u/snoopysapien

Here is a trick I learned while booking the govt ferry for local island transfers.

New booking slots typically open on Friday around 9 AM for the following week, and only limited seats are released online on popular routes like Vijayapuram ↔ Swaraj Dweep / Shaheed Dweep. So you need to be quick to secure your preferred ferry.

The most time consuming part of the booking process is filling passenger details with government ID. The DSS portal does not save passenger profiles, so every booking requires manually entering names, age, gender, and long ID numbers again and again. This becomes painful when booking for families or multiple passengers.

With the help of AI, I created a small script that autofills passenger details in one click.

This uses something called a bookmarklet. A bookmarklet is a small piece of JavaScript saved as a browser bookmark. Instead of storing a website URL, the bookmark stores JavaScript. When you click it, it runs on the current page and automates repetitive actions like filling forms.

How to use:

1. Create a bookmark for any page (example: google.com)
2. Right-click the bookmark and choose Edit
3. Replace the bookmark URL with the bookmarklet code
4. Open the DSS booking portal https://dss.andamannicobar.gov.in/ShipETicketingWeb/Login.jsp
5. Log in
6. Select source, destination, travel date, and your ferry
7. Click Book to reach the passenger details page
8. Click the bookmark

What to edit in the script:

Update the passengers array with your details:

• name → Full name
• age → Age in years
• gender → M or F
• category → NI for Non-Islander
• id → Government ID number

You can add up to 5 passengers.

The script automatically adds passenger rows and fills the main fields.

Sub category and concession fields are dynamic and are not filled by the script. Fill them manually after running it. Do not forget to select senior citizen concession if a passenger is above 60.

As far as I know, this does not break any rules. It simply automates form filling and does not bypass any booking steps

Edit the passengar details and save the below script as a bookmark.

javascript:(function(){var passengers=[

{name:"John Doe",age:"40",gender:"M",category:"NI",id:"XXXXXXXXXXXX"},

{name:"Jane Doe",age:"45",gender:"F",category:"NI",id:"XXXXXXXXXXXX"},

{name:"Senior Passenger",age:"64",gender:"F",category:"NI",id:"XXXXXXXXXXXX"}

];function g(){try{return document.getElementById("iframe1")&&document.getElementById("iframe1").contentDocument||document}catch(e){return document}}var d=g();function f(e,t){try{e.dispatchEvent(new Event(t,{bubbles:true}))}catch(x){var ev=d.createEvent("HTMLEvents");ev.initEvent(t,true,false);e.dispatchEvent(ev)}}function s(i,v){var e=d.getElementById(i);if(!e)return false;e.focus&&e.focus();e.value=v;f(e,"input");f(e,"change");e.blur&&e.blur();return true}function a(i,cb){if(d.getElementById("psgnName"+i)){cb();return}var b=d.getElementById("add-psgn-btn")||d.querySelector('[name="add-psgn-btn"]');if(!b){alert("Add Passenger button not found");return}b.click();setTimeout(function(){a(i,cb)},500)}a(passengers.length,function(){for(var i=0;i<passengers.length;i++){var p=passengers[i],n=i+1;s("psgnName"+n,p.name);s("psgnAge"+n,p.age);s("psgnGender"+n,p.gender);s("psgnCategory"+n,p.category);s("psgnID"+n,p.id)}alert("Filled "+passengers.length+" passengers")});})();

It was Elephanta Beach day today. We reached the Havelock jetty around 11am. It was already cloudy. The boat captain warned that there might be water splashing inside the boat as the sea was rough today. By the time we reached Elephanta, we were drenched in water, not from the rain, but from the water splashing into the boat.

We were lucky to finish snorkelling as our first activity. Around 1pm, the clouds turned black and heavy winds started. We all took shelter on land. All activities were closed. It poured heavily for an hour. I did see some jet ski activities resume later, but we didn’t want to risk it. It was still raining, and the authorities were waiting for the winds to subside before allowing the boats to start again. At 3:30pm, we started back and, surprisingly, there was no water splashing on the way back, though it still felt very wavy.

It did rain intermittently on day 1 and day 2 but it didn’t affect our plans though.

Tomorrow we plan to do scuba diving. Let’s see how that goes.

I came across information about a 5:30 PM Sound & Light show at Ross Island, and tickets seem to be available on the Andaman govt tourism portal. But I’m unable to find clear details about the ferry timings from Phoenix Bay Jetty for evening visits.

Can one visit Ross Island in the evening without the light show tickets?

Most blogs/videos only talk about morning or daytime visits, so looking for recent firsthand experiences from anyone who has done the evening trip.

Would appreciate any tips/info 🙏

While the early sunrise and sunset in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are well-known to visitors, the reason is administrative rather than just seasonal. Despite being closer to Thailand (which is 90 minutes ahead), the islands stay synced with Indian Standard Time (IST) to maintain uniformity with the mainland. Because they are located about 1,200 km east of the IST reference, their "natural" time is actually over an hour ahead of the clock.

Did you know?

From watching YouTube videos, I’ve learned that the Andamans start their day early and wind down early. Sunrise is around 5:00 AM, the first ferry departs at 6:30 AM, and reporting at the jetty is usually required about 2 hours in advance. Scuba diving activities also begin early in the morning. For places like Elephant Beach or Ross Island, the last entry is typically around 1:00 PM.

Looking at my itinerary, most days begin very early, either to catch morning ferries for island transfers or to participate in activities like scuba diving.

Given this, I’m unsure whether booking a hotel room with breakfast makes sense, since we may not be at the hotel during breakfast hours on several days.

What are the usual breakfast timings in hotels? Also, do hotels provide packed breakfast if we’re leaving early for ferries or activities?