Well, it's official!
Following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic announcement Aug 8, 2018 removing the Restricted Area Permit requirements for 29 Andaman and Nicobar Islands (including Great Nicobar and Little Nicobar - see Times article here), MTP's own Jeroen Agneessens has become the first documented foreign tourist to reach the Nicobars, sailing from Port Blair on the regular ferry! Said Jeroen: " The only difficulty I faced was while buying my ship ticket. The officials issuing tickets were not aware of Foreign National having permission to visit Great Nicobar, so it took one hour for me to get the ticket (there was a lot of calling around and confirming I was allowed to go, so I had to be insistent)."
Congratulations, Jeroen! As someone who in the past has spent weeks struggling with Indian bureaucracy both in Port Blair and Delhi, only to have special Nicobar permits snatched away at the last minute, I fully appreciate the achievement of your visit, and hope to follow in your footsteps soon!
Jeroen recommends Pachayat Guest House in Campbell Bay, and describes Great Nicobar as "such a beautiful place, with lovely beaches and amazing people, who are very helpful and cooperative. All are very very friendly. You won’t be getting five star hotels here but you will find people with bigger heart than anywhere else."
Separately, on Jan 1, 2019, the Modi government designated Port Blair Airport (IXZ) an international immigration point, so look for direct flights to pop up this year from regional hubs like SIN, KUL, BKK, or even HKG or DXB. Gone will be the days of those inconvenient overnight transfers in CCU or MAA!
The world does indeed keep changing. Have patience, fellow MTP'ers. Maybe next we'll see China open those foreign tours to the Paracels which have been on the horizon for 20 years or so... :-)