A coral dream-house - a spontaneous trip to St. Martins Island, Bangladesh
A coral dream-house
Faizul Khan Tanim takes a spontaneous trip to St. Martins Island and returns besotted by its beauty
photos by Md Nazrul Islam & Md Asif Ali
If you crave for a little bit of adventure, an impulsive trip that does not call for passport and visas, then touring Saint Martins Island might just be it. It is a small coral island in the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal, about nine to ten kilometres south of the tip of the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf peninsula.
From what I have heard about the island in the past, a lot has changed. Now, there are hotels, towers (reception of cell phones absolutely clear), restaurants brimming with tourists, chit-chatter and the clattering noise of forks and spoons- in a nutshell, it is not at all a deserted place anymore. The white and grey sand dune, looking stunning under a bright sunshine, and plenty of breezes, still, however, preserves its natural feel.
The most thrilling part, though, is that there is no electricity, making every night a glorious experience. The stars become words, moon becomes the tune, and the atmosphere plays the composition.
Travelling in a group of five, we started our 510 km from Dhaka, unable to make any kind of bookings from the capital. From Chittagong we took the S Alam bus to Teknaf and from there, having missed the regular ferries, we resorted to the traditional seafarer, a trawler.
It takes almost two and half, to three hours to reach the island and the trawler ride can get bumpy at times.
The blue-green water at times looks like waves of emerald. Big boats, sea birds flying over, and hills around the coast while crossing the Naf River – it was a spellbinding initial 2 hours. As the trawler moved in to the sea, the waves started brewing up some bouncy fun. While most people put up brave front exclaiming ‘Whoaaa!’ at the most, I could see a few faces turn completely pale.
Reaching the island was a huge relief for those weak-hearted, but not for long. We soon discovered that all the rooms of all the hotels in the island were occupied, and thus we were left with no other option but to take a ten-man hotel tent costing Taka 1500 per day, just beside the shore.
It was lunch time. Arriving at the port we walked through a strip of basic restaurants along a cemented t-junction. The pomfret fish fry, shutki bhorta (mashed dry fish) with hot rice and pulses, onions, green chilli and sipping green coconut water – it was an amazing feast.
Walking by the beach in the island during the evening or playing beach volleyball can be very pleasant, while the nights can become extremely dreamy. One has to experience it to know how darkness can be beautiful – look up to find the stars glittering like never before or listen to folk tunes or the self-composed music of Abdur Rashid, who sits beside the beach tea stalls and sings his heart out. It is one of the catchiest entertainments of the island after dawn.
In the two-day trip, we were lucky to find the kite flying festival (ghuri utshob). The whole beachside sky was filled with beautiful kites. Tania Bulbul, a member of the Chobir Haat group from Dhaka said it was more a spur-of-the-moment decision than a planned event to arrange the Ghuri Utshob by members of Chobir Haat two years back. ‘This is the third year we came to this island for the occasion,’ she says. ‘We fly kites of different shapes, sizes and colours, and sketch them beforehand to make them aerodynamic.’
Furthermore, an interesting 30 minutes trawler journey was to this another island called Chhera Dweep. The island is definitely not torn as the name suggests and it is the one place to see the coral reefs and blue/green water and gigantic waves – an amazing scenic beauty.
In the beginning, we were sceptical of being inside a tent and by the end of it, however, we realised how wrong we were. There are outstanding nights once you step out of the tent - full of breeze, sea roar, the moon and glitzy stars and almost no mosquitoes. The experience, is simply beyond words. Listening to Kishore Kumar’s Sagar Kinare or Shagor er Oi Prantorey by Souls can add to the absolute exciting atmosphere of visiting the majestic waves of Bangladesh.
HOW TO REACH AND WHAT TO DO
STEP 1 You can take any luxury coach service from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar. It will cost you between Tk. 500 to Tk. 700.
STEP 2 You need to use local services like hiring a microbus or a minibus which will cost you around Tk. 70 to Tk 100 till the Steamer Ghat.
STEP 3 Book the big steamers which starts early morning costing Tk. 200 onwards or book a trawler (Tk. 3,000 onwards) anytime before 2:00 pm. Arrival at St. Martin’s Island from Teknaf takes around 2.5 hours in average and checking in at your hotel at St. Martin’s before dawn is important.
STEP 4 Hotels at St. Martins costs from Tk. 700 up to Tk. 1500 per room (2 person) each day and a Tent for accommodation of 10 individuals costs Tk. 1500.
STEP 5 TO DO
See sunrise and sunset and photograph them
See Turtle Hatchery near Shimana Periye Resort
Scuba Dive in the clear waters. The Oceanic Scuba Dive Center is near the Naval Base
Walk the island by the side of the beach. Green coconut is sold at small intervals
* Food is relatively expensive
** Take lotions and sunscreen
Faizul Khan Tanim takes a spontaneous trip to St. Martins Island and returns besotted by its beauty
photos by Md Nazrul Islam & Md Asif Ali
If you crave for a little bit of adventure, an impulsive trip that does not call for passport and visas, then touring Saint Martins Island might just be it. It is a small coral island in the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal, about nine to ten kilometres south of the tip of the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf peninsula.
From what I have heard about the island in the past, a lot has changed. Now, there are hotels, towers (reception of cell phones absolutely clear), restaurants brimming with tourists, chit-chatter and the clattering noise of forks and spoons- in a nutshell, it is not at all a deserted place anymore. The white and grey sand dune, looking stunning under a bright sunshine, and plenty of breezes, still, however, preserves its natural feel.
The most thrilling part, though, is that there is no electricity, making every night a glorious experience. The stars become words, moon becomes the tune, and the atmosphere plays the composition.
Travelling in a group of five, we started our 510 km from Dhaka, unable to make any kind of bookings from the capital. From Chittagong we took the S Alam bus to Teknaf and from there, having missed the regular ferries, we resorted to the traditional seafarer, a trawler.
It takes almost two and half, to three hours to reach the island and the trawler ride can get bumpy at times.
The blue-green water at times looks like waves of emerald. Big boats, sea birds flying over, and hills around the coast while crossing the Naf River – it was a spellbinding initial 2 hours. As the trawler moved in to the sea, the waves started brewing up some bouncy fun. While most people put up brave front exclaiming ‘Whoaaa!’ at the most, I could see a few faces turn completely pale.
Reaching the island was a huge relief for those weak-hearted, but not for long. We soon discovered that all the rooms of all the hotels in the island were occupied, and thus we were left with no other option but to take a ten-man hotel tent costing Taka 1500 per day, just beside the shore.
It was lunch time. Arriving at the port we walked through a strip of basic restaurants along a cemented t-junction. The pomfret fish fry, shutki bhorta (mashed dry fish) with hot rice and pulses, onions, green chilli and sipping green coconut water – it was an amazing feast.
Walking by the beach in the island during the evening or playing beach volleyball can be very pleasant, while the nights can become extremely dreamy. One has to experience it to know how darkness can be beautiful – look up to find the stars glittering like never before or listen to folk tunes or the self-composed music of Abdur Rashid, who sits beside the beach tea stalls and sings his heart out. It is one of the catchiest entertainments of the island after dawn.
In the two-day trip, we were lucky to find the kite flying festival (ghuri utshob). The whole beachside sky was filled with beautiful kites. Tania Bulbul, a member of the Chobir Haat group from Dhaka said it was more a spur-of-the-moment decision than a planned event to arrange the Ghuri Utshob by members of Chobir Haat two years back. ‘This is the third year we came to this island for the occasion,’ she says. ‘We fly kites of different shapes, sizes and colours, and sketch them beforehand to make them aerodynamic.’
Furthermore, an interesting 30 minutes trawler journey was to this another island called Chhera Dweep. The island is definitely not torn as the name suggests and it is the one place to see the coral reefs and blue/green water and gigantic waves – an amazing scenic beauty.
In the beginning, we were sceptical of being inside a tent and by the end of it, however, we realised how wrong we were. There are outstanding nights once you step out of the tent - full of breeze, sea roar, the moon and glitzy stars and almost no mosquitoes. The experience, is simply beyond words. Listening to Kishore Kumar’s Sagar Kinare or Shagor er Oi Prantorey by Souls can add to the absolute exciting atmosphere of visiting the majestic waves of Bangladesh.
HOW TO REACH AND WHAT TO DO
STEP 1 You can take any luxury coach service from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar. It will cost you between Tk. 500 to Tk. 700.
STEP 2 You need to use local services like hiring a microbus or a minibus which will cost you around Tk. 70 to Tk 100 till the Steamer Ghat.
STEP 3 Book the big steamers which starts early morning costing Tk. 200 onwards or book a trawler (Tk. 3,000 onwards) anytime before 2:00 pm. Arrival at St. Martin’s Island from Teknaf takes around 2.5 hours in average and checking in at your hotel at St. Martin’s before dawn is important.
STEP 4 Hotels at St. Martins costs from Tk. 700 up to Tk. 1500 per room (2 person) each day and a Tent for accommodation of 10 individuals costs Tk. 1500.
STEP 5 TO DO
See sunrise and sunset and photograph them
See Turtle Hatchery near Shimana Periye Resort
Scuba Dive in the clear waters. The Oceanic Scuba Dive Center is near the Naval Base
Walk the island by the side of the beach. Green coconut is sold at small intervals
* Food is relatively expensive
** Take lotions and sunscreen
#* This article was first published in The Daily New Age, Trends magazine Tuesday March 06'2007
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