Kadmat Island

Kadmat, also called Cardamom Island, is a coral island in the Amindivi group at the centre of the Lakshadweep archipelago. Shaped like a teardrop, it is 9.3 km long but no more than about 570 metres wide, narrowing to roughly 10 metres at its southern tip, and stands only a few metres above the sea. On one side lies a lagoon about 1.5 km wide covering some 25 square kilometres.

The island is a notified marine protected area, valued for its coral reef, seagrass beds and the sea turtles that nest on its beaches. Its single village, Kadmat, has around 5,400 people who live mainly from fishing. Tourism is permitted, and visitors come to kayak and snorkel in the lagoon, take trips in glass-bottomed boats and go scuba diving.