Port Blair
Port Blair, officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
It is located on the South Andaman Island situated between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. It is located approximately 1,190 km (740 mi) from Chennai and 1,255 km (780 mi) from Kolkata in mainland India. It is the headquarters of the South Andaman district, and the union territory's only notified town.
Getting to Port Blair
- 01Veer Savarkar International Airport
Worth seeing
Anthropological Museum. closed Thursdays and Public Holidays. Interesting anthropological museum which gives the history of the various A&N tribes. Cellular Jail. closed on Mondays. Built by the British to house political prisoners far away from the mainland. All prisoners were kept in isolation cells and subjected to a brutal work regime, with regular whippings and executions.
Things to do
You can also visit the new workshop of Champion Filters Mfg. Co exactly opposite to the third gate of Aberdeen Bazar. The unit here makes polyurethane products for mining sector. The products include Self Cleaning Filters & PolyurethaneScreens Boat tours from Port Blair You would be lured by agents to do a 3 island packaged tour (Ross + North Bay + Viper) in Port Blair for ₹400.
Where to eat
Aberdeen Bazar (landmark is the clock tower) is a good place for lodging/accommodation as well as food. Quite a few restaurants are present.
- 01Katubomman
- 02Annaporna Cafeteria
Aberdeen Bazaar (after Hanuman Temple, 200-yards from Clock Tower, Opposite Police Station.),.
- 03Vegan Creek Pure Veg Restaurant
Rina Road (Aberdeen Bazar, next to Sagarika emporium, inside the Blue Sea Hotel).
- 04Icy Spicy
Island Aracde (near Junglighat Jetty, Junglighat),.
- 05Lighthouse Residency
One of Port Blair's best restaurants, with a good (Indianized) Chinese-Thai menu and North Indian favorites.
Getting around Port Blair the local way
- Get inTaxis and autorickshaws wait outside the terminal at flight times.
- Get inHelicopters used to run from inter-island helicopter service 1 km from the airport terminal.
- Get inPawan Hans Helicopter Ltd is operating its fleet of 03 Dauphin Helicopters from Port Blair under the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administration.
- Get inRajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex to take smaller ferries to Ross Island, North Bay and Viper Island.
- Get aroundAuto-rickshaws are abundant, and within town should cost ₹20-40.
- Get aroundThe auto-rickshaws will overcharge you if they can see you don't know where you are going or what you are doing.
- Get aroundOne way of avoiding being fleeced by them is to just climb in the back of the auto-rickshaws and say "Aberdeen Bazaar" for example.
- Get aroundIt takes approximately 15 minutes by ferry from Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex jetty.
From Wikivoyage: Port Blair, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Biswajit Majumdar (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons.
