Saint Martin Island of Bangladesh
The St. Martin Island of Bangladesh is located in the Bay of Bengal surrounded by vast black stone. The area of this island is only 14 km and 20 km distance from the mainland of Teknaf. First settlement started before 250 years ago by the number of Arabian Sailors and named as ‘Zajira’. Later the local settlers named as Narikel Jinjira (Local Name). During British period the island was named as Saint Martin Island. The characteristic of 12km long sandy sea beach is very pleasant with gentle slope. Water is crystal clean with rich biodiversity and unpolluted nature play the vital role to attract the tourists in Bangladesh. The southern part of the island is forested by some mangrove species like Keya, Khalshi, Kirpa, Horgoza, Jhao and so on. There are also planted trees like coconut, battle nut , bamboo, mango and other local vegetation. There are now more than 6500 people permanently living and their main occupation is fishing. The marine life of the area is very rich with different type of sea fishes like Pamfret, Maccaral, Tona, Gruiter etc. There are also various types of shruips, lobstar, King crab and rare species of giant crab can be found in an ideal habitat. This island attracts the natural scientists to be a safe refuge for hatching of different type of sea turtles like olive ridley turtle, Hocksbill turtle, leatherback turtle and loggerhead turtle.
The island is now accessible for the people after introduced of regular Sea Truck everyday at 10 am and return by 3 pm along side with many private fishing trawlers in the area.
There are only few numbers 5/6 private tourist lodge and the only standard Hotel Prashad Paradise has opened up to accommodation the most enthusiastic tourists in Bangladesh who ventured to cross the 20 km blue water of the Bay of Bengal bordering the south-eastern side by the Myanmar High Hill ranges and the turbulent waves of the Bay. But the natural surrounding of the island is considered as the paradise for the nature loving tourist who can enjoy the virgin coral beach and pass leisure time or go for snorkeling in the blue water in the island. The brilliant sunrise and colorful sun set has no match any where in the world. To enjoy the moonlit night sitting on any black stone along side the beach will be life time experience for any tourist. You only get this pleasure in Bangladesh e.g. in the saint martin.
The adjacent small island Chera deep is very attractive for rich marine life shells, pearl and corals.
It is about seven kilometer of Cox’s Bazar and about 9 square kilometer in area. The western side of the island is sandy and different kinds of shells are found on the beach areas. Off the northern part of the island, there are beds of windowpane oysters. During winter, fisherman set up temporary camps on the island and Dries Sea fishes, which they catch from the blue Sea.
Nijhum Island of Bangladesh (Nijhum Dwip)
This new island of Nijhum Dwip raised on the estuary of the great Meghna channel in the mouth of The Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. The geographical location has been identified just 2 kilometers south west of Hatia under Noakhali district in Bangladesh. This newly accredited island may be called as cluster of islands consist of more than four to five small islands like Char Osman, Char Kamla, Corner of Char Osman and isolated from the mainland by Hatia channel.
This island was brought under settlement during 1969 and then the forest department under took massive initiatives for forestation by mangrove species. Now this island is the unique eco-touristic spot for its ideal natural setup with the rich bio diversification factors and the perennial mangrove forest with wild animals like deer, wild boar and rhesus macaque and for the ideal habitat for fish resources. As south coast is open to the mouth of great span of Bay of Bengal, the look of whale sometimes occurred. There are more than eight thousand inhabitants found their permanent residence in the island and their occupation are mainly cultivation as well as fishing. There are some NGO like Red Crescent, Proshika, Human Development centre, CSS and JAICA are involved with their development projects on this island areas. Due to its rich natural and bio diversical factors, the touristic potentiality have enormously enhanced. In spite of difficult access and lack of good residential facilities, a few thousand enthusiastic local tourists visit this island during winter in every year.
As there is no regular river transport or passenger route from Dhaka to Nijhum Dwip, it is difficult to organize direct tour program from Dhaka to Nijhum Dwip and Kuakata beach through coastal water ways. The main problem is that there is no navigation light, there are hundreds of submerged islands due to the constant deposition of silt through the Megna estuary.
Sonadia Island of Bangladesh (Soonadia Dwip)
It is seven kilometer distance from Cox’s Bazar and about nine square kilometer in the area. The western side of the island is sandy and different kinds of shells are found on the beach areas. Off the northern part of the island, there are beds of windowpane oysters. During winter, fisherman set up temporary camps on the island and Dries Sea fishes, which they catch from Sea water.
Mohheskhali Island of Bangladesh (Mohheskhali Dwip)
This is wonderful island in the Bay of Bengal in the north-western directions off Cox’s Bazar. The island can be accessible by boat of 20-30 minutes drive. The island is dotted with forested hills and some mangrove vegetation alongside the coastal beach. The ancient Adinath Temple at the hilltop and the Rakhain villages with their colorful Buddhist temple has got enormous touristic attractions. Millions of Hindu devotees meet together during the festival at the Aditinath Temple (mid Falgun) every year.
