“Today the #XploreBharat Blog Train has come to Lakshadweep Mywordsmywisdom from Pious pilgrimage of Naimisharanya with Vartika
The next stop of this #XploreBharat Blog Train is Daman with Supriya

Lakshadweep was on my list to visit for long, and it finally happened two years back. We picked the best time to visit this place. From October till February, the weather in coastal areas is wonderful. However, even if you can’t make it in that period, its always wonderful to splash some water when it’s humid and hot.
Before I jump on my ‘Dora the Explorer’ avatar, I must tell you that not just foreigners, but India citizens also need to take permits to visit few places. And it can be a tedious job as one needs to take local police clearance before permits. These permits can vary from permission to visit one island or more and typically varies depending on duration of stay.

Indians are permitted to travel to Agatti, Bangaram, Kadmat, Kavaratti, Kalpeni and Minicoy. However, foreigners are only allowed to visit Agatti, Bangaram, and Kadmat. Must packs are a valid government photo id proof! Do remember to tick all bookings in advance. SPORTS team will be always available to guide and help you from transport to sightseeing. The Society for Promotion of Nature Tourism and Sports (SPORTS) is a society formed by the Lakshadweep Administration for tourists. I have shared link at the end of the blog which helps in all the bookings and other details.

So, Let’s hop in!

Although, the word “Lakshadweep” means Thousand Islands but actually this is an archipelago of twelve atolls, three reefs and five submerged banks, with a total of about thirty-nine islands and island. Out of which 10 are inhabited rest 17 are inhabited. The major religion of this place is Islam, and people here are well known for being religious.

This place has best of the flora and fauna, the nature has opened all its treasures here. Not just marine species like crabs, coral, whales, dolphins, lobsters, seaweeds but nearly 400 species of flowering plants and multiple types of coastal shrubs and grass makes this place look like heaven with Pristine blue sea water and white sand.

How to reach:
There are multiple ways to reach Agatti Island. One may travel on ferry or vessel from Kochi and Calicut or catch a flight from Kochi, Kolkata and Bangalore.
Landing at Agatti airport can be one of the most beautiful touchdown experiences in your life as the runway is “runway-on-sea bridge”. A picture is worth a thousand words. So, take a look!

Agatti is just a landing island, one cannot stay back here. By boat you can reach to other island for which you have valid permit and reservation for stay is done.

Food:

If you are fond of seafood you will get lot of variety, however the food has inherent Kerala taste. Strong coconut based gravies. However, there are many restaurants that offer Chinese, continental and even Thai and Korean food.

What to see and do:

Our main goal was to unwind, relax and stay on the beach as much as we can. On most of the Islands the shallow lagoons provide ample of opportunity for all kind of water sports,

Water sports activities such as scuba-diving, windsurfing, snorkeling, surfing, kayaking, canoeing, water skiing, sport-fishing, yachting and night sea voyages are popular activities among tourists. There are many Dive centers which offer a breath taking underwater exploring for newbies too.

Apart from the beaches and water sports, there are a couple of places where you can go

Kavaratti Island Marine Aquarium:

From our experience, I must cast a disclaimer.If there are kids with you then you must visit this place, infrastructure isn’t very well kept however the variety of marine life they will get to see here will be incomparable to any other place.

Lighthouse, Minicoy Island

Its once of the oldest lighthouses in Minicoy, its 300 feet tall and was built in late 19th century.

The best thing to do at Lakshadweep is Island hopping. Yes, just like pandal hopping during Durga Pujo, because every island has something unique to offer.

Bangaram Island-

Only place where alcohol consumption is allowed, has many beautiful tourist resorts for stay

Kavaratti Island –

Here you can go for the Glass bottom boat ride, where you can closely see corals, reefs and marine life, only if you are not planning scuba diving at all. There are many mosques and a Desalination plant where salty water is converted to potable water.

Then there are Kalpeni island, Minicoy Island and Kadmat Island which is best of nature with quite beautiful long blue lagoons with white soft sand to relax and unwind and get ready to come back and face the world with full energies.

This place will fill you with so much positivity and inner peace that you wouldn’t want to come back to routine rut.

Here is the link for more info: https://www.lakshadweeptourism.com/
This post is a part of the #XploreBharat Blog Train hosted by
Aditi, Esha, Maheshwaran, PraGun, Preeti, Saba, Sanjota, Sonia, Sudip, Suhasini, Supriya

Finally a big shout out to our sponsors KAIV and FABZANIA for taking this Blog Train experience even further.

KAIV

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