Bangladesh reopened St Martin’s Island to overnight tourists on Monday after months of restrictions, drawing 1,174 visitors on the first day as authorities tightened monitoring of operators and enforced new environmental rules.
Three vessels — Keari Sindabad, MV Karnaphuli Express and MV Baro Aulia — sailed from Cox’s Bazar’s Nuniachhara jetty between 7am and 8am, marking the formal resumption of controlled tourism to the country’s only coral island, said Tourist Police.
The season will remain open until January 31, with a strict cap of 2,000 visitors per day.
Regulatory oversight was immediate, according to the Tourist Police.
They said the Keari Sindabad was fined Tk50,000 for selling tickets without the mandatory online registration.
"Law enforcement agencies remain strict against irregularities and harassment of tourists,” said Additional DIG of Tourist Police Apel Mahmud.
Officials from the district administration, Department of Environment (DoE), BIWTA and other government agencies monitored the jetty to ensure adherence to the government’s 12-point directive, introduced to curb environmental degradation and manage crowding on the fragile island.
In a new sustainability measure, each tourist was handed a free aluminium water bottle by the DoE to discourage single-use plastics — a growing concern on St Martin’s amid rising footfall.
“The bottles were distributed to all tourists boarding from the BIWTA jetty,” said Khandaker Mahmud Pasha, deputy director of the DoE’s Cox’s Bazar office.
Local residents and tourism traders greeted arriving visitors as the three vessels docked at St Martin’s later in the day. Operators say early turnout signals strong pent-up demand.
“Some 1,174 tourists reached St Martin’s today on three vessels,” said Hossain Islam Bahadur, general secretary of the Sea Cruise Operator Owners Association of Bangladesh.
Authorities are keeping a close watch to ensure that visitor levels do not exceed the approved limit. “Strict surveillance is in place to ensure no more than 2,000 tourists per day travel to the island,” said Nilufa Yasmin Chowdhury, UNO of Cox’s Bazar Sadar and convener of the monitoring committee.
Under the new schedule, ships will leave Cox’s Bazar each morning at 7am and depart the island for the return journey at 3pm the following day, allowing overnight stays for the first time in months.
The reopening is expected to provide a temporary boost to local tourism businesses, though authorities say ecological protection remains the priority as St Martin’s continues to confront risks from waste, unregulated construction and unchecked visitor flows.
