Lakshadweep · Island Realms
How to reach
By air
- Agatti Airport (AGX) — The only airstrip in the territory, laid along the length of a narrow island. Flights are from Kochi and the aircraft are small, so seats and baggage allowances are both tight.
By rail
- Ernakulam Junction, Kochi (ERS) — There is no railway in Lakshadweep. The mainland railhead for the ships and the flights is Kochi, about ten kilometres from the passenger terminal at Willingdon Island.
By road
No road connects any island to any other. Within an island a single lane usually runs its length, and nothing goes fast enough for that to matter.
By water
Passenger ships from Kochi to the inhabited islands, with sailings of roughly 14 to 20 hours depending on the islandInter-island transfers by speedboat, ferry and, in season, helicopterLanding is often by small boat through a lagoon entrance, because the ships anchor offshore
Getting around
Bicycles, a few autos and small taxis, and boats. Every inhabited island can be walked end to end in an hour or two. The practical constraint on all movement is the entry permit — every visitor, Indian citizens included, needs one, obtained through the administration's online permit system with a local sponsor or a tourism package, and foreign nationals are admitted to a restricted set of islands only.
How to reach Lakshadweep by air, rail, road and water, and how to get around once there. (2)