Andaman Islands - Clearance
See Formalities for full details of clearing into India.
All yachts/vessels must clear in at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands.
PRE-ARRIVAL
All vessels sailing to the Andaman Islands must submit a Foreign Vessel Arrival Report (FVAR) at least five working days in advance.
Everyone on board must have a valid Indian visa. See India Immigration for visa details.
After obtaining the visa, before departure for the Andamans, as a courtesy Immigration ask that you send a crew list with passport details, reason for visit is tourism, yacht’s name, home port, and approximate arrival date to the Chief Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Port Blair, Tel. 91-3192-234087, Fax: 91-3192-232656, Email: cs@and.nic.in
General Clearance:
Yachts must not stop anywhere else before completing formalities at Port Blair (South Andaman).
Cruisers report that using an agent here for clearance is straightforward and simple, but be sure to have all your paperwork in order before arrival. See Noonsite’s Clearance page for a list of agents. Cost approx. US$200. Whilst it is possible to manage without an agent, the paperwork is lengthy and a printer/scanner on board is essential and it will take several days longer to get clearance.
It is essential that you have up to 8 copies of ALL your documents (including Departure documents from your previous port) and the required letters. An embossed boat stamp will also be necessary to impress!
On Arrival
Call the port authorities on VHF Ch. 16 a few hours before arrival (if possible) and advise them of your ETA.
Entry into the harbor is permitted after 05:00. Clearance procedures should be granted within four hours of arrival, as long as you arrive before 14:00 and have the necessary documents on board. See Standard Operating Procedures for Sailing Yachts below.
A recommended place to anchor for clearing it is 11°41.18’N, 92°43.38’E in 3m at LW. Call again on arrival with information of where you are anchored so that they can inform Customs and Immigration. You will have to ferry the officials to your boat and back by dinghy (3 at a time), so anchor as close to the jetty as possible. There is no where safe to leave your dinghy on the jetty but you should be able to find a reliable boat minder who can take care of it for a small fee.
The Coastguard will visit the yacht with their own boat; Customs and Immigration officials must be collected in your dinghy. A full list of stores and equipment (with serial numbers!) will be required. Remember to list your depth sounder as a ‘fish finder.’
On receipt of the FVAR and after clearance is provided, you will be directed to the safe anchorage close to the Chatham New Vehicle Ferry Jetty,
Cruising Plan
Finally, a visit must be paid ashore to the Harbor Master at the Port Management Board (PMB) to submit a cruising plan for the entire duration of your stay, including specific dates and places. If you change your itinerary, you will need to submit a revised plan. Be sure to take all the paperwork you have been given by Customs and Immigration. Many islands are strictly off limits. You will be given the up-to-date list of approved sites on arrival.
You must report your position to Port Control preferably between 0800 and 1800. Reporting your position by SSB can be time-consuming as ships are also reporting in. Other options for reporting are to use a mobile to send email updates though coverage is intermittent and unreliable, and very often not available. Satellite phones are illegal and will be bonded. If you only have a VHF radio, then your visit will be very restricted.
You must switch on “tracks” on your chart plotter as you will be required to photograph the track at the end of each day to prove where you have been. You will need a clear print out of each day’s track in order to clear out. Note: most electronic charts are out by about 250 yards – eyeball navigation is essential.
On Departure
Clearance of Customs, Port Management Board and Immigration is necessary before departure. Visit the Port Captain’s office to pay your dues. You will need to show a log book of your visit as well as your GPS track or screen shots of your GPS track. When ready to leave, call Port Control with your clearance number and your expected time of departure.
Notes:
- The Restricted Area Permit (RAP) which limited visits to a maximum of 30 days has been abolished and visitors can now visit 30 islands. However, permits must be obtained to visit Tribal Reserve Areas, or for landing in Marine National Parks, Forest/Wildlife Sanctuaries and Forest Reserve Areas.
- It is illegal to use most types of satellite phones while in the Andaman Sea and in Indian territorial waters. Such communications are monitored and can result in severe penalties, even imprisonment. The exception is the Inmarsat satellite network which is allowed. Iridium and Thuraya phones are bonded (with tape and a box you supply) until your departure. See Communications for more detail.
- There are a number of reports from cruisers in related reports with very useful details on the paperwork.
STANDARD OPERATION PROCEDURE (SOP) FOR SAILING YACHTS VISITING A & N ISLANDS (INDIA) (October 2022)
The following information must be submitted at least five working days in advance of your arrival to the Chief Port Administrator, Port Management Board, Port Blair:
- Name of Yacht/Vessel
- ETA Port Blair
- Nationality/Flag
- No. of Crew including Master
- Details of Passengers (Nationality-wise) if any
- Valid Visa
- Last Port of Call
- Next Port of Call
- Name of Master & Nationality
- Registration No.
- Port of Registration
- Local Agent, if any
- Length overall/Breadth
- GT/NT/Speed
- Arrival Draft
- Purpose of Visit
- Estimated Period of Stay in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
- Make & Model of Satellite Phone (if any)
- INMARSAT/FBB Phone Nos
- WEAPONS (if any)
- Diving Compressors
- Diving Gear
- Survey Equipment and other Sensors
For the full list of SOPs for the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands, you can download:
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Sailing Yachts Visiting A&N Islands.
Key items in this document include:
- Yachts must contact the Port Control Tower on VHF Channel 16 when leaving Port Blair.
- AIS and VHF Radio must be kept on at all times.
- Yachts must report their location (yourself or via your agent) by HFRT/VHFRT/Satellite Phone/Mobile Phone/Email to the nearest PCT/PMB every 12 hours (preferably between 0600 and 1800).
- Maintain a log book from the beginning to the end of your cruising in the islands and also keep your GPS track/details/screen shots which must be submitted to port officials when you return to Port Blai.
- Fishing/Snorkelling and Diving are permitted subject to certain conditions.
- No commercial passengers or activities are permitted,
- Equipment capable of sea and mapping is not to be carried aboard.
- No arms and ammunition are to be carried aboard the yacht. Arms, if carried for self-protection, are to be declared on arrival.
- Yachts visiting the islands may have an authorized agent at Port Blair.
Havelock Island: Take your paperwork in with you the first time you visit as you may be asked for it and add it to a book at the main gate for the ferry terminal.
Button Islands: Whilst you can anchor off any of the Buttons Islands you are not allowed to go ashore.
Cinque Island: You can anchor but you are not allowed to go ashore.
Last updated: February 2023
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We spent 2 weeks in the Andamans in Feb 2019. Pros and Cons. It is a very beautiful group of islands, but the bureaucracy means you are highly restricted in where you are allowed to go and where you are allowed to land. eg you can anchor off the Cinque islands or the Button islands but you are not allowed to go ashore.
This means you seem to end up at Havelock Island where Beach no 7 is a beautiful beach and anchorage but it would be good to be able to visit more broadly. The islands are highly forested which means trips ashore are limited if no paths. Diving with the local dive shops suffer from the problem that the authorities are not giving permission for the local dive companies to use fishing boats as dive boats, and so they can’t get to the good sites, and are limited to the bleached coral around Havelock.
We dived with a local dive master further out and the diving was excellent. Bureaucracy is painful, with twice daily check-in/check-out, multiple visits on board (customs, immigration, coastguard) so allow 2 days. It’s a pity but basically the authorities don’t understand a yachting holiday. Rathnam of Andaman Holidays did a good job and was very helpful. Costs add up so it is quite expensive not to be allowed to visit so many of the islands. So pros and cons
After spending a beautiful month in the Andamans in March 2018 I would like to share a bit of advice. Don’t be put off by paperwork or fees, it can be done on a budget and the paperwork is not easy but is part of the India experience which makes it what it is.
The first challenge is the Visa. Bangkok can be an option despite the fact that they no longer issue visas to non-residents, I know of 3 boats that got their visas there but only with help of an agent and the fact that they organized a rally this year specifically to help with the administration side I believe.
Other options that I can confirm are embassy’s in Burma, Cambodia and Laos.
As to so-called expensive fees, don’t be put off, I can confirm paying only 2049 rupees ($30.55 US !). What they call port fees are calculated based on tonnage. My boat Unu mondo weighing in at 6T got away cheap, for bigger yachts maybe cheat a little if needed… One 50 footers weighing 43T I believe paid over $700 including agent fees.
As to the agent as having done it myself without an agent, I understand why 90% seem to do it with. It took us a record-breaking 6 days to check-in to Port Blair(with all the paperwork & copies ready in advance), arrived a Wednesday afternoon, Friday was a bank holiday, weekend, etc. We left Tuesday morning without the national park permit we planned to request, that would have been another day or two. So the Agent can help a lot!
Nobody cruising the Andamans really seems to know where exactly you can go and what the defined rules are, so that part can be worrying and always good to have the agent for that as he will have the latest info and will smooth things out on departure. Rules vary depending on who you ask: customs, immigration or forest department.
We were probably the last Sailing yacht this year, although a motor yacht from Thailand was still in the anchorage when we left, they endured a 15 official enquiry issued by the fisheries department that decided that you needed a permit to fish in the Andamans. We were told by port management to hide fishing equipment to not get in trouble too.
India, what an experience! Pristine islands, fish every day for lunch & dinner, deer, crocs and beautiful people. Wish we could have stayed longer. Hope all this helps
Visited Andamans sailing from Phuket in March 2017. Took advice from this site and used services of Rathnam from Andaman Holidays. He provided an absolutely perfect service, we were checked in in 2 hours of our arrival. All we needed to do is prepare ahead all the paperwork based on detailed instructions and files provided by him.
During the stay service was quick and efficient with any of our requests and questions reacted to immediately. Check out was even quicker.
Would recommend him to anyone sailing to Andamans.
Posted on behalf of SY Solstice:
Andaman Holidays Agency in Port Blair is a very reputable and honest business. Although we did not use an agent for checking in, it took us almost three days to complete the process. I think this is unusual but that is what happened to us. Also, we were trying to get online visas for Sri Lanka and were not able to complete the process with the Internet. The Andaman Islands has the slowest, most unreliable Internet of any country we have visited. We sat inside Andaman Holiday’s office for three days and tried to complete the online Sri Lankan Visa Forms without success. R. Rathnam and his secretary, Sushma, provided us with the name of an agent in Sri Lanka and emailed all the necessary forms for them to get the visa as a third party”. We offered to pay them for this service but the agency would accept no money.
As of March 2016, Andaman Holidays charges about $200 US (12,000) Indian Rupees to handle all the clearance procedures. Additionally, they will take care of any other matters including spares in transit, tour packages, hotel reservations, air charter, air tickets, etc. They have a taxi driver named VJ that is honest and reliable. In March 2016, he charged 250 Indian rupees per hour for his services.
For yachts using their dinghy to access the public dock, there is a “yacht boy” that takes your dinghy and looks after it. He seems to be at the dock from early morning until you arrive in the late afternoon. He charges 200 Indian Rupees per day for this service.
Here are the details for the Andaman Holiday Agency: rathnam@andamanholidays.com or yachtagency@andamanholidays.com Mobile +91 99320 89595. The complete address is: E-237 Pongy Kyuang, (Behind Anand Offset Press), Port Blair. Pin-744 101. Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India Phone: +91 3192 239595. Tele-Fax: +91 3192 234924
One can find them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/andamanholidays
Hope this helps,
Donald Turbeville
S/Y Solstice
Posted on behalf of James Coolbaugh, SY Asylum (USA):
As we are interested sailing from Thailand to the Andaman Islands, we contacted Emotion Travel in Phuket, which other posts have recommended, to inquire about an Indian visa. We were told by the owner that the law has changed recently, and that her agency can now only issue visas to persons with Thai residency or work permits. The Indian embassy in Bangkok refers visa questions to http://www.indiavisathai.com/. Looks like the visa has to be applied for in person in Bangkok.
Over the past 10 years i have visited the Anadamans many times.I have always used an agent as it is the best and quickest way to complete formalities. I always use Rathnam at Andaman Holidays as his service is the best on the Island, fast efficient gets my fuel on time clearance on time and all my cruising needs. Vijay the taxi driver is the best I call him he is there gets all the stores that I need and has helped me immensely. The Islands are fantastic the people are fantastic and so is the food. Enjoy your stay there.
M.Y Mari Timo
Posted on behalf of SY INTI
After visiting the Andamans would like to add the following.
Was easy to check in /out if organised, all officials were courteous and diligent. We used an agent, Island Travels,(+913192233358 Islandtravels@yahoo.com ) for $200 USD in and out. Ashraf who has excellent English, met us at the pier, filled in our forms and had us checked in inside one afternoon and checked out in less than an hour. He took care of forestry dept for us and we just paid him what was owed, and also lent us a phone simcard which we added credit to and found very useful.
We never saw taxi driver Ravi. We didn’t like what Vijay charged, so we used an excellent, honest and much cheaper tuk tuk driver, Baba,(+919933298669) who knows every shop in Port Blair and speaks English. Initially you would have to ring him and he will meet you at the pier. Vijay is very insistent otherwise.
A fantastic but no longer remote destination.
Regards Connie and Graeme SY INTI