Located just 3 km east of Port Blair, Ross Island was the former administrative headquarters of the British Penal Settlement, nicknamed "Paris of the East" in the 19th century. Today, preserved as a heritage site managed by the Indian Navy, the island displays colonial ruins of a ballroom, church, hospital, and commissioner’s bungalow now dramatically engulfed by prehistoric Ficus tree roots. Spotted deer and peacocks roam freely across the island.