Overview
About Amkunj Beach (Rangat)
Amkunj is the stop that makes the long haul up the Andaman Trunk Road bearable. Eight kilometres from Rangat on the Middle Andaman coast, it is a Forest Department eco-park built along a rocky shoreline: paved walkways, thatched shelters, benches under the trees, and a series of sculptures assembled from driftwood the sea threw up after the 2004 tsunami.
The shore itself is rock and coarse sand rather than a swimming beach, with casuarina and mahua behind it and a constant breeze off the water. It is a good place to stretch, eat something and look at the sea for half an hour.
The driftwood installations are better than that description suggests — large, weathered, and made from trees that the tsunami tore out of this coast. There is a quiet appropriateness to what has been done with them.
Nobody comes to the Andamans for Amkunj. But everybody driving between Baratang and Diglipur passes it, and it is the right place to stop.
Why people come here
- Driftwood sculpture park made from tsunami timber
- Forest Department walkways and shaded shelters
- Rocky, casuarina-backed coastline with constant breeze
- The natural halfway stop on the drive north
- Almost no crowds at any time of year
Things to do
What to do here
Walk the eco-park
Paved paths along the shore linking shelters, viewpoints and the sculpture installations.
Driftwood sculptures
Large assemblages made from trees the 2004 tsunami tore off this coast.
Break the drive
Shade, benches and sea breeze at roughly the right point on the long run between Baratang and Diglipur.
Getting there
How to reach
On the drive north
Directly on the Andaman Trunk Road, 8 km from Rangat town.
From Rangat
Fifteen minutes by auto or cab if you are staying in town.
Best time to visit · November to April, any time of day
Shade and breeze make it usable even at midday. The walkways get slippery in heavy rain.
Good to know
Travel tips
- Buy food in Rangat — there is little or nothing at the park itself.
- Not a swimming beach. Treat it as a viewpoint and a rest stop.
- Worth thirty minutes, not an hour.
- Fuel up in Rangat; stations are far apart on this stretch of the Trunk Road.
Gallery
Amkunj Beach (Rangat) in pictures
Baratang & Middle Andaman
Combine it with
Tour packages
