the reef fishery healthy.

Rent a board for Rs 1,000 to 2,000 and spend 30 to 60 minutes finding your balance on the flat morning water at Havelock or Neil. It looks harder than it is: most people are kneeling in a minute and standing within ten, and the board is wide and forgiving. Go early, before the wind picks up and turns the bay choppy, and you get a slow, quiet paddle with the reef visible straight down through clear water. It doubles as a gentle core workout with a view, and because you are never far from shore it is one of the lowest-risk ways to be out on the sea alone. Neil’s Bharatpur bay is especially calm for a first try.

The deeper, longer cousin of the standard sea walk, run at North Bay for Rs 3,000 to 3,500 across 20 to 30 minutes. You go a little further down with more time on the bottom and usually a smaller group, so the guide can give you more attention and take better underwater photos. It is still helmeted and guided, still needs no swimming, and the same age and health rules apply as for the standard walk. Worth the small premium if you know the standard 20-minute walk will feel too short, or if you want the quieter, less crowded slot that the deep-walk operators tend to run. Book both walks a day ahead in peak season.