Lakshadweep Islands, Arabian Sea
Coral atolls, turquoise lagoons and some of the most untouched island landscapes left on the planet.
Highlights
Four hundred and fifty kilometres west of the Kerala coast, the Arabian Sea rises into a chain of coral atolls barely visible above the waterline. Lakshadweep, the name means a hundred thousand islands, is one of India’s smallest and least visited union territories. Most of it is closed to foreign tourists. The islands that are open reveal something that is increasingly rare in India: a landscape that is genuinely, measurably untouched.
The coral reefs here are among the healthiest in India. The lagoons are the colour of shallow tropical water over white sand, a particular shade of green-blue that you associate with the Maldives but find here, in Indian territory, with a fraction of the crowds. The beaches are empty in a way that requires no hyperbole to describe. They simply are.
The atoll that matters most for visitors is Bangaram, located approximately 45 minutes by boat from Agatti aerodrome, the only airstrip in Lakshadweep. This proximity is significant. It means no long sea crossing, no half-day lost to logistics, no navigational uncertainty. You land at Agatti, board a boat, and within the hour you are on an island that most of the world does not know exists.
The Bangaram Atoll contains two islands open for tourist stays, Bangaram Island and Thinnakara Island. They share the same reef and are ten minutes apart by boat. You can see Thinnakara from Bangaram on a clear day.
Thinnakara Island
Cocoon cottage resort with full board, transfers and contracted seasonal rates. The most accessible Lakshadweep stay program.
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Bangaram Island
Cocoon cottages on Bangaram Island, operated by IHCL SeleQtions. Dynamic seasonal pricing, please enquire.
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Bangaram Island
The original Bangaram resort, built in the 1980s. Permanent villas, limited rooms, the most peaceful of the three.
Enquire now →Bangaram Island is managed by the Taj group under their SeleQtions brand as Coral Pearl. The island has thirty cottages positioned directly on the beach. The scale is deliberately small, this is not a resort in the conventional sense. There is no lobby, no conference facility, no swimming pool. There is a beach, a reef, a dive centre, an Ayurveda centre and thirty cottages under the palms. The coral reef at the edge of the lagoon is the main attraction and it is extraordinary, undisturbed, rich in marine life, accessible by snorkel directly from the beach.
Bangaram Island Resort is the original property that existed in Bangaram Island, which was built by the CGH Earth way back in late 1980s. More premium cottages were added during the Prime minister’s visit which are called Premium wooden cottages. These cottages are also managed by the Taj group, essentially both the properties in Bangaram Island is managed by the Taj Group.
Thinnakara Island is operated by Praveg under their Atolls brand. It has Cocoon cottages (luxury air conditioned tented kind of accommodation with fixed flooring and bathrooms) accommodations on the beach. The island is smaller and quieter. The reef is shared with Bangaram and equally good. For guests Thinnakkara Islands plans for some 100 plus rooms, you could imagine, it is less priced but more appealing for families with a lot of people around. They even have conference facilities which you can make out for whom the Island works well for.
The only practical way to reach Lakshadweep is by air to Agatti. Flights operate daily from Kochi, which is the nearest and most convenient connection. Services also operate from Bengaluru, which flies via Kochi, and from Goa operated by Fly91. The aircraft are ATR turboprops with a capacity of around 70 passengers. Larger aircraft cannot land on the Agatti airstrip.
The flight from Kochi to Agatti takes approximately one hour. From Agatti, the boat transfer to Bangaram takes 45 minutes. From Agatti to Thinnakara takes approximately one hour. The boat transfer is organised by the island resort and is included in the package.
Ships also operate from Kochi, Kozhikode and Mangalore to the inhabited islands of Lakshadweep, but these services are primarily for residents and do not serve Bangaram or Thinnakara directly. The ship journey takes 14 to 18 hours and is not recommended for tourist travel to the resort islands.
Entry permit – all foreign nationals and Indian citizens from outside Lakshadweep require a permit to enter the islands. This is arranged by the island resort or by your tour operator as part of the booking process. Green Earth Trails handles the permit for all guests travelling to Lakshadweep as part of a program with us. The permit is available closer to the travel date and is not something to arrange independently.
Most guests who visit Lakshadweep do so as an extension of a Kerala program. The routing works naturally, Kochi is the connection point for flights to Agatti, which means a Kerala program ending in Kochi flows directly into a Lakshadweep extension without backtracking or additional travel.
A typical combined program might be eight to ten days in Kerala covering Munnar, Thekkady, Alleppey and Fort Kochi, followed by four to six nights in Lakshadweep. The contrast between the two experiences is remarkable, Kerala is lush, dense, layered with culture and history; Lakshadweep is spare, open, defined entirely by the sea and the reef. Together they make a journey that covers extraordinary range.
For guests who have already visited Kerala, a standalone Lakshadweep program of four to six nights is entirely viable. The island experience is self-contained and does not require Kerala as a context.
The activities on Bangaram and Thinnakara are defined entirely by the lagoon and the reef. Snorkelling directly from the beach gives access to coral gardens and marine life that most guests find better than anything they have seen elsewhere. The visibility in the lagoon is exceptional, 20 to 30 metres on a good day.
Scuba diving is available through the PADI-certified dive centre on Bangaram. Both introductory dives for non-certified guests and full certification courses are available. The dive sites around Bangaram Atoll include reef walls, coral gardens and several wrecks.
Kayaking, sailing on traditional outrigger canoes, deep-sea fishing and glass-bottom boat tours are available on both islands. Bangaram has an Ayurveda centre offering traditional Kerala treatments, an interesting combination given the distance from Kerala.
The evenings on Lakshadweep are what many guests remember most. No light pollution, no noise beyond the sea, a sky full of stars over a flat coral island in the middle of the Arabian Sea. It is genuinely unlike anywhere else.
October to mid-May is the season for Lakshadweep. The South West Monsoon arrives around mid-May and the islands receive heavy rainfall and rough seas through to the end of August. The resorts close during the monsoon period. September is a transition month with improving conditions.
December to February is the peak season, the sea is calm, visibility is excellent and the weather is ideal. October, November and March to May offer very good conditions with fewer visitors and softer prices. Advance booking is essential for peak season as both Bangaram and Thinnakara have very limited capacity.
Green Earth Trails is an authorised tour operator for Lakshadweep. We handle flight bookings to Agatti, entry permits, island transfers and accommodation at both Bangaram and Thinnakara. For guests combining Lakshadweep with a Kerala program, we manage the full journey as a single seamless program from arrival in Kochi to departure from Agatti.
If you are considering Lakshadweep as a standalone trip or as an extension to a Kerala journey, contact us to discuss timing, availability and the right island for your interests.
We organise programs only to Bangaram and Thinnakara Islands, primarily because of Permit Issues. Lakshadweep is a restricted area in the Arabian sea and is a strategic defence territory. Anyone who lands at Agatti or reaches the Islands by ship would require a permit issued by Lakshadweep administration. There are way too many complications including submission of police clearance certificates for Islands other than Bangaram and Thinnakara. Also there have been many instances where people were unable to leave Kochi because of permit issues. It is possible to visit other Islands, but it works on a sponsorship model rather than a property tourism visit model.
