Overview
About Baratang Limestone Caves
The caves themselves are good; the journey is the reason people remember the day. It starts before dawn in Port Blair, joining a vehicle convoy that leaves at a fixed time to cross the Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the Andaman Trunk Road. That stretch is non-negotiable in its rules — no stopping, no photography, no interaction, windows up — and it is enforced. An hour or so later you are through, at Middle Strait, where vehicles cross to Baratang by ferry.
From Nilambur jetty a small fibre speedboat takes you into the Nayadera mangrove creek. This is the part everyone films: a narrow channel closing overhead into a green tunnel, roots arching from both banks, the boat throttled down to a crawl. Twenty to thirty minutes of it.
Then a jetty in the middle of nowhere, a walk of a little over a kilometre through forest and betel plantation on a boardwalk and dirt path, and the cave mouth. Inside are stalactites and stalagmites built over an extremely long time from calcium-rich limestone — sheets, columns, and formations the guides have named after everything from Ganesha to a crocodile. It is dark, close, and genuinely impressive.
The whole thing is a twelve to fourteen hour day from Port Blair. It is worth it, and it is not restful.
Why people come here
- Speedboat through a closed-canopy mangrove creek
- Limestone stalactite and stalagmite formations
- Forest and betel-plantation walk to the cave mouth
- The Andaman Trunk Road convoy through Middle Andaman
- Usually combined with the mud volcano and Parrot Island
Things to do
What to do here
Mangrove creek speedboat
Twenty-five minutes through a narrowing channel that closes overhead into a tunnel of mangrove roots.
The cave walk
Boardwalk and forest path through betel plantation. Guides at the trailhead are mandatory in practice and useful in fact.
Inside the caves
Stalactite and stalagmite chambers, lit only by the guide's torch. Low ceilings in places — mind your head.
Add the mud volcano
A short drive from the jetty, and it is on almost every operator's Baratang itinerary.
Getting there
How to reach
Convoy from Port Blair
Vehicles gather before dawn and cross the tribal reserve in a timed convoy. Miss it and you wait for the next one, which loses the day.
Middle Strait ferry
Vehicles cross to Baratang on a government ferry, then continue to Nilambur jetty.
Booking
Go with an operator. The convoy, ferry, boat and guide are a chain of connections that is difficult to assemble alone.
Best time to visit · November to April
The creek boats do not run in heavy rain, and the forest path turns to mud. The convoy operates year round but the day is far less pleasant in monsoon.
Good to know
Travel tips
- The Trunk Road rules are law, not etiquette. Cameras away and windows up through the reserve.
- Leave Port Blair by 4 am. This is the earliest start of the whole trip and it is not flexible.
- Carry a packed breakfast, water and a torch. Food options on the route are minimal.
- Not suitable for anyone who cannot manage a 2.5 km walk or is uncomfortable in confined dark spaces.
- Do the trip on a full day in Port Blair, never on a ferry or flight day.
Gallery
Baratang Limestone Caves in pictures
Baratang & Middle Andaman
Combine it with
Tour packages
