India: Arabian Nights in The Arabian Sea - Lakshadweep Islands

The Lakshadweep Islands, an hour by propeller plane from Kochi, and are a small chain of coral atolls set in the Arabian Sea. There are about two dozen or so small islets with a tiny, local population, but all the islands are off-limits to foreign visitors, save for three. We had a bit of difficulty receiving a permit to fly out to the islands, and it wasn’t until the last possible moment that permission was granted (a fax arrived at the Kochi airport with our permit about an hour before our flight!), so everything was literally “up in the air.”

We arrived on Agatti Island, walked a short, five minutes from the miniscule airport to our mini-resort, The Agatti Island Resort, and then settled-in for a 4-night stay at our beachside accommodations, which sat directly on the powder white shore. Our room was three steps from the sand and thirty paces from the emerald sea, and the “resort” was both quiet and simple – a virtual vacation from our hectic, holiday hiatus.

The Lakshadweep’s (“dweep’s” to us), are isolated and remote, and are considered to be a luxurious honeymoon spot for the average Indian tourist – of which there were few. The other guests were primarily French tourists, with a smattering of other Europeans, and most were there primarily for fishing or scuba diving. We did neither, but we did bring our snorkel gear and mini-flippers along and spent a great deal of our time floating and splashing in the very warm (80 degree) water. We swam with the resident green turtle family, and explored an undersea world of colorful corals and abundant sea life. The rest of our days were filled with sunbathing, reading, napping, and good ole relaxing.

The islands are home to small and traditional Muslim villages, and Agatti Island was “dry” (as in alcohol-free), but our state of mind remained jubilant nonetheless. Fortunately, the landscape was not as dry, and was just what you’d expect a tropical paradise to be - tall coconut palms swaying in a persistent sea breeze, with nothing but turquoise ocean as far as the eye could see. 0ur room was west-facing, so the sun set right out front of our patio. And since the island was a thin sliver of coral sand, the east side was only a short stroll for  sunrise – though we didn’t make it up quite that early.

The other intrepid travelers that we met on Agatti Island, Indian and European alike, were friendly and fun, and we enjoyed both making new friends, as well as getting some romantic alone time together. There were no vendors, salespeople, and no infrastructure to speak of, and we remained shoeless and in our swim suits for most of our stay, never having to carry around wallets or money (the resort was of the all-inclusive variety). Though hardly a resort, the location was primo and the scenery sublime. All-in-all we couldn’t have picked a better respite from the craziness on the mainland.