Besides a range of water sports and activities, including scuba diving, snorkelling, windsurfing, jet-skiing, and yachting, it boasts a vibrant culture.

Unique delicacies like pookuthu, massappam, kilanji and lagoon fish curry are part of the local cuisine. Tourists can also buy liquor at government-owned resorts.

Although Lakshadweep has always been a many-splendoured paradise, it followed a low-key tour ism policy to avoid environmental damage, litigation involving private property and cultural conflict, says local MP Mohammed Faizal.

For example, building water villas or lagoon villas, which are popular in the Maldives, poses an environmental challenge in Lakshadweep, he says.

The residents of Lakshadweep were also averse to tourism initially, says Faizal, so it started with cruises that brought tourists ashore only during the daytime. Then the administration started building resorts, “in Bangaram, Kadamat, and Minicoy in the first phase”. Now, tourism is growing, with the thrust on eco-tourism.

To boost sustainable tourism, the Lakshadweep administration had invited global tenders for “ecotourism beach and water villas” in Minicoy, Suheli, and Kadmat islands. Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), which runs the Taj hotels, secured two premium water villa projects in Suheli and Kadmat, with the resorts slated to open in 2026.