Barren Island

India's only active volcano · boat-only access

Barren Island is India's only confirmed active volcano — an uninhabited cone roughly 140 km from Port Blair, rising directly out of deep ocean. There's no jetty and no landing for tourists; most visits are by liveaboard dive boat or a long day charter that circles the island for a look at the still-smoking crater rim.

Divers get the real reward. The water around Barren drops off steeply into open ocean, drawing pelagic species — reef sharks, tuna, occasional mantas — that the shallower reefs near Havelock rarely see. It's an experienced-diver destination, not a beginner add-on.