Cinque Island is an isolated island belonging to the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Cinque Island is a popular tourist destination in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, known for its underwater coral gardens and rich marine life.
Cinque Island is situated on the south-western coast of South Andaman, in the Bay of Bengal. Cinque Island, though devoid of human life, is abundant in mangrove forests, tropical forests, sandy beaches and exotic marine life. The Island is geologically classified into North Cinque and South Cinque. North Cinque and South Cinque are connected to each other by an enormous sand bar. Both divisions of Cinque Island are a part of the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, which is popularly known as Wandoor Marine National Park.
Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park comprises of 15 islands and several islets of the Labyrinthine Island Group like Alexandra, Hobday, Tarmugli, Grub, Snob, Bell, Pluto, Jolly Buoy, Riflemen, Cinque, parts of Rutland Island and others. Jolly Buoy, Redskin and Cinque are the most frequented and popular Islands of Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park.
Cinque Island offers a vista of its coral reefs, sea weeds, colorful fishes, shells, starfish, sea anemones, salt-water crocodile, turtles and water snakes. Cinque Island is surrounded by coral reef gardens that extend to a few hundred meters into the deep sea.
The corals found in Cinque Island belong to various types such as Pocillopora, Montipora, Acropora, Leptoseris, Fungia, Porites, Gorgonians and Tubipora. The terrestrial life at Cinque Island consists of mammalian species like wild boar, spotted deer, civet and the fruit bat, reptilian species like krait, cobra, king cobra, vine snake and python and avian species like serpent eagle, white bellied sea eagle, local teal, whistling teal, pigeon, dove, kingfisher, wader, swift, reef heron, parakeet, etc.
Cinque Island also offers opportunities for swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving, fishing and camping. The view of submerged corals and sunset attracts hordes of nature lovers to Cinque Island.
Cinque Island, located to the south of Wandoor and Chirya Tapu, can be accessed from any point of Andaman & Nicobar Islands by boat. Cinque Island can be reached in three-and-a-half hours from Wandoor and in two hours from Chirya Tapu. Wandoor, situated about 30 km away from the capital city of Port Blair, is connected to it with regular ferries.