What is the most popular tourist destination in Bangladesh? One answer, and that is the Cox’s Bazar. Cox’s bazar is the southernmost district from Bangladesh. Being near the Bay of Bengal, a lot of local people depend upon fishing from the vast ocean. This district is blessed with the world’s longest continuous sea beach. It has the country’s most beautiful and only coral island. A lot of tourists travel to Cox’s Bazar every year (both local and international).
During the long weekend or long holidays (i.e. Eid festival) a lot of Bangladeshi tourists gather here. This city can accommodate more than 100 thousands of tourists. Most of the local tourists gather here to relax. They want to get away from their busy life for a couple of days. Cox’s Bazar city is the center point of the tourism in this district as it has the Beach nearby.
Most of the visitors visit the beach and explore a few of the nearby areas. But apart from the beach, there are plenty of things to do in Cox’s bazar district. Below is a list of a few attractions in Cox’s Bazar based on my visit.
#1 Beautiful Saint Martin’s island
Saint Martin’s Island is the most beautiful island from Bangladesh which is located in Cox’s Bazar district.This is a unique island in many ways. This is located at the southernmost part of Bangladesh. It also falls into the western bay of Myanmar. Finally, this is the only coral island from Bangladesh. Local name of the island is Narkel Jinjira which means the island of coconut. Being a coral island the water surrounded by is having blue color. A lot of tourists visit this island during winter (December to February). Despite being a small island this has plenty of accommodation for the tourists. This island is a nice place to watch the sunrise and sunset. This island even has another small island named Chhera dip which is connected by a thread-like land.
#2 Longest unbroken sea beach
Cox’s Bazar is the most visited tourist destination from Bangladesh. The main attraction from there is the world’s longest unbroken sea beach. Regardless of the season, everyday a lot of tourists visit this natural wonder. Most of the visitors are from inside the country, but there are quite a number of visitors who come here from outside too. Most of the foreign visitors come here during winter. The reason is the winter in Bangladesh is very mild compared to the winter in Europe or other western countries. The length of this world’s longest sea beach in Cox’s Bazar is around 120 kilometer long. For water sports and swimming, Kolatoli and Laboni points are popular amongst the tourists.
#3 Maheshkhali island
Moheshkhali (or Maheshkhali) is an attractive island that is located several kilometers apart from the main town of Cox’s Bazar. This island is separated from the mainland by a channel named Moheshkhali channel. That’s why you have to reach the island by boat, trawler or other water vehicles. No alternative ways. It takes around 15-25 minutes to reach the island by using a speed boat. If you are using a trawler it might take a bit more but would be cheaper. On the island you could roam around the small hillocks. Few Buddhists and Hindu temples are there too. It would be a nice place for a half day tour around the island.
#4 Dulhazra safari park
You’ve spent most of your time around the beaches and water. But do you know that there is a safari park where you could spend half a day? Dulahazra safari park is located in Chakaria of Cox’s bazar district. It is also known as Dulhazara or Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park. It’s around an hour of road journey from the main town of Cox’s bazar. Main attractions from the safari park are the Black bears, Peacocks, Crocodile, Wild elephant, Hippopotamus, Tiger, Lion, Python, etc. It would be a nice experience to go for something different.
#5 Buddhist temple in Ramu
Ramu is a village in Ramu Upazila of Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh. You’d find quite a few Buddhist temples around that area. Amongst those the Rangkut Bonasram Buddha Bihar is the most famous and visited one. This Buddhist temple is just around 14-20 kilometers from the main town of Cox’s Bazar. If you have a plan to spend more than a couple of days in Cox’s Bazar then this place is a nice one to explore. This place is not that huge and do not expect too much to see from there.
Watching sunset from Inani beach.
#6 Tranquil Inani beach
Inani beach (also known as Enani beach) is an attractive tourist spot from the Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh. This beautiful Inani beach is located in the Ukhia Upazila of Cox’s Bazar district. It is around a 25 kilometer drive from Cox’s Bazar to Inani beach. This beach has a lot of coral which makes the water much clearer than Cox’s Bazar sea beaches. For this reason a lot of tourists visit here to see this beach. FYI, the length of the beach is around 18 kilometer.
#7 Watch sunset from the beach
After the beach activities the tourists like to watch the sunset over the vast ocean. Thousands of tourists gather at the beach to say goodbye to the sun for a new day. The Sunset event in Cox’s Bazar gets most crowded during the 31st December. On that particular day the city gets overwhelmed by the local tourists. If you’ve returned from Cox’s Bazar without watching the sunset, then please go back again. Because your tour hasn’t been completed yet. To watch the sunset you could do it from the main beach (Laboni or Kolatoli point), or you could do it from the Inani beach.
Where to eat in Cox’s bazar
Cox’s bazar is a nice place to taste the sea fishes from Bangladesh. You’d find plenty of restaurants from the town which serve Pomfret, Koral, Lobsters, and many other sea fishes. Those are really tasty and mouth watering. I’ve tried the restaurants like Niribili, Dhanshiri, Poushi, etc from Cox’s bazar. To me the food from all of those restaurants tasted more or less the same. Compared to the price the Poushi was a bit cheaper.
How to go
There are several ways to go to Cox’s bazar. Fastest way is to use the direct flight between Dhaka and Cox’s bazar. It would cost you around 15 thousands Bangladeshi Taka for a single trip. If you use a bus then it would be around 8-12 hours of journey depending upon the traffic condition. Best bus services are Green line and Shohag (expensive too). Third option is to use the train from Dhaka to Chittagong and then use a bus from there. But I’d not recommend the third option to go Cox’s Bazar from Dhaka. But a good news, there might be a direct train between Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar (by 2022 or 2023). Lets hope for the best.
Where to stay in Cox’s bazar
As Cox’s bazar is the most busiest tourist destination from Bangladesh, there are numerous hotels around the city which can accommodate hundreds of thousands of visitors. Here is the list of hotels from Cox’s Bazar which are available to book online. During my most visits I’ve stayed in Hotel Media as the price was reasonable, plus the service was better. During the off season (May to October) the hotels from Cox’s bazar provide discounts and packages to attract more tourists that time. Most of the discounts are around 40% to 50% off. You could take that chance to reduce your cost.
Also there are few eco resorts available in Cox’s bazar (such as Mermaid eco resort). They are located slightly far from the city crowd. They have a nice environment there as well with a private beach. Enjoying a day or two with family on such resorts would be a nice experience.
Written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog alonelytraveler.com
