St Martin's is a tropical cliché and the only coral island in Bangladesh, with beaches fringed with coconut palms and laid-back locals. It's a clean and peaceful place with nothing more strenuous to do than soak up the rays — even mosquitoes are a rarity.
Most things are concentrated around the far north of the island, with the centre and south being mostly farmland and makeshift huts. There is no electricity on the island except solar power, though hotels use generators instead of electricity.
November to February is the main tourist season with the best weather; though keep an eye on the forecast, as the occasional cyclone can strike during this time.
Before Starting Journey Check Your Necessary Items to Carry With to make your Journey Memorable.
How to go Saint Martin
From Teknaf you can cruise to St Martin's Island with the best and the safest Torist Ship Keari Sindbad and reach St Martin's comfortably in 2 or fewer hours. Keari Sindbad cruise journey is a pleasant one as you will see the spectacular views of Teknaf's hill on one side and Mayanmar on the other side while it cruises along the Naf River.
Tourist Ship leaves the island around 3pm. Keari Sindbad and you can purchase a round trip ticket; which can same day return or 1-2 days later. Prices are same whenever you return. The return fare on Keari Sindbad start from BDT 750-900 as of September 2020.
By Bus
Getting to Saint Martins Island by bus is a two-step process. First you'll need to travel to Teknaf which is the Southern most district of Bangladesh on the very southern tip, sandwiched up against Myanmar. One can come to Teknaf by bus from Dhaka, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar. Dhaka to Teknaf bus fare is around BDT 9000-1000 non-A/C and BDT 2000-2500 A/C as of January, 2020. There are several bus services which depart from Fakirapool, Dhaka to Teknaf. Maximum bus starts at night and the journey is near about 10-11 hours. From Teknaf, mid-level ships run daily and take around 2-2.30 hours named Kutubdia, Keary Sindabad, Eagle-1.
The fare starts from BDT 650 to BDT 2500 as of September, 2020. All the ships and cruises stars journey from Teknaf to Saint Martin around 9AM-9.30AM and return journey starts from Saint Martin to around 3PM. The important thing is, during the off-season (May-August/September)these ships do not provide services because of bad weather. The peak season is September-April. The total distance from Dhaka to the island is 510 km.
By Plane
By plane you have to reach firstly in Cox's Bazar from Dhaka/Chittagong (Inter-country) by Biman Bangladesh Airlines or with Private Airlines such as Regent Airlines, United Airways,and Best Air etc. The fare from Dhaka-Cox's Bazar is around BDT 3500-5000 as of December, 2020. Cox's Bazar airport is the closest airport to Teknaf.
After reaching Cox's Bazar by Plane, from Cox's Bazar there are several ways to travel to Teknaf. There are private cars for rental services and cost approximately BDT 100-150. There are public buses which start from Cox's Bazar to Teknaf and cost BDT 80-120. Another way would be a group rental of a mid-level micro bus or jeep to travel to Teknaf which may cost less and be a safer journey.
Before Starting Journey Check Your Necessary Items to Carry With to make your Journey Memorable.
Get around
Arriving from the port you'll walk through a strip of basic restaurants and shops, and hit a T-junction. Left will take you to the eastern beaches (the cement ends shortly before the scuba dive centre), while a right turn will take you along the main cement 'road' where most of the hotels and guesthouses are, ending at the north-west part of the island.At one point a left turn leads around the newly built hospital and into the centre of the island. It's an interesting walk and eventually leads out to the western beach just north of the Sea Turtle Hatchery, after a couple wrong turns.
Flatbed cycle-rickshaws are the only transport aside from walking. There are no motorized vehicles on the island, not even motorcycles (yay!)
What to in Saint Martin Island
Coral beach, SaintMartins 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 Saint Martin's Resort, which exists only at low tide — a popular spot if sunset and low tide coincide.
An algae farmer lays his crop out to dry
- Village life is slow paced — most work happens in the morning and evening, while midday is reserved for drying fish and rice and selling your coconuts. Or, more likely, sitting in the shade chewing paan.
Sea Turtle Conservation Project STURCNET, Marine life Alliance at St Martin's Island
- There's Sea Turtle Conservation Program site on the west side of the island operated by research and conservation organization Marine life Alliance.
- They run sea turtle eggs hatching ground at Konapara village beach and also at Shilbaniar Gula at 3 kms south. If it's the right season there will be Netted/Bamboo enclosure on the upper side of the beach where eggs are buried to hatch safely; not much to see, but it's nice to know that good work is being done. This is under the Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Marine life Alliance, Previusly they used project name STURCNET (Sea Turtle Conservation Network). Marine life Alliance doing Sea Turtle Conservation Program at all sandy beach areas of Bangladesh, whole cox's Bazar beach, and also at Kuakata. Please visit Marine life Alliance sea turtle research centers at Cox Bazar when you first come.
Before Starting Journey Check Your Necessary Items to Carry With to make your Journey Memorable.
- Stars are amazingly plentiful on a moonless night, due to the lack of electricity on the island.
- Rock Beach (Rocky Beach Area), Dhakinmatha, (Last point of the Island). The southern point of the Island has a millions of years old Rock formed from Coral. The area is popular as Rock Beach and can be visited on foot. A 10-15 minutes track can be explored within the area by taking permission from the local land owners to see wild life including lizard, migratory birds and unique sweet water turtles habitat.
- Oceanic Scuba Dive Center, (turn
left from the pier at the end of the strip of restaurants, it's a couple
hundred meters down on the right, unsigned and well-hidden behind a bamboo
gate. This is the only dive
operation in the country, and is run by a friendly group of ex-navy
divers. At the moment they only visit one site at the southeast of the
island (off Chera Dwip), which is unspectacular but still makes for a nice
boat ride and the most activity you could hope for during your stay on the
island.
They're working towards buying a 'German' boat which will allow them to explore sites further out to sea, which may yield some better diving and more sea life. Prices are a little high (and negotiable), but consider that you're contributing to these guys' livelihood and towards expanding the opportunity for future diving. They've also got one bamboo guest hut with two beds if you're diving with them, and they'll cook all your meals for you — an alternative to the lackluster budget accommodation on the island. Food and lodging are by donation. On a safety note, this is nothing like a PADI certified dive center, and beginners should take care, especially alone — a guide/buddy is not included (though there's a good chance one of the guys will still come down with you). BDT 2500/dive, BDT 500 snorkel gear rental, BDT 600-800 boat fee.
- Walk
the beach
to the southern island of Chera Dwip, accessible on foot along a
narrow strip of land at low tide, or via a boat shuttle (Tk 5/person) at
high tide.
Beware of sharp rocks if wading through the water; sandals are ideal. Walking the length of the island takes around 1.5 hours. Take some sunscreen and water (though there's an occasional shack selling drinks, coconuts and snacks).
Before Starting Journey Check Your Necessary Items to Carry With to make your Journey Memorable.
What to Buy in Saint Martin Island
There are many small shops near the dock/port and along the main road selling very basic necessities and the odd souvenir t-shirts, hats, dry fish, shoe, sandals, dry foods, cosmetics & toiletries and sunglasses and many more. These are relatively cheap from the main town. Specially one must buy dry fish from here, it's relatively cheap and high quality. There are also few restaurants along with the main road of Saint Martins Island. The foods are cheap and good quality to eat. Anyone can complete the Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner with various sea foods. Everyone should taste the experience with different sea fishes and food, if once goes there.
Sea shells and things made from them are sold by little children around the island, but it's illegal and leads to the depletion of sea life. If anyone go there, please not to buy those and encourage others not to buy those. These will slowly damage this Island and the natural life. There are also some fake product come from Myanmar and China. Please try to avoid those and buy the real one.
Foods to Eat in Saint Martin
Food is a little more expensive here than on the mainland.
The food shacks that line the road to the port all cook up similar fare: omelet’s (egg, BDT 20) and vegetable curry (BDT 20) for breakfast, and (fish, dal, rice and veggies at 130 BDT) the rest of the day. Tea is BDT 8.
All of the hotels also have restaurants with basically the same typical Bangladeshi offerings, with moderate prices and better quality than those near the port. Chicken is sometimes available but very tasty, and lobster and crab may be available occasionally at very cheap prices. The restaurant at Blue Marine Resort and Appayan at St Martin's Resort are the best on the island.
Drink
- Coconuts are the drink of choice (BDT 15-20), and coconut pushers are to be found along the length of the island, getting slightly less aggressive as you move south.
- Alcohol may be available at the larger hotels or if you ask discreetly near the port, though there is not even a hint of nightlife.
Hotels for Sleeping
There are several budget guesthouses along the main road such as Hotel Sea Heart, Bay of Bengal Guesthouse, Coast Guesthouse, Hotel Sadek, Ocean view and Coral Reef Guesthouse
Coral Blue check in: 01:00pm; checkout: 12:00pm. Probably has the best view of St. Martins & Chera dwip.
- There's a government rest house signed only in Bengali on the main road next to Bay of Bengal Guesthouse. Rooms are a little larger and cleaner than the surrounding guesthouses and have mosquito nets. It's not possible to precook rooms and, even if they're available, whether you can stay will depend on the mood of the man on duty.
- Dream Night Resort, The resort located beautifully on west beach. Check in time 1 PM and Check out time 11 AM
- Music Eco Resort, Check in time 1 PM and Check out time 11 AM.
- Blue Marine Resort.
- Shemana Pereye Resort Ltd
- St Martin's Resort.
checkout: 2PM. Also
known as Hotel Nijhum, it's run by the government owned Abakash Parjatan.
Rooms are cleanish, staff are friendly, and it's very popular with
Bangladeshi families on holiday.
- Riyad Guesthouse,
- Samudra Bilash Ananda Ashram,
- famous Bangladeshi writer, Dr. Humaun Ahmed. It has 6 rooms, which are well decorated.
- Check-in time is around
12PM-2PM and Check-out time is around 1PM-2PM.
Before Starting Journey Check Your Necessary Items to Carry With to make your Journey Memorable
Conclusion
The island has seen a massive increase in tourism (mostly Bangladeshis) over the last few years, and the fragile ecosystem on the island is not well equipped to handle it. Do what you can to encourage eco-friendly practices, and definitely don't litter the island. It's also a good idea to avoid eating fish at every meal on an island where overfishing is a major problem and sea life is rapidly vanishing.
If you come across sea turtles or their eggs, keep a reasonable distance and don't disturb these fascinating but fragile creatures.
Westerners should be alert to the modest lifestyle of the islanders, especially women. It is not a good idea to swim in public places in western bathing suits, and modest dress is appropriate for both women and men.
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