Ross Island Scuba? Dive from Havelock
Ross Island near Port Blair is a heritage boat, not a dive site. Scuba in the Andamans is Havelock. How Ross fits a week without wasting a tank day.
Two islands, two jobs
Ross Island sits a few kilometres off Port Blair. The official name is Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep. You go for the old British administrative buildings, trees through brick, spotted deer, and a quiet walk. You do not go there to put a regulator in.
Search results mix Ross, North Bay, Coral Island, and Havelock because travel blogs sell “Andaman water sports” as one product. It is not.
What Ross actually is
A short boat from the Port Blair water-sports / Aberdeen side of town. Closed some weekdays depending on the jetty notice — check the current board, we do not print a timetable here. Wear shoes you can walk in. There is no Beach No. 5 briefing table, no SSI classroom, no Johnny’s Gorge.
Our retreat packages list a Ross Island boat next to Cellular Jail as Port Blair sightseeing. That is the honest product. See Andaman trips.
Where the scuba is
Havelock (Swaraj Dweep). Same crew, Beach No. 5, Shangrila’s Resort. Try Scuba, fun dives, SSI courses. Overview: scuba diving in Havelock. Wider map: scuba diving in Andaman.
If you only have hours in Port Blair before a late ferry, walk Ross or the jail. Do not try to force a first tank into that gap. Ears and travel do not mix well — honeymoon notes say the same thing: sleep, then dive.
North Bay confusion
Some Port Blair day boats sell snorkel or a helmet-style “walk” near North Bay and call the whole outing scuba. If you want an instructor, a real cylinder, and a reef we brief, that is Havelock. Try Scuba.
Questions about fitting Ross into a dive week: WhatsApp.