A marine expedition to Minicoy with the Bombay Natural History Society should be enough to rouse the James Cook in any of us. They promise training in snorkelling so you can expect to enjoy the extraordinary underwater world of the Lakshadweep archipelago, largely out of bounds to tourists since private resorts have been banned for years. It&rsquos okay if you can&rsquot swim, they assure us&mdashmost of the snorkelling will be in waist-deep coral lagoons, and there&rsquos a glass bottom boat ride waiting as well. Minicoy is the southernmost island of the union ter&shyritory, geographically closer to the Maldivian island of Uleguma than to Kavaratti. Make the journey to the island by ship. Hurry though one batch is already full and it&rsquos the second batch of only 11 participants for which registrations are open.

Dates 19-25 February
Price 43,400 all-inclusive ex-Kochi
Further details at bnhs.org