Long Island is a beautiful, unspoilt island, with varied walks around the beaches, village and forests, and one of the loveliest beaches in the Andaman Islands, Lalaji Bay. You can reach Lalaji by walking through the forest (1.5 – 2 hours), going along the shore at low tide, or by boat. Apart from local fishermen, you will find the beach pretty well deserted most of the time. There is good snorkelling from Lalaji or from the beach close to Blue Planet.
Long Island is 82 kms. from Port Blair. Long Island offers an excellent sandy beach at Lalaji Bay with unpolluted environment and evergreen forests. The sea around the island is frequented by dolphin convoys.Lalaji bay Beach is 6 kms. away from the boat jetty at Long Island. Long Island is approximately 10km from North to South, 5km from East to West, much of it forested.
The island has an electoral roll of about 2000 inhabitants, probably only about 750 live on Long Island full-time, and they survive by fishing, growing vegetables and doing casual work where they can.
The island has a school, police station, health centre and a bazaar with a number of shops selling basic essentials. There are 3 restaurants serving basic thalis, snacks and chai, and the place comes to life in the early evening.
Long Island is a beautiful, unspoilt island, with varied walks around the beaches, village and forests, and one of the loveliest beaches in the Andaman Islands, Lalaji Bay. You can reach Lalaji by walking through the forest (1.5 – 2 hours), going along the shore at low tide, or by boat. Apart from local fishermen, you will find the beach pretty well deserted most of the time. There is good snorkelling from Lalaji or from the beach close to Blue Planet.
How to Reach: To get to Long Island, you can take a boat from Port Blair at 6.15am on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Boats go via Havelock and (except for Fridays), Neil. Boats go back to Port Blair via Havelock on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (pm) and Sunday. There is a twice-daily boat to Yeratta, near Rangat on North Andaman if you wish to travel into North Andaman or return to Port Blair by road.
It is advisable to book your accommodation in advance: boats to and from Havelock and Port Blair only go every 2 days!
Stay: The Forest Guest House near the boat jetty has 2 rooms which are bookable from Port Blair. In practice they are often reserved for Government Officials and if you just turn up you may be unlucky.
Long Island is a great place just to relax, adapt to the pace of island life, and enjoy the magical atmosphere of this special place.
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