HomeUnwind NewsLakshadweep – The Paradise of Islands

Lakshadweep – The Paradise of Islands

Lakshadweep means "one hundred thousand islands" in Sanskrit. The island forms the smallest union territory of India and Kavaratti serves as the capital of it. The region comes under the jurisdiction of the Kerala High Court. Tourists need a permit to visit the islands and foreigners are allowed only on certain islands. To get the permit, you need to either contact local travel agents or go to Kochi in Kerala personally and get the permit issued.

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By Nupur Jainkunia  December 17, 2018, 7:08:50 AM IST (Updated)

Lakshadweep – The Paradise of Islands
Hi guys, the weekend is back and I am here to share one of my best memorable and cheerful experience with you. I would like to share my journey to Lakshadweep, which was a lifelong beautiful experience and believe me, you will too mark this place in your travel list.


My friends and I decided to explore one of the union territories of India, which is actually a paradise of several islands. Lakshadweep means "one hundred thousand islands" in Sanskrit. The island forms the smallest union territory of India and Kavaratti serves as the capital of it. The region comes under the jurisdiction of the Kerala High Court.

Important To Note

Tourists need a permit to visit the islands and foreigners are allowed only on certain islands. To get the permit, you need to either contact local travel agents or go to Kochi in Kerala personally and get the permit issued.

The Paradise of 36 Islands

Lakshadweep is spread over 36 islands in an area of 32 square kilometer. However, only six islands are open for visitors and around 10 islands are inhabited. It's a place where you will forget your day to day life, your struggle to stay ahead, tensions/stress related to work, family, health etc.  Lakshadweep is a place that takes you away from real life. You may feel mesmerised by sitting on the white sands, watching the beautiful sunrise as well as sunset along with sipping coconut water and feeling the peace all around. Words are less to describe the feeling and the amazing experience.

Lakshadweep

Planning is an important part that one needs to do before packing bags as few necessary formalities need to be done including permits and flight tickets. The easiest way to plan is to book a tour package via government authorised tourism department named SPORTS (Society for Promotion of Nature Tourism and Sports). Booking via SPORTS may be costlier, but they have a tie-up with beautiful properties and you don’t need to worry about permits as their package includes permit as well.

Fly

The fastest way to reach Lakshadweep is via air. Take a flight from Kerala’s Kochi and believe me traveling through ATR aircraft and landing at one and only airport, Agatti, is an experience in itself. But Agatti is not open for tourist, so we just spent a few hours and then moved on to the next island.

Waterways

If you have ample time, then definitely you should opt for this option. Lakshadweep Samudram is a five-day cruise to visit the islands of Kavaratti, Kalpeni and Minicoy by MV Kavaratti ship. For more details, you can explore the Lakshadweep tourism website.

Kavaratti Island

From Agatti, we decided to move on to the next island and the capital of union territory, Kavaratti. It's inhabited and you may find a few shops and sports activities here. You will find a few beach resorts in Kavaratti, where you can spend your night. My first scuba dive experience was at Kavaratti and experienced a whole new world under the water. The clean and clear view of beautiful corals that we saw in red, blue, green color were beyond imagination. Actually, it was a complete paradise. At Kavaratti, you can try other water sports like kayaking, glass boating, snorkeling, etc. Be prepared to be in wonder of the beaches, the coral life, the sands, lagoons, and the most important marine life.



Kadmat Island

Where ever you go, locals will offer coconut water to welcome you and it feels that you are at a beach. The best part is that all the islands are really clean and you will find the bright, white color super fine-textured sand. My friends and I fell in love with this place. To make it more cheerful, stay at Kadmat and wake up early to see the beautiful sunrise. You may be lucky to see dolphins welcoming you, which is another level of new experience. Kadmat dive site offers 40 meters deep diving, so one can go for another round of scuba dive here. It's so silent that you will forget everything down there in the water and it's definitely sheer bliss. In the afternoon, we went out for the village tour and in the evening at our resort, we saw traditional dance and had the local taste of Lakshadweep culture.



Bangaram and Thinnakara

Early in the morning, we left for Bangaram. As we were at the point, when the feeling of going back to the routine was killing us, so we decided to remain lazy at Pristine Beach. We enjoyed our day being at the beach by having coconut water. Thinnakara is only 15 minutes away from Bangaram. At the last moment, we decided to visit Thinnakara just to experience staying in tents made on the beach and with a hope to see a shark. The resorts in Thinnakara will accommodate you only in the tents. Well, scuba diving here is well known and it's famous for shark sightings.

From Bangaram, we left in a local boat and from there, we took high-speed craft for Agatti to catch our flight. But definitely, I will plan to revisit the paradise of islands.



Food

You may struggle with the options as not many are available. I would suggest carry your own food, but do not miss to have coconut water every day. If you are seafood lover, then plenty of options are available.

Shopping

You won’t find many shops or any big market to shop for, but I managed to shop a lot. I shopped lifelong memories, white sand experience, beautiful underwater experience, and many seashells.

Alcohol Prohibition

Lakshadweep is the only union territory that bans the sale and consumption of alcohol. Consumption is permitted only on the island of Bangaram. Bangaram is an uninhabited island, but the Bangaram Island Resort has a bar.

PS: Travel safe, guys just go as my words can’t describe the place its beauty and experience.
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