Overview
About Dhani Nallah Mangrove Walkway & Turtle Beach
Dhani Nallah is the best mangrove walk in the Andamans and it costs almost nothing. A raised wooden boardwalk runs about a kilometre from the road, through mangrove forest so dense that the canopy closes over it, out to the coast. Mudskippers, fiddler crabs, kingfishers, monitor lizards and herons are all routine along it, and the boardwalk keeps your feet out of the mud the whole way.
At the far end it opens onto a long, wild beach that is one of the significant sea turtle nesting sites in the islands. Olive ridley, green, hawksbill and — remarkably — leatherback turtles all come ashore here to nest, mostly between December and February. The Forest Department runs a hatchery near the beach and, in season, guides visitors to watch nesting or hatchling releases under supervision.
The turtle season is the reason to plan around this rather than pass it. Watching a leatherback haul out is not something many people will do twice, and the numbers here are meaningful.
Outside the nesting months it remains a lovely, quiet hour: the boardwalk, the birds and an empty beach at the end of it.
Why people come here
- One kilometre of raised boardwalk through closed-canopy mangrove
- Nesting beach for olive ridley, green, hawksbill and leatherback turtles
- Forest Department hatchery and guided nesting visits in season
- Mudskippers, fiddler crabs, kingfishers and monitor lizards
- Quiet, well-built and almost free
Things to do
What to do here
Walk the mangrove boardwalk
Raised timber the whole way, through mangrove that closes overhead. Best in the first two hours of daylight for birds.
Turtle nesting and hatchling release
Arranged through the Forest Department post at the beach. Numbers are limited and rules are strict — no lights, no flash, no approach.
The beach at the far end
Long, wild and unvisited. Swimming is not advised; this is a nesting coast and the surf is unprotected.
Birdwatching
Kingfishers, herons, egrets and sea eagles along the creek. One of the more productive short walks in Middle Andaman.
Getting there
How to reach
From Rangat
A short drive on the Trunk Road; any local auto or your operator's vehicle will know it.
On the Diglipur route
Directly on the road north, and easily combined with Amkunj Beach in the same stretch.
Best time to visit · December to February for turtles · dawn year round for the walk
Nesting peaks in the winter months. Outside that window the boardwalk is still the main event, and it is at its best early in the morning.
Good to know
Travel tips
- No torches, flash or noise near nesting turtles. The Forest Department rules exist because lights disorient hatchlings.
- Arrange turtle viewing through the Forest Department post, not informally.
- Repellent and long sleeves — it is mangrove, and it is dense.
- The boardwalk is slick after rain; take it slowly in wet weather.
- Combine with Amkunj Beach if you are driving between Baratang and Diglipur.
Gallery
Dhani Nallah Mangrove Walkway & Turtle Beach in pictures
Baratang & Middle Andaman
Combine it with
Tour packages
