St. Martin's island

St. Martin’s island is a small in the northeastern part of the Bangladesh. It is about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox’s bazar –Teknaf. It is about 8km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar. St. Martin is a tropical cliché and the only coral island in Bangladesh. The local name of the island is “Narical Gingira”, that means ‘Coconut island’ in Bangladesh.

It is a clean and peaceful island in Bangla.

Most of the island’s 7500 inhabitants live primarily from fishing. Every year October and April fisherman from neighboring areas bring their catch to the island’s temporary wholesale market. The other staple crops are rice and coconut. Being very commen in the island, algae is collected, then dries and exported to Myanmar. Most things are concentrated around the far north of the island and the south are mainly farmland and makeshift huts. There is no electricity on the island.

 

St. Martin’s island is a excellent tourist spot. Recently, five shipping liners run daily trips to the island. Tourists are getting to St. Martins island is a three step process. First you’ll need to fly or bus it down to Cox’s bazar, and then catch a bus to Teknaf, which is right on the very southern tip of Bangladesh, sandwiched up against Myanmar. Teknaf ferries run daily and take around 3 hours. The island is 510km distance from Dhaka. The island surrounding coral reef and the island extension named is Chera Dwip. A small bush is there, whice is the only green part of this island.

Sunrise on the east side of the island and after a lazy day head over to the west side for sunset. Sunset point is a rocky peninsula on the northwest corner of the island near St. Martin’s resort, whice exists only at low tide a nice spot if sunset and low tide coincide.

World longest natural sandy sea beach

Cox’s bazar is a world’s longest natural sandy sea beach. It is about 125km sandy sea beach with a gentle slope. It is situated 150km south of Chittagong. Cox’s bazaar is also known by the name ‘Panowa’, the literal translation of which means ‘yellow flower’.the modern Cox’s bazar derives its name from Captain Hiram Cox, who died here in 1799 after he had established a colony of Mogh who sought shelter in British territory after the conquest of Arakan by the Burmese two third of the population of the town are descendants of these refugees. Captain Cox’s established a market and named after him Cox’s bazaar. Miles of golden sands towering cliffs, pagodas, Buddhist temples and tribes, delightful seafood in Cox’s bazar. Although Cox’s bazar is one of the most visiterd tourist spot in Bangladesh, it has yet to become a major international tourist spot, due to lack of publicity.

There are several places of interest near the town which can easily be visited from town center.

Ramu : This is a typical Buddhist village, it is about 10km from Cox’s bazar,on the main road to Chittagong, there are Monasnestices, Khyangs and Pagodas containing images of Buddha in gold, bronze and metals inlaid with precious stones. Ramu is a village with a sizeable Buddhist population. The village is famous for its handicrafts and homemade cigars. One of the most interesting of these temples is on the bank of the Baghkhali river.

 

Maheshkhali : It is a small island ( 268 square km ) off the Cox’s bazar coast. It is about 10km by speedboat to the north west of Cox’s bazar and standing on a hill is the Moheskhali island. The island offers panoramic scenic beauty and is coverd by a range of low hills, about 300 feet high. There is a 165 years old temple known as Adinath temple. With the interesting history of its discovery, it is a most attractive spot especially during the festive month of falgoon (February – March).

 

Sonadia Island : It is a crescent shaped island of only 9 square km. just opposite across Cox’s bazar . this island is a paradise of migratory birds like petrel, geese, ducks, curlew, spine, redshank, lapwing, whim bird and other birds and fowls. The western side of the beach is sandy and different kinds of shells are found on the beach. During winter season  fisherman set up temporary camps on the island and dry their catches of sea fish.

 

Teknaf : It is 80 km south of Cox’s bazar is a pleasure spot on the west bank of Naf river. This also marks the end point of Cox’s bazar beach. A small town, it has arrangements for picnic hunting and boating.

Inani : This is another magnificent place to see. It is about 32 km to the south of Cox’s bazar. Inani is full of stony beach and the calmness and serenity of Inani is mind blowing.   

Sonadia island in Bangladesh

Sonadia is a crescent shaped island off the Cox’s Bazar coast. It is about 7km of Cox’s Bazar and is only 9sq km in area. Its western side is sandy and is rich in different kinds of shells. Off the northern part of the island, there are beds of window pane oysters. During winter season, fisherman set up temporary camps on the island and dry their catches of sea fish. Every winter thousands of fisherman camp there and make large hauls.

The history of human habitation of sonadia island is no more than 100-125 years. The island is divided into two neighborhoods or para east and west neighborhood. All about 2000 people live in sonadia island. Most of the people live in eastern side. Main occupations of the islander are catching fish.

Some people run their livelihood by driving engine boat and vessel and also work as assistance. There is no chance for producing crop here because saline water of sea surrounded the sonadia island. There are two mosque, one primary school, one cyclone center and about 15 deep tube-wells in sonadia island.

The island is also known as a paradise for migratory birds like ducks, sea-gulls, fowls and geese etc. During the winter season migratory birds in swarms are found crowding the beach and pools of the island. Most of the island is full of silvery sand. Somewhere you will find small sand mound, somewhere in the flat shape. Sonadia island is a wildlife paradise, with splendor ahead of you in every corner, proving that now and again there is more to a destination than meets the eye.