We reached Neil island with lots of excitement. The deep blue waters around the jetty with the white clouds reflecting in them created the perfect backdrop for our trip. A five-minute ride took us to our resort. Similar to Havelock, this was also spread on two sides of the road. From the lounge, we could see the beautiful swimming pool. It was unique because it meandered through the resort and passed all the rooms. It was like having a personal pool.

However, our room was in another wing and that made our heart sink. Our sadness evaporated as we entered our room. It was a huge room, elongated in shape, adorned with exquisite antique furniture. There was a wooden swing at the centre of the room! I loved the place for this swing. From the balcony we could see the beach fringed with coconut trees.

Neil island is extremely beautiful and small. It spans Over an area of 13.7 sq Km. A small population of around 3500 people live in five villages here. Many of these people were Bengalis and we visited a big Durga Puja pandal here and had prasad also. That evening we visited the Laxmanpur beach for watching sunset. It was a long Beach and we collected shells as we walked along. The sunset was gorgeous. It was crowded with people talking photos, shooting reels, and enjoying the beauty. We stayed even after darkness set in and watched the crabs coming out.

Next day we woke up early to watch sunrise at the Bharatpur beach. Strewn with rocks, it is a small beach but one of the best in Andaman. There were not much visitors there since it was too early. So we had a great time having the beach to ourselves. And the sunrise was unforgettable. A master painter leisurely painted the sky with myriad shades of red and orange and pink and we watched him mesmerized. We came back to our resort with a heart full of beauty and gratitude.

The highlight of our Neil trip was the visit to the Lakshmanpur 2 beach. It is the home to the most extraordinary flora and fauna. We saw umpteen number of corals and fishes here. There were huge brain corals. The Rocky beach was hard to walk and the splashing waves made our task more difficult. But the views around and the lure of witnessing more corals and fishes made us go deep into the sea. Our guide was a local Bengali lad who patiently answered all our questions. We fed biscuits to the fishes and saw the touch-me-not corals.

The colourful fishes swam small ponds that were formed in between rocks. We were gifted with such views that our heart filled with joy. Truly nature never ceases to surprise us. Like all good things, our Neil trip also came to an end. Makruzz brought us back to port Blair on a rainy day.