Port Blair to Baratang: The Complete 2026 Route, Convoy and Ferry Guide

Quick Overview:

Suggested Read: Sea walk in Andaman and Game fishing in Andaman

Port Blair to Baratang is roughly 100 km by the Andaman Trunk Road, a half-day trip because you travel in a timed convoy through the Jarawa tribal reserve, then cross the Middle Strait by vehicle ferry. Budget a full day. Leave Port Blair by 3:30 to 4:00 AM to catch the first convoy.

Most people picture a quick hop. Baratang is not that. The island sits about 100 km north of Port Blair, and getting there is a small logistics puzzle involving a road convoy, a vehicle ferry, and a speedboat through a mangrove creek. Done right, it is one of the more unusual day trips in the Andamans. Done wrong, you miss the convoy and lose the day. This guide is how our team on the ground in Port Blair actually runs it.

How do you reach Baratang from Port Blair?

You reach Baratang by road and boat, not by a single vehicle. The route breaks into four clear stages, and each one has a catch worth knowing before you leave.

Stage 1: Port Blair to Jirkatang checkpoint

The drive starts on the Andaman Trunk Road heading north. Jirkatang is about 46 km out and takes a little over an hour in a car. This is where the tribal reserve begins and where every vehicle registers for the convoy. Reach the checkpoint at least an hour before your convoy slot. The gate does not wait for stragglers.

Stage 2: The convoy through the Jarawa reserve

From Jirkatang, vehicles do not drive independently. They move in a guarded convoy through the Jarawa Tribal Reserve, escorted by forest and police staff. The stretch runs roughly 40 km of dense forest. Photography of the Jarawa people is a serious criminal offence. Do not stop, do not roll down windows to interact, do not offer food or anything else. This rule is absolute, and it is enforced.

Stage 3: The Middle Strait vehicle ferry

The convoy ends at Middle Strait. A short vehicle ferry carries cars and buses across the creek to Nilambur jetty on the Baratang side. The crossing itself is brief, usually ten to fifteen minutes. On busy mornings the wait for a slot can be longer than the crossing.

Stage 4: Speedboat to the limestone caves

From Nilambur jetty, a small fibre speedboat runs through a narrow mangrove creek to the cave landing point. From there it is a walk of about 1.2 km to the limestone caves themselves. The mangrove ride is genuinely lovely and, for many visitors, the best part of the day.

What are the Baratang convoy timings?

Convoys leave Jirkatang at fixed times in a day, not on demand. As of early 2026 the commonly published departures are 6:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 12:30 PM and 3:30 PM, with the earlier two being the ones that make a same-day return realistic. To make the 6:00 AM convoy you need to leave Port Blair by around 3:30 to 4:00 AM.

Timings shift with weather, tide and administrative orders, and the ferry slots at Middle Strait have their own schedule that does not always line up neatly with the road convoy. Confirm the exact timings the day before you travel.

Do you need a permit for Baratang?

Yes, in effect. Every vehicle needs a convoy permit that is issued at the Jirkatang checkpoint, and you register there before joining the convoy. Only four-wheelers are allowed through the reserve. Two-wheelers are not permitted, so a private car, a shared cab or a bus is the only way through.

Indian nationals are cleared at the checkpoint with photo ID. Rules for foreign nationals passing through the tribal reserve have changed more than once in recent years, so foreign passport holders should confirm current permission before planning the trip.

How much does the Port Blair to Baratang trip cost?

Costs depend on whether you join a shared tour or hire a private vehicle, plus the speedboat at the caves. As of early 2026, here is the honest range.

What	Typical cost (2026)	Notes
Shared group day tour	Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 per person	Transport, permit help and boat usually bundled
Private car (round trip)	Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 per vehicle	Best for families or an early start
Speedboat at the caves	Rs 800 to Rs 900 per person	Mandatory for the mangrove ride and trek access
Speedboat charter	Around Rs 5,500 per boat	Only worth it for a private group

Shared limestone cave package (sharing cab plus speedboat): about 2,100 to 2,250 rupees per person. The cheapest option. It covers the vehicle, convoy passage and the cave speedboat, but not meals or a mud volcano add-on.

Full shared group tour (mud volcano and guide included): roughly 3,000 to 3,500 rupees per person, depending on group size.

Private car for the day: about 4,000 rupees non-AC or 4,500 rupees AC for the whole vehicle, and up to around 6,000 in peak season. Split across six or seven people this usually beats a per-head shared package.

Speedboat at Nilambur jetty, if you drive yourself: around 400 to 900 rupees per person, bought at the counter. This is the one unavoidable extra, because the boat is the only way to the cave landing.

There is no separate ticketed entry fee for the limestone caves themselves. Prices move with fuel, season and group size, so treat these as a working range and confirm before you book. [VERIFY: current speedboat and shared/private tour rates for the season of travel]

What is there to see in Baratang?

Baratang is small and most visitors treat it as a day trip built around two or three sights. Here is what each one is really like.

The limestone caves

Naturally formed limestone chambers reached after the mangrove boat ride and the 1.2 km walk. The formations are worth the effort, especially the way daylight filters into the main chamber. Carry water and wear grippy shoes, because the path gets slick.

The mud volcano

Baratang has India’s only mud volcanoes. Be honest with your expectations. These are low mud mounds that bubble gently, not dramatic eruptions. Interesting for ten minutes, not a reason on their own to make the trip. We tell travellers to see it because it is close, not to build the day around it.

Parrot Island

At dusk, thousands of parakeets return to roost on a small mangrove island near Baratang. Watching them stream in at sunset is a real spectacle. The catch is timing. Parrot Island needs a late boat and usually an overnight stay in or near Baratang, which most day trippers cannot fit around the convoy schedule.

When is the best time to do the Port Blair to Baratang trip?

October to mid-May is the reliable window. Seas are calmer, the mangrove creek boats run on schedule, and the convoy rarely gets disrupted. December and January bring the biggest crowds and the earliest sellouts of convoy slots, so start earlier on those mornings.

Avoid the June to September monsoon if the caves are your goal. Rough water and heavy rain lead to boat cancellations at the creek, and there is nothing more deflating than driving four hours only to find the speedboats grounded. If you must travel in the monsoon, keep the plan flexible and have a backup day.

How our team sequences a Baratang day so nothing falls apart

Baratang is not a hard trip. It is a chain of timed connections, and if one link slips, the rest of the day unravels. Here is the order our team plans it in, built from running this route in every season.

●  Start with the 6:00 AM convoy and work backwards. The first slot from Jirkatang dictates everything else. Jirkatang is about 46 km from Port Blair, roughly seventy to ninety minutes of driving depending on where you start in town, and you must reach the checkpoint an hour before departure to register. That puts your Port Blair start at 3:30 to 4:00 AM. It feels brutal at that hour. It is also the difference between a calm day and a stressful one, because catching the first convoy means you clear the reserve early, reach the caves before the crowd, and keep the later return convoys as a comfortable buffer if anything runs slow.

●    Book the vehicle and permit ahead in peak season. From mid-December to January, convoy demand is high and cars get scarce the night before. Fix your vehicle and confirm the convoy paperwork a day or two in advance rather than hoping to arrange it at dawn. A driver who runs this route often already knows the checkpoint staff and the registration drill, which quietly saves you time at Jirkatang.

●        Beat the boat queue, not the road. The real bottleneck is the speedboats at the caves. Every vehicle in your convoy reaches Nilambur jetty within the same half hour and wants the same fibre boats through the mangrove creek. On the first convoy you are near the front. On the 9:00 AM convoy you can lose forty five minutes in line. We send one person to the boat counter the moment the vehicle parks, while the rest grab water and the washroom.

●   Pack for the boat, not the car. Wear shoes you can walk 1.2 km over damp ground, not slippers. Carry a litre of water per person, because there is no reliable shop at the cave point. Keep your phone and wallet in a zip pocket or dry bag, since the mangrove ride throws spray. Skip the heavy picnic. There is little shade and nowhere comfortable to sit, so a light snack beats a full lunch.

●    Decide the mud volcano and Parrot Island question before you leave. If you only want the limestone caves, a same-day return on the early convoy is easy. If you genuinely want Parrot Island at sunset, accept that you are staying the night near Baratang, because the parakeet roost falls too late for the return convoy. Forcing both into one day is the most common way people end up disappointed. Pick one plan and commit.

●      Treat the Jarawa reserve with respect. It is not a safari. No photos, no stopping, no interaction of any kind. Beyond being the law, it is basic respect for a community that did not ask to become a roadside attraction. Keep the windows up, keep moving, and let the forest be.

Planning your Andaman trip with andamantourism.org

Baratang rewards people who get the timing right, and that is exactly the kind of local detail a mainland travel desk tends to miss. andamantourism.org is an Andaman-based team. We live with these convoy schedules, the seasonal boat cancellations at the creek, and the permit formalities at Jirkatang, and we book against them every week. That on-ground knowledge is the difference between a smooth Baratang day and a wasted one.

If you would rather not manage the 4:00 AM start and the boat queue yourself, we arrange the vehicle, the convoy paperwork and the cave boat as one plan, and we slot Baratang sensibly into a wider itinerary.

Frequently asked questions

Can you visit Baratang and return to Port Blair in one day?

Yes. On the early 6:00 AM convoy, a same-day return is comfortable and is how most travellers do it. You are back in Port Blair by late afternoon or early evening. The one thing you cannot fit into a day trip is Parrot Island at sunset.

How long does Port Blair to Baratang take?

Plan for a full day. Driving is around two and a half to three hours each way, but convoy waits, the ferry queue and the cave boat push the round trip to a full day out of Port Blair.

Is the Baratang trip worth it?

For the limestone caves and the mangrove boat ride, yes, if you enjoy landscapes over beaches. If you are chasing classic Andaman beaches, Havelock and Neil deliver more. Many travellers treat Baratang as a change of scene rather than a highlight, and that is a fair way to frame it.

Are two-wheelers allowed to Baratang?

No. Only four-wheelers can pass through the tribal reserve in the convoy. Use a car, a shared cab or a bus.

Can you take photos in the Jarawa reserve?

No. Photographing the Jarawa people is a criminal offence and is strictly enforced. Do not stop or interact anywhere inside the reserve.