India · Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Where to Stay in Port Blair, Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Port Blair looks out over the Andaman Sea from South Andaman Island, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and site of the Cellular Jail.
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Where to stay in Port Blair
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
Port Blair wraps around its harbour on South Andaman Island, and where you stay turns on whether you want the town or the boats to the outer islands. The centre holds the sights. Rooms near the Cellular Jail and the Samudrika Naval Marine Museum keep the town's history within walking reach, close to the markets and the bus stands.
The Cellular Jail stands above the harbour. This side suits first-time visitors. Down by the water, the harbour and the ferry jetty gather those moving on to the other islands of the Andaman and Nicobar group.
Boats leave early here. If your days are set on the reefs and beaches beyond, a bed near the jetty saves a scramble across town at dawn. Port Blair is the only real town across the whole island chain, so its jetty is the single door to the reefs and the far islands.
For sea views, the quieter shore along the Andaman Sea looks east toward open water, away from the town's crowd. The harbour still rules the day. Whichever shore you choose, the Cellular Jail and the sea mark the two poles of Port Blair.
About Port Blair
What is Port Blair known for?
Port Blair is the capital and largest city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a remote Indian union territory in the Bay of Bengal. The Cellular Jail defines it. Best known for that colonial-era prison turned national memorial, the town also keeps the Samudrika Naval Marine Museum and serves as the base for islands scattered across the sea.
The islands do the rest.
What are the main landmarks in Port Blair?
The Cellular Jail is the great landmark of Port Blair, a colonial-era prison built on the harbour and kept as a national memorial. The jail marks a hard chapter. Raised under the colonial administration in 1858, the settlement grew around the prison, and its history still draws visitors to Port Blair.
The sea frames it all. Nearer the water, the Samudrika Naval Marine Museum tells the story of the Andaman Sea and the reefs around South Andaman Island.
What is the history of Port Blair?
Port Blair began as a colonial penal settlement, established on South Andaman Island in 1858. Few towns in India carry so hard an origin. The sea kept it apart.
Far out in the Bay of Bengal, the islands were chosen for a prison colony, and the Cellular Jail rose to hold those sent across the water from the mainland. Prisoners and settlers built the first town on the island. Distance was the point.
After the colonial era closed, Port Blair became the capital of the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It grew into the only real town. The union territory's only notified town, Port Blair also serves as the headquarters of the South Andaman district, the administrative heart of a scattered island chain.
Between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east, it holds the seat of government far from the Indian mainland. The old prison still stands above the harbour. Officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, the town carries a new name over a long and difficult past.
The sea still rules it.
Where is Port Blair?
Port Blair sits on South Andaman Island, set between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. Water surrounds it. The town curls around a natural harbour on the eastern shore, dropping to the sea across a small tropical island far from the Indian mainland.
South Andaman district spreads around it. Chennai and Kolkata lie far off on the mainland, across a wide reach of the Bay of Bengal.
What is the climate of Port Blair?
Port Blair has a warm, humid tropical climate, held even all year by the surrounding sea. The ocean softens it. Heat and humidity hold through the year, and the monsoon brings heavy rain to South Andaman Island, sweeping in off the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.
Sharp seasons never come. The sea keeps Port Blair mild where the mainland would swing between extremes.
How do you get to Port Blair?
Port Blair is reached from the Indian mainland by sea and by air, the long crossing from Chennai and Kolkata over the Bay of Bengal. The islands lie far offshore. As the only notified town of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Port Blair is the single point of arrival, and its harbour and jetty send boats on to the outer islands.
Everything passes through here. From Port Blair the district of South Andaman opens outward, boats fanning across the Andaman Sea to the reefs and beaches beyond.
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Updated July 2026