St. Martins Island is the most beautiful Coral Island where you will find live corals. It's only 30 km from Teknaf and you can go there by local motorboat, tourist boat, or sea truck.
[Coral Beach at St. Martins Island]
This small coral island about 10km (6 mi) southwest of the southern tip of the mainland is a tropical cliché, with beaches fringed with coconut palms and bountiful marine life. There’s nothing more strenuous to do here than soak up the rays, but it’s a clean and peaceful place without even a mosquito to disrupt your serenity.
It’s possible to walk around the island in a day because it measures only 8 sq km (3 sq mi), shrinking to about 5 sq km (2 sq mi) during high tide. Most of the island’s 5500 inhabitants live primarily from fishing, and between October and April, Fisher's people from neighboring areas bring their catch to the island’s temporary wholesale market.
On this Island, you will find a beautiful Coral reef, and long Coral beach, and lots of coconut trees. The local name of the coconut is Narikel and the original name of this Island Narikel Jinjira is derived from that. Accommodation on St. Martins Island is limited, so it is advisable to book accommodation before you plan to go to this Island. Motel Nijhum is one of the best hotels on St. Martins Island. To book in Motel Nijhum, confirm your reservation from Dhaka. You will hardly get a chance to stay in this hotel if you are a sudden visitor to St. Martins Island. The other good hotels are Prashad Paradise & Sraboni Bilash.
[Wild Orchids in the Coconut Garden at St. Martins Island]
Booking of these hotels is also possible from Dhaka. All these three hotels are situated adjacent to Seashore. From this hotel's lobby or veranda, you can enjoy the Sea. There are some other motels and hotels established on St. Martins Island.
Overnight staying on St. Martins Island is really an exotic feeling where you will feel and listen to the sound of the Sea. If you are lucky enough, then you can spend the exotic moonlit night at St. Martins Island. The beauty of the Full moon on St. Martins Island cannot be expressed if you are not there at that time.
Chera-dip is a part of St. Martins Island but is divided during tides. You can go to Chera-dip for walking. About two and a half hours walk from St. Martins Island or you can go there also by local motorboat or tourist boat. On that Island, you will find the Corals - living and dead all over the Island. A small bush is there which is the only green part of Chera-dip, enhancing the beauty of this island. People do not live on this Island, so advisable for the tourists to go there early and come back by afternoon.
Nijhum Island
This Island could be the next prime tourist spot after St. Martins Island. It’s the natural beauty of mangrove forests where you will find Dears of specific species and Monkeys. A huge number of migrated birds come to this Island in the winter season, enhancing the beauty of this Island. The communication is not excellent but if someone wishes to bear the trouble to go to this Island, he will be enchanted to see the beauty of this Island. You can go to this Island either from Dhaka or from Chittagong.
From Chittagong first, you will go to Hatia Island by Motorboat or Ship and from there you can go to Nijhum Island by local motorboat. From Dhaka, you can go to Tomizuddin by launch from the Sadarghat launch terminal. From there you can go to Nijhum Island by local motorboat.
Accommodation is very limited for the tourists on this Island. You can take food from local restaurants but be careful about the quality of food. If you can take prior permission from the forest department then you can stay in a forest rest house on Nijhum Island. Another possibility for accommodation is in the District Parishad Guest House. If you take the permission from Thana administration (TNO) of Hatia you can also stay in the District Parishad Guest House. For adventure seekers, Nijhum Island could be one of the greatest experiences of a journey and it will be a memorable enjoyment to stay and pass some days on this isolated Island.
