St. Martin's Island
St.
Martin's Island is a
small island in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the
tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, and forming the southernmost part of Bangladesh. It is about 8 km west of
the northwest coast of Myanmar, at the mouth
of the Naf River. The local name of the island is
"Narical Gingira", also spelled "Narikel Jinjira/Jinjera",
means 'Coconut Island' in Bengali. It is the only coral island in Bangladesh.Most of the island's 5500 inhabitants live primarily from fishing.
Besides, the other staple crops are rice and coconut. Being very common in the
island, Algae is collected, then dried and finally exported to Myanmar. Between
October and April, the fishermen from neighbouring areas bring their caught
fishes to the island's temporary wholesale market. As the centre and the south
are mainly farmland and makeshift huts, most of the strenuous things are around
the far north of the island.Motel Nijhum is one of the best hotels in St. Martin’s Island.
Besides,Abokash, Ratnodeep Resort, Nil Diganta,Blue Marine, Prashad Paradise and
Sraboni Bilash are also well known hotels. All these hotels are situated near
the seashore.
Do not expect to find taxis, tarred roads or electricity here. Except
for the larger hotels that run on generators, there is no electricity supply
from National grid in the island. The island is all about sun, sea and palm
trees. During the day, the island comes alive with water and beach sports, with
beach parties and bonfires lighting up the evening skies.
St. Martin's Island has become a popular tourist spot. Currently, five
shipping liners run daily trips to the island, including Shahid Sher Niabat, L
T Kutubdia, Eagle, Keary Cruise & Dine and Keary-Sindbad. Tourists can book
their trip either from Chittagong or from Cox's Bazar. The surrounding coral reef of
the island has an extension named Chera Dwip. A small bush is there, which is
the only green part of Chera Dwip, enhancing the beauty of this island. People
do not live on this part of the island, so it is advisable for the tourists to
go there early and come back by afternoon.
You will get the best weather usually between November and February.
Undoubtedly, this is the major tourist season. Between March and July, a
tourist must keep his eyes on the forecast keenly, as cyclone can strike during
these times. The island was devastated by a cyclone in 1991 but has fully
recovered, and was untouched by the 2004 tsunami. Thus, March to July is
tourist off season.
In the
past 5 years St. Martin's visitor population has increased dramatically. While
this situation has proven to be lucrative for the islanders, it is causing the
natural beauty of the island to deteriorate. Presently there are many efforts
being put forth to preserve the several endangered species of turtles that nest on the island, as well as the corals,
some of which are found only on Narikel Jinjera. Pieces of the coral reef are
being removed in order to be sold to tourists.Nesting turtles are sometimes
taken for food, and their hatchlings are oftendistracted by the twinkling lights along the beach. Species of fish, a
few just recently discovered, are being overfished. Every year the fishermen
must venture further out to sea to get their catch. Most of them use motorless
boats.
It's possible to walk around the island in a day because it measures
only 8 km2 (3 sq. mile), shrinking to about 5 km2
(2 sq. mi) during high tide. The island exists only because of its coral base,
so removal of that coral risks erosion of the beaches. Sadly, St. Martin's has
lost roughly 25% of its coral reef in the past 7 years.