Lakshadweep has 36 islands, and people live on only 10 of them. Tourists are allowed to stay on about half a dozen. The whole union territory is roughly 32 sq km of land scattered 220 to 440 km off the Kerala coast, and you cannot simply book a hotel and turn up, even as an Indian citizen.
Most articles skip that part. They show you the lagoon and forget that every visitor needs an entry permit, that the only airport takes nothing bigger than a 72 seater, and that the famous government cruise is not sailing at the moment. So this is the planning guide: how a Lakshadweep trip actually works and what it costs. For what each island looks like, read our older post on the top places to visit in Lakshadweep first.
The Lakshadweep Entry Permit, Step by Step
Under entry rules that date back to 1967, anyone who is not a native of the islands needs a permit to enter and stay. So yes, Indians need it too. Among the union territories of India, this is the one where you need paperwork before you need a ticket.
An administration circular dated 29 April 2026 made the process much lighter. Two old hurdles are gone for the Tourist category:
- No local sponsor. Earlier an islander or a tour operator had to vouch for you.
- No police clearance certificate from your home station. Lakshadweep Police now does the check internally after you apply.
The application now goes like this:
- Fix your stay first. The form asks for your accommodation and the exact islands, including any you only pass through.
- Register on the e-permit portal (epermit.utl.gov.in), choose the Tourist category and fill one form for your group, up to six applicants.
- Upload Aadhaar or another photo ID and a passport size photo, then pay online. The reported fee is Rs 50 per applicant, plus a heritage fee of Rs 200 for adults and Rs 100 for ages 12 to 18.
- Apply at least 14 days before you travel. The permit comes by email.
The permit is valid only for the islands and dates written on it, so you cannot add an island on the spot. Transit through Kavaratti or Agatti is capped at 12 hours unless that island is on your permit. Also, the portal carries a notice that e-permit services shift to a new portal from 15 October 2026. If the old address stops working, start from the Entry Permit page of the Lakshadweep administration.
Indian tourists get the wider choice: Agatti, Bangaram, Thinnakara, Kavaratti, Kadmat, Kalpeni and Minicoy. Foreign nationals need a tourist visa and have traditionally been limited to Agatti, Bangaram and Kadmat, with Kavaratti only as a transit stop.
Three Ways to Do the Trip
1. SPORTS, the government route
SPORTS is the administration’s own tourism wing. Its best known product is Samudram, a five day cruise from Kochi on MV Kavaratti that visits Minicoy, Kavaratti and Kalpeni. You spend the days ashore and sleep on the ship. The listed tariff is Rs 42,500 per adult in Diamond class and Rs 33,500 in Gold, plus 5% GST, with a 10% hike in December.
Now the honest bit. Since 18 August 2026 the portal has carried a notice that Samudram is not available until further directions, because the ship’s dry-docking is incomplete. So check the SPORTS booking portal before you plan around it. When it does run, there are only 150 berths per sailing for the whole country, so December and January departures go first. Book the day the schedule opens.
SPORTS also sells stays: beach cottages on Bangaram at Rs 18,000 a night for two, and AC suite rooms on Kavaratti at Rs 11,000 a night, GST extra. With these packages SPORTS issues your entry permit itself. Cancel inside 7 days of departure and you get nothing back.
2. A private tour operator
Most Indian travellers end up here. A local operator sells a fixed package, usually 3 nights 4 days or 4 nights 5 days from Agatti, with stay, all meals and boat trips, and handles the permit for you. Quotes I found for 4 nights sit between Rs 28,000 and Rs 40,000 per person without flights. It is the least stressful option, but quality varies a lot and rooms are simple.
Do two checks before paying. SPORTS lists authorised travel agents on its portal, so see whether your operator is there. The same portal carries a notice that Agatti has no government-permitted resort at present, so ask for the name of the exact guest house or homestay you are being given.
3. On your own
After the April 2026 change this is possible on paper: book a stay, apply for the permit yourself, buy your own tickets. In practice it suits flexible people. Ship tickets need your permit number, one user can book only one ticket a day for up to five passengers, and inter-island boats are announced barely a day ahead. If your leave dates are fixed, I would not suggest going fully independent on a first Lakshadweep visit.
Getting There From Kochi
Kochi is the gateway for both air and sea, so most people add a night there. Our Kochi city itinerary covers what to do with that extra day. Keep a buffer night on the way back too, because weather cancels things here.
By air
Agatti has the only airport in Lakshadweep, and its runway is roughly 1.2 km long. Only ATR turboprops with about 70 seats can land here, which is why seats are few and fares stay high. Alliance Air, IndiGo and FLY91 fly Kochi to Agatti in about one and a half hours. IndiGo also connects Bengaluru and Kozhikode, and FLY91 flies from Goa.
When I checked, the lowest one way fare from Kochi was around Rs 5,100 and the cheapest return about Rs 11,600, for dates booked well ahead. Around Christmas and New Year, expect to pay a lot more.
By ship
Passenger ships such as MV Kavaratti, MV Lagoons and MV Corals sail from the Lakshadweep wharf on Willingdon Island. The crossing takes 14 to 18 hours depending on the island. There are three classes: AC first class in two berth cabins, AC second class in four berth cabins, and bunk class. Reported fares run from roughly Rs 2,200 to Rs 7,000 one way.
Tickets are now sold on lakshadweep.irctc.co.in, a portal run by IRCTC, and the old lakport website has been shut down. The portal says booking opens 7 to 30 days ahead, but look at its Alerts page. In the first week of October, bookings for sailings on the 5th and the 7th opened only on the 1st, at a fixed hour. So you watch the alerts and book the minute it opens.
Web check-in is compulsory and closes 8 hours before departure from Kochi. Ships anchor outside the reef, so the last 15 to 20 minutes is in a small boat.
Hopping Between Islands
The islands are linked by high speed craft with names like Cheriyapani, Black Marlin and Skip Jack, and Kavaratti is the hub. Agatti to Kavaratti takes around two hours, and Agatti to Kadmat about two and a half. Bangaram and Thinnakara sit in the next lagoon, about 8 km north of Agatti, and your resort or operator sends its own boat.
Tickets for these craft open on the IRCTC portal only the afternoon before sailing. The baggage limit is 15 kg, and every service depends on the weather. Never plan a same day connection between a boat and your flight home.
When to Go
The Lakshadweep season runs from October to mid May. The sea is calmest and the water clearest from November to March, which is also when prices peak. April and May are hot and humid but quieter. From June to September the monsoon makes the open sea rough, the boats from Agatti to Kavaratti and Kadmat stop, and ship schedules thin out. I would not suggest the monsoon for first time visitors.
What a 4 to 5 Day Lakshadweep Trip Really Costs
These are per person figures from Kochi, sharing a room, built from the tariffs and quotes above. Treat them as working ranges, not promises.
| Per person | Budget | Mid range | Resort |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you go | Ship, operator package on Agatti | Flights, operator package | Flights, Bangaram cottage or tent resort |
| Kochi return travel | Rs 4,500 to 9,000 | Rs 12,000 to 18,000 | Rs 12,000 to 20,000 |
| Stay, meals and boats for 4 nights | Rs 28,000 to 32,000 | Rs 35,000 to 40,000 | Rs 40,000 to 60,000 |
| Activities and extras | Rs 2,000 to 4,000 | Rs 6,000 to 10,000 | Rs 10,000 to 15,000 |
| Rough total | Rs 35,000 to 45,000 | Rs 53,000 to 68,000 | Rs 62,000 to 95,000 |
For comparison, Samudram in Gold class works out to about Rs 35,200 with GST for the ship, food and island tours together, which is why everyone wants it back. A similar week in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands usually costs less, and a resort stay in the Maldives costs far more. Lakshadweep sits in between.
What Is Not Allowed, and What You Will Not Find
The position on alcohol has changed, so read this carefully. For 47 years the islands were dry under a 1979 prohibition law, with Bangaram the well known exception. In June 2026 that law was replaced by the Lakshadweep Excise Regulation, which permits licensed sale at approved tourist establishments and sets the drinking age at 21.
The SPORTS travel tips page still says liquor is prohibited everywhere except Bangaram. So my advice: treat the inhabited islands as dry and do not carry bottles from Kochi.
- Coral: picking up coral in any form, even a dead piece lying on the beach, is a punishable offence.
- Cash: SPORTS itself warns that card payments mostly do not work. ATMs exist only on the bigger inhabited islands such as Kavaratti, Agatti and Minicoy. Carry enough cash.
- Mobile network: BSNL works on all islands. Airtel works on Agatti, Bangaram, Thinnakara and Kavaratti. I could not confirm any Jio coverage, so do not depend on it.
- Dress: the inhabited islands are conservative and almost entirely Muslim. Swimwear is fine on resort beaches. In the villages, cover shoulders and knees.
- Plastic: carry bags and many single-use plastic items are banned. Bring a refillable bottle.
- Shops: Bangaram and Thinnakara have none. Sunscreen, medicines and sanitary items all come with you.
In the Water
This is why you came. Inside the lagoons the water is shallow, warm and clear, so even non swimmers manage snorkelling with a life jacket. Kayaking, snorkelling and a glass-bottom boat ride are normally bundled into Lakshadweep packages. Ask for the inclusion list in writing, because “water sports included” can mean one 20 minute kayak ride.
An introductory dive for a non diver costs around Rs 3,500 to Rs 5,000. Certified divers pay roughly Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 a dive, and a PADI Open Water course runs Rs 22,000 to Rs 28,000. SPORTS runs the Dolphin Dive Centre on Kavaratti, and Kadmat has the strongest reputation among divers. Courses need a doctor’s fitness certificate, and the minimum age is 14. For comparison, see our list of popular scuba diving spots around the world.
Food, and the Vegetarian Reality
Lakshadweep food is built on tuna, coconut and rice. Tuna is called mas here and it turns up everywhere: dried, smoked, fried, and in mus kavaab, a thick spiced tuna curry. For breakfast look for kilanji, a paper thin rice and egg crepe eaten with a sweet dip of coconut milk and banana. The flavours are close to what our piece on the cuisines of Kerala describes.
Vegetarians will not go hungry, but lower your expectations. Almost every vegetable arrives by ship from the mainland, so menus repeat: rice, dal, sambar, a cabbage or potato dish, parotta. I could not find a pure vegetarian or Jain kitchen anywhere in Lakshadweep. Tell your operator before you travel, not at the dinner table, and carry some dry snacks.
Picking Your Island, Briefly
- Agatti: the airport island, and the easiest and cheapest base.
- Bangaram and Thinnakara: uninhabited, resort only, the best sand and the highest bills.
- Kavaratti: the capital. Busier, with the dive centre and a marine aquarium.
- Kadmat: a long, thin island for divers and people who want quiet.
- Kalpeni: known for Tip Beach and the small islets inside its lagoon.
- Minicoy: the far south, and closer in culture to the Maldives than to Kerala. People here speak Mahl, a form of Dhivehi, while the other islands speak a Malayalam dialect. Its lighthouse, built by the British in 1885, stands 49.5 metres tall. Realistically you get here only by ship.
A Sample 5 Day Plan
This assumes you fly, stay on Agatti, and have Bangaram, Thinnakara and Kavaratti on your permit as well.
- Day 1: Morning flight from Kochi to Agatti. Check in, late lunch, first swim in the lagoon.
- Day 2: Boat to Bangaram and Thinnakara. Snorkelling over the reef, lunch on the sand, back before dark.
- Day 3: Introductory scuba dive in the morning. Glass-bottom boat or kayaking in the afternoon.
- Day 4: Keep this one flexible. If a high speed craft timing works, go to Kavaratti for the aquarium. If not, stay in the Agatti lagoon and do very little.
- Day 5: Morning flight back to Kochi, and a night there before any onward journey.
If you take the ship instead, the same plan needs seven days, because each crossing eats a night.
My honest verdict: Lakshadweep has the clearest water I know of in India, and it is also one of the most awkward trips in the country to organise. Go if you want the lagoon and can live with simple rooms and plans that bend with the weather. If you want nightlife, shopping or a packed sightseeing list, the Andamans or the beaches of Kerala will make you happier. Whichever way you go, sort the permit first, then the stay, then the ticket. In that order, it works.
