North Bay Island

Overview

North Bay is the small forested island across the harbour from Port Blair. Most visitors still arrive on the boat trip that pairs it with Ross Island, though it can now also be driven to from Bambooflat since the bay road was completed. Its claim to fame is the shallow fringing reef right off the beach — close enough to the capital that you can be looking at coral and parrotfish within an hour of leaving your hotel. It’s the easiest place in the Andamans to try a sea walk (walking on the seabed in a helmet with air piped down from the surface) and a good first taste of snorkelling before Havelock and Neil.

The red-and-white North Bay lighthouse on the headland was pictured on the reverse of the old ₹20 note.

Getting there

There are now two ways in — by boat across the harbour, or by road from Bambooflat.

By boat from Port Blair

Boats run from the Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex (Aberdeen Jetty) from morning until early afternoon; the crossing takes 20–30 minutes and is usually sold as a Ross Island + North Bay combo. Private speedboats and larger shared boats are both available — the shared boats are cheaper, the speedboats save time. Trips are cancelled in rough weather.

By road via Bambooflat

The bay road is now complete, so North Bay can be reached overland from Bambooflat by two-, three- or four-wheeler. Two ways to do it:

• Bring your own vehicle. The vehicle ferry from Chatham Jetty carries two- and four-wheelers across to Bambooflat; drive on from there.
• Hire at Bambooflat. Cross as a foot passenger and pick up a jeep or autorickshaw on the Bambooflat side.

This is a recent change, and it undoes the island’s old constraint: you are no longer tied to the last boat back. It also makes an early start easy — you can be at the reef before the first boatloads arrive from Aberdeen Jetty.

Ferry timings on the Chatham–Bambooflat crossing change; check the last return sailing if you take a vehicle over.

Things to do

• Sea walk — no swimming ability needed; you descend a ladder from a pontoon and walk 5–7 m down on the reef with a guide for 15–20 minutes. Book at the counters on the beach.
• Snorkelling — the reef starts within a few metres of the beach. Rented gear is available; go out with a guide the first time — the reef is shallow and it’s easy to touch or stand on coral without meaning to.
• Glass-bottom boat — a 20–30 minute loop over the reef; the least effort way to see it.
• Intro scuba dive — several operators run shallow “discover” dives from the beach.
• Jet-ski, banana boat, speedboat rides — on the beach in season.
• The lighthouse walk — a short forest path up to the lighthouse for a view back over the harbour.

Practical notes

• North Bay is still a day-trip island — there’s nowhere to stay. If you come by boat the last sailings leave mid-afternoon, so check the return time when you buy your ticket; by road you have more slack, bounded by the Chatham–Bambooflat ferry’s last crossing.
• Small stalls sell coconuts, snacks and coral-safe basics; carry water and cash.
• The beach is small and gets crowded by late morning; the earliest boats give you the reef almost to yourself.
• Water clarity is best at low to mid tide and drops after rain.
• Reef etiquette: don’t stand on coral, don’t take shells, don’t feed fish. The reef here has been badly damaged in places by exactly this.
• Wear reef shoes if you have them — the shore is coral rubble.

Nearby

Do Ross Island on the same boat ticket. Back on the mainland, Corbyn’s Cove is the nearest proper beach to Port Blair.