Havelock Island (often just Havelock for short) with an area of some 92 km2 is the largest of the islands which comprise Ritchie's Archipelago, a chain of islands to the east of Great Andaman in the Andaman Islands. Havelock is situated 57 km North East of Capital City Port Blair.

The island is named after Henry Havelock, a British general active in India. The island's current population consists of Bengali settlers.

It is one of the few places that the administration of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India has permitted and encouraged development of tourism, with a focus on promoting eco-tourism.

Havelock Island avoided much of the devastation which was visited upon most of the shores affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and its resultant tsunami, and there were no documented casualties.

Beach No. 7 on the western coast, better known as "Radha Nagar" Beach, is one of the most popular beaches on Havelock and was named "Best Beach in Asia" by Time in 2004. Other notable beaches include Elephant Beach on the northwest coast and Vijaynagar Beach (No. 5), Beach No. 3 and Beach No. 1 on the east coast.

Best Time to Visit
Between November and May.

Tropical - between 23 and 28 degrees Celsius.
Summer (Mar. To Jun.): Warm
Monsoon (May. To Oct.): Warm
Winter (Nov. To Feb.): Mildly warm & pleasant

By Air

These Islands are located about 1250 Kms from Kolkata (formerly Calcutta ) and about 1200 kms from Chennai (formerly Madras ). The capital, Port Blair, is served via India Airlines and Jet Airways. Both inbound and outbound tickets should be booked well in advance for these sectors.

By Sea

It is possible to sail to Port Blair from Kolkata and Chennai every week. The crossing takes about 3-4 days. All ships plying on this route are under the auspices of the Directorate of Shipping, Govt. of India.