Data study · 28,482 ferry legs · Aug 2025 – Jun 2026
Do Andaman ferries get cancelled? We ran the numbers.
Every Andaman planning thread carries the same anxiety: "what if my ferry gets cancelled?" We could not find published data on it — so we pulled the booking records from bookyourferry.com, our own ferry-booking platform, and counted. The honest answer has two halves, and the surprising number belongs to December.
The two-sided answer
- Operators cancelling sailings: not counted in this data. Our booking desk's account is that it happens mostly in the off season, and that passengers are then put on a different sailing.
- Travellers cancelling their own bookings: 3.5% of booked legs — about 1 in 28. The same months show 1,011 refund entries against 1,010 cancellations.
- The December surprise: the most-booked month has the highest cancellation rate — 5.4%, more than double May's 2.1%. Our reading is that plans made far ahead change more; the data fits that and does not prove it.
Guest cancellations, month by month
Booked ferry legs whose travellers cancelled them, by travel month — August 2025 to June 2026, the months with cancellation records:
| Travel month | Booked legs | Cancelled by guest | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 782 | 23 | 2.9% |
| Sep 2025 | 1,228 | 36 | 2.9% |
| Oct 2025 | 2,199 | 88 | 4.0% |
| Nov 2025 | 3,623 | 92 | 2.5% |
| Dec 2025 | 5,386 | 291 | 5.4% |
| Jan 2026 | 4,382 | 180 | 4.1% |
| Feb 2026 | 3,641 | 98 | 2.7% |
| Mar 2026 | 3,106 | 83 | 2.7% |
| Apr 2026 | 1,350 | 51 | 3.8% |
| May 2026 | 1,729 | 37 | 2.1% |
| Jun 2026 | 1,056 | 31 | 2.9% |
n = 28,482 legs and 1,010 guest cancellations in the eleven months shown. The platform held 58,632 booking records when the data was pulled in July 2026; a booking can carry up to three ferry legs, and 46,272 legs had a travel date. Cancellations were recorded only from August 2025, so the 17,397 legs before that cannot be compared, and July 2026 onwards (393 legs, 5 cancelled) was still incomplete. Updated annually.
Why December, of all months
We cannot say for certain from this data. The likeliest reason is lead time. Ferry bookings for the months just ahead are made late: for April to June 2026 travel, the median booking was made two to four days before sailing. December looks different. When the data was pulled in July 2026, the 24 bookings already held for December 2026 had been made a median of 181 days ahead. A plan made six months out has longer to go wrong — leave that falls through, a group that shrinks, a wedding that moves. But we have no lead-time figures for December 2025 itself, and 24 early bookings are not a fair sample, so this is our reading, not a measurement. May shows the other end: about 1 booked leg in 47 was cancelled.
The practical reading is not "avoid December". It is: book December early — our operations team says morning Port Blair – Havelock sailings go at least a week ahead — and read the cancellation terms before you pay, because about one booked December leg in eighteen was cancelled by its own traveller. Our best-time guide has the season-by-season picture, surcharges included.
And when the operator cancels the ferry?
This is the fear behind the search, and it is the part this data cannot count: an operator's cancellation does not show up as a cancelled booking. What we have is our booking desk's account, given by the owner on 8 July 2026: operator cancellations come mostly in the off season, and passengers are then accommodated on a different sailing. We have no figures for how often it happens or how long the wait is. Two guest reviews describe it. In June 2018 a guest's cancelled Havelock crossing became a night's accommodation and seats on the next day's boat. In October 2017 another guest's cancelled crossing became an alternative tour and a refund of the ferry tickets before they left Port Blair.
Plan the return crossing separately from the flight day. Our example itineraries show a final Port Blair overnight and departure the following day. An overnight gap is not a full extra buffer day; disruption may still require a changed plan.
Check the actual sailings, live
The worry this page answers is best settled by looking at the board itself — live seats and fares, straight from the booking platform this data comes from:
Today's ferries, live
Andaman ferry schedule · BookYourFerry.com — our founders' ferry-booking platform.
Methodology, honestly
Source: anonymized, aggregated booking records from bookyourferry.com — our own ferry-booking platform (same founders as Tropical Andamans; disclosed). 58,632 booking records carrying 46,272 ferry legs with a travel date; the analysis window is August 2025 – June 2026 (28,482 legs), the months with cancellation records. "Cancelled" counts traveller-initiated cancellations. It does not measure sailings cancelled by an operator: those do not appear in this field, and what we say about them above is our booking desk's account, not data. No personal data was used in the aggregates. The pipeline runs annually; this page updates with each season.
The ferry-fear questions, answered straight
How often do Andaman ferries actually get cancelled by the operator?
This data cannot tell you: an operator's cancellation is not recorded as a cancelled booking. Our booking desk's account is that it happens mostly in the off season — the monsoon months, when rough sea days force schedule changes — and that passengers are then accommodated on a different sailing. Our weather guide puts the monsoon at five or six rough days across May to August, in our experience. What protects you is sequencing: never plan a same-day ferry-to-flight connection.
What does the 3.5% cancellation figure measure?
Guest-side cancellations: booked ferry legs that the traveller cancelled — 1,010 of 28,482 legs (3.5%) with travel dates between August 2025 and June 2026, booked on bookyourferry.com. It is not a measure of ferries breaking down or operators cancelling sailings; those do not appear in this data.
Why is December the highest month for cancellations?
We cannot be certain from this data. The likeliest reason is that December is booked furthest ahead, and long-lead plans change: the 24 bookings already held in July 2026 for December 2026 had been made a median of 181 days ahead, against two to four days for April to June travel. About one booked December 2025 leg in eighteen was cancelled by its own traveller. The takeaway is not to avoid December; it is to book early and know the cancellation and refund terms before you pay.
Do I get my money back if I cancel a ferry booking?
That depends on the ferry operator's fare rules and on how close to sailing you cancel, so read the fare conditions when you book. What this data shows is that refunds were recorded alongside cancellations: 1,011 refund entries against 1,010 cancelled legs in the same eleven months. It does not show how much was refunded. If we planned your trip, we raise the cancellation for you.
What happens to my trip if the operator cancels my ferry?
A cancellation can require a different sailing or a changed itinerary. Available alternatives and any costs depend on the circumstances and booking terms. Our example routes put a final Port Blair overnight before departure, but this cannot guarantee the onward flight or remove all disruption risk.
Plan around the sea, not against it
- Day-by-day itineraries — with explicit overnight stops and departure days.
- How to reach Andaman — flights, the airport, the ship option.
- Weather by month — the sea-state truth behind this data.
- Best time to visit — verdicts and prices, season by season.
How this page stays true
Every figure on this page is machine-generated from the booking records — no rounding stories, no hand-tuning — and the analysis window is stated so the numbers can be checked against next year's update. Published July 2026; refreshed annually after each season. Corrected 5 October 2026: the unit is ferry legs, not bookings; refunds are given as counts; the December explanation is marked as our reading; and what we say about operator cancellations is attributed to our booking desk, because this data does not count them. If you use this data, credit bookyourferry.com and link this page. Our other open-data study — 11 years of Port Blair flight arrivals — is at Andaman air connectivity.
Ferries, planned by the people who book them daily.
Tell us your dates — we sequence the crossings, allow time between journeys, and handle the rebooking if the sea has other plans.