Travel Guide Neil Island

A small island of barely 19 km², Neil Island presents an even more authentic and relaxed face than its big sister Havelock. Located in the south of the Richie Archipelago, 39 km northeast of Port Blair, Neil takes its name from a British soldier who distinguished himself during the first attempt at Indian independence in 1857. Long uninhabited, the island began to develop with the arrival of Hindus from Bangladesh fleeing the 1971 war. Today, it has a population of 3,040, whose activities are mainly devoted to fruit growing and tourism.Compared to Havelock, Neil Island may seem less attractive: its waters are less turquoise, the sand is less white, the beaches are less suitable for swimming... and yet, the charm works. Ideally flat, the island can be discovered by bike: plantations, tropical forests, long beaches and small coves lined with coconut palms, corals and reefs, hamlets with generous and welcoming populations... Neil attracts in his nets lovers of tranquility who let themselves be rocked between breeze and surf, to the point of sometimes forgetting the date of return. The island has this rare quality of stretching time to infinity, punctuated by the sun's cycle alone, and transporting you far from the contingencies of materialistic life.