I had a trip to St. Martins Island on 7-9 Nov.I'll be posting some of the pictures I took during that 3-day trip. Before starting the journey, it may be good idea to review some geography.

Saint Martins Island
St Martin's Island a small island in the northeast of the bay of bengal, about 9 km south of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsular tip and forming the southernmost part of Bangladesh. It is about 8 km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar at the mouth of the river naf. The island lies between 92°18´ and 92°21´E longitudes and 20°34´ and 20°39´N latitudes. The local people call it Narikel Jinjira. It is almost flat and is 3.6m above the mean sea level. The 9.66 km wide channel between the mainland and the island is much shallower than the open sea southwest of the island. There are reefs from 10-15 km to the west-northwest.


The island is 7.315 km long and is aligned NNW and SSE. Geographically, it is divided into three parts. The northern part is called Narikel Jinjira or Uttarpara and is 2,134m long and 1,402m wide. The southern part is known as Dakshinpara, which is 1,929m long, with a narrow tail of 1,890m towards the southeast, and a maximum width of 975m. A narrow central belt or Maddhyapara connects the two parts. The length and the width of this belt are about 1,524m and 518m respectively and the narrowest collar is known as Golachipa. In addition to the main island there are a number of tiny islets ranging from 100 to 500 sq m which are locally known as Chheradia or Siradia which means separated island. There is a shallow lagoon in the middle of Uttarpara and it is connected to the sea during high tide by a narrow channel on the western coast. The topsoil of Uttarpara consists of alluvial sands mixed with shells of molluscs. There are two small dead lagoons and a stretch of marshy land in Dakshinpara. Fish landing sites, bazars and schools are present only in Uttarpara. (from http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/S_0537.htm)
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/st4.gif

Googe Earth View
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/BD.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/st1.jpg
Main Jetty
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/st2.jpg
The hotel I stayed in
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/st3.jpg

I took advantage of Dhaka-Teknaf direct bus service (St. Martins Service) which started operation on Nov 1. You can also prefer to reach (by air or bus) Cox's Bazar first, hang around there for a day and start for St. Martins next morning. Either way, you'll have to be there in Teknaf by 9:30am. Because, thats the time when all of the three shipping liners start for St. Martins from Teknaf jetty.

Teknaf Jetty and getting on board ship Kutubdia
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Small fishing trawlers around jetty
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terrific stuff Tareq!

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A bunch of Sea-gulls followed almost half way to St. Martins...

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2/3 of the route is through Naf River, so the land right side is Myanmur (Burma), (the distant highlands in the camera pictures).
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day1/route.jpg

we are here now-
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day1/route2.jpg

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Keari Sindbad is little smaller than Kutubdia, but a little speedier as well...so it overtook our ship on the way-

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day1/DSC03607.jpg

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Finally we see some land and it is the main jetty of the island

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This island produces finest coconuts, available as soon as you land here
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This is place just beside the hotel I stayed in-
(I've used this as wallpaper in my PC!)
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day1/DSC03628.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day1/DSC03629.jpg

terrific stuff Tareq!

Thanks.

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Not a great a camera, in fact, a bad workman with a bad tool, so the result was not that great either-

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day1/DSC03647.jpg

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Hotel Abakash

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day1/DSC04059.jpg

Thats the end of Day 1. Stay Tuned for two more days in the coral Island.:)

Thats the end of Day 1. Stay Tuned for two more days in the coral Island.:)

can't wait!!

Amazing pics Tareq!

How are the hotels in St.Martin's island?

I feel great looking at ur pics, thanks Tareq. Serious, that's the most beautiful sunset I've seen, ever ! Your camera is super high-quality !! The ferry service to St Martin is excellent, maybe next month I will be there.

Amazing pics Tareq!

How are the hotels in St.Martin's island?

Hotels in St. Martin's Island are not great. This island lacks infrastructure in every respect. Electricity supply is very limited as there is no national grid, hotels have their own generators. But at the end of the day you will be happy, as all the hotels are just on the beach, people spend most of their time hanging around the beach and restaurants. So you may get to the hotel room only for taking a bath or sleep....and talking about restaurants reminds me...yummy... if you love fried sea fish...pomfret, lobster, hilsa, koral to name a few, are available...they are finger licking good.

I feel great looking at ur pics, thank Tareq. Serious, that's the most beautiful sunset I've seen, ever ! Your camera is super high-quality !! The ferry service to St Martin is excellent, maybe next month I will be there.

Yeah, I came across your plan in other thread. Most welcome. But if you want to go to Cox's Bazar as well, you should go there first and when you are done with that place, be in Teknaf by 9am. I think it takes a couple of hours from Cox to Teknaf. I dont wanna intimidate you, but it will be huge rush there at that time, as that is the peak time for domestic travelers as well, so ensure accommodation and transportation, which is true for both Cox's bazar and St. Martin's. Hope you'll 've a nice trip.

I guess you were kidding me about the camera! But oneday I'll surely own an SLR!

First class pics and commentary, Tareq - the wait was worth it (hope I can say the same about a certain someone's Maghbazar pictures :D...but I will probably be old and grey before I see those :D :D).

Pictures came out nice - Tareq. Thank you.

St. Martin Island looks good. There is huge potential for tourism there if proper infrastructures are being built. At least similar to that of Cox bazar.

St. Martin Island looks good. There is huge potential for tourism there if proper infrastructures are being built. At least similar to that of Cox bazar.

Very true and probably only a matter of time, but I would like to see some areas of shoreline set aside as national parks or nature preserves. Otherwise with large population like ours all of it will become overcrowded, overdeveloped and / or unclean. I would advocate same for some areas of Chittagong Hill Tracts.

^^Good point. We have to ensure that we protect the forestry for our survival.

Lets continue and move on to Day 2 when we had a trip to Chera Dwip from St. Martin's Island by a trawler.

Near Jetty
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day2/DSC03666.jpg

Chera Dwip
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day2/DSC03701.jpg

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Chera Dwip
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s195/tareq79/StMartins/Day2/DSC04076.jpg

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Back to Mr. Martin's place-

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These three ships (may be four by now) reach St. Martin's by 12pm wait for outgoing passengers up to 3pm-

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thnaks for the pics tarek

Thanks for the new pics Tareq. How far is Chera Dwip from St. Martin's? Are there any facilities there?

Very nice pics Tareq. Thanks.

Day 2 meaning day trip of your previous trip?

Nice pictures.

Majhi's observation - Tareq loves water and boats.

These three ships (may be four by now) reach St. Martin's by 12pm wait for outgoing passengers up to 3pm-


They are docked side-by-side. How would one get to the very last one? Through the other two?

nice pics

They are docked side-by-side. How would one get to the very last one? Through the other two?

Yes, exactly. Actually, I had to get to the last one through the other ones and some people are there to manage these routes. All of these start same time (3pm from St. Martins) and so its busy hour out there at that time.

I noticed there are many unfamiliar spots-- I think tareq covered the whole of St. Martin from north to south . I managed only to get around the northern part of the island cos I had to catch the return boat that same day at 3 pm

Which part of St Martin has the nicest beach ? In the north or in the south ? Or at the narrow path at the middle ?

Tareq wonderful Photography. Keep posting like this.

Original pictures, and lessons for me !!!

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