The Barefoot at Havelock

An excellent jungle property on the beach. The rooms( tents) were great, the food was top notch. The only reason i gave it a 4 is the tardy checkout experience where the front office staff made us wait for 45 mins for some inane reason. The front office checkout experience is the only weakling of this otherwise great property.

Having come here 18 years ago, this time I was afraid the magic would have gone. But it hasn't - truly lovely spot, bright stars, beautiful forest, morning birdsong, fantastic beach. And the restaurant is good too, with lovely, friendly staff.

Barefoot at Havelock was a fantastic destination for a relaxing beach holiday on the unparalleled, scenic, quiet and clean Radhanagar beach. The 200m trail from resort to the beach leads out to the quieter end of the 2km beach and it’s possible to find quiet naturally-shaded alcove for some solitude ***** the beautiful beach. The staff were fantastic, always willing to help, and very attentive. My partner and I stayed in a tented hut which was large and luxurious with AC, fan, lighting, reading space in the front porch, and a spacious traditional semi-covered bathroom. The tent is mosquito-netted, and the four poster bed is further mosquito-netted. We didn’t have any issues with insects on our stay. It’s worth noting that this resort is based in the relatively dense rainforest (which is globally a rich and diverse ecosystem) that runs ***** Radhanagar beach. Whilst walking to the reception area/restaurant/beach you will certainly come across birds, frogs, lizards, and we saw the endemic and relatively harmless Andamese cat snake. The main path is unlit at night and is an unmetalled dirt track which will be difficult to transverse if you have mobility issues/to push a wheelchair/buggy. If you’re able to walk 2-300m on an un-level surface this can be done with ease. We enjoyed the food at the restaurant where we had daily breakfast, most lunches, and dinners. The staff are attentive and friendly. The food is traditional but the taste is somewhat Westernised to accommodate spice tolerance. You can always add some salt and chilli powder at the table, as I did, whilst my western partner enjoyed not crying through dinner! Radhanagar beach is relatively secluded and you’d need transport to get to most other points on the island, with the jetty 10km away. It’s worthwhile hiring a relatively cheap two-wheeler for the duration of your stay - it will likely work out cheaper than daily autos. This can be left at the resort’s two-wheeler parking which is near the gatepost where the very good metalled road becomes the resort’s rustic dirt track (not worth driving on!). Overall we were delighted with our stay in Barefoot at Havelock and doing Havelock Island absolutely stunning. Evenings on Radhanagar beach are a must, a day out walking to Elephant Beach for water sports/snorkelling, and an early morning out kayaking the mangroves seing the bioluminescence is a great way to spend a few days!