Cox's Bazar, The World's Longest Natural Sea Beach

 

The Cox's Bazar sea beach is famous for being the longest natural sea beach in the world. This unbroken sea beach stretches more than 120 km. Cox's Bazar is located about 150 km south of the city of Chittagong and the wavy waters of the Bay of Bengal touches this entire beach. Cox's Bazar itself consists of miles of golden sands, towering cliffs, surfing waves and rare conch shells. Cox's Bazar is undoubtedly one of the most attractive places for a tourist in my home country, Bangladesh. However, I've only been there once with my family and I really enjoyed my time there.

 So, when's the best time to visit?

The best time to visit Cox's Bazar is probably between April to September. As the beaches get super crowded at any other season. And especially from November to February, that's when the Cox's Bazar is full of tourists and locals. It's possible to get there both by flight or just road travels.

Interesting places to visit and things do?

Different parts of the Cox's Bazar beach is named differently based on the diverse flora and fauna. Like, 'Laboni Beach', Sughandha Beach', 'Himchari Beach', 'Inani Beach' and 'Teknaf Beach'. The more you go south though, the more the ocean water become bluer. The transportation is usually done through rickshaws or easy bikes. 

• Himchari: Himchari beach itself is beautiful. There's also hills that run alongside the beach. This is situated about 32 km south of Cox's Bazar along the beach. It's a very nice place for a picnic or maybe photo-shooting. There's some small but wonderful waterfalls in Himchari. There's many restaurants there serving delicious seafood and local Bangladeshi dishes. Prices are pretty cheap too. You can enjoy exploring small caves and climbing up the hills when you visit Himchari. There is a natural park too that is worth visiting.

Himchari

• Inani Beach: Inani beach is my most favourite sea beach in Cox's Bazar. The beach is wide, clean and quiet and the water is blue. Inani Beach is ideal for sea-bathing and a picnic. There's many hotels on Inani Beach and even cottages. Red crabs are usually seen on Inani beach.
  

Sunset at Inani Beach

 

A close-up photo of a crab on the Inani beach. These are mostly seen in masses or groups on the beach.

Red crabs tend to swarm the beaches.

• Laboni Beach: Laboni beach is the most popular beach; hence, also the busiest beach as it is closer to most of the hotels, restaurants and other facilities in the city. There's a big market just around the entrance of the beach with hundreds of stalls, selling a wide array of products, like handmade clothes and crafts, pearls, jewelries and more. There are lots of fine restaurants that are serving delicious seafood and local Bangladeshi dishes.

Laboni beach

• Marine Drive: Driving along the Marine Drive which stretches throughout the 120 km long sandy sea beach is one of the most exciting ways to explore Cox's Bazar. You can drive down south of the city to Himchari beach and further down to Inani beach. These two are the most visited beaches outside Cox's Bazar city area

Elephants are quite a common site when driving along the Marine Drive.

• Teknaf: Teknaf is the southernmost tip of Bangladesh, situated on the Naaf river and just at the end of the hilly regions of the district. Myanmar is on the opposite bank of Naaf river. Wild animals and birds can be seen but the most interesting thing is a journey on the river. Wide sandy beach with a background of high hills with green forests is an wonderful scene never meant to be forgotten.

 

A boatyard on the shores of Teknaf

• St Martin's Island: St Martin's is a tropical cliché and the only coral island in Bangladesh, with beaches fringed with coconut palms and laid-back locals. It's a clean and peaceful place. You cruise from Teknaf to St Martin's island. One thing to note, there is no electricity on the island. The locals primarily live by fishing. The seafood restaurants here are extremely popular.

Fish being sold at a restaurant on St Martin's Island.

Keya tree, unique to St Martin's Island.

Corals on St Martin's Island. A view of the island is shown in the background.

A coconut garden on St Martin's Island.

East parts of the island.

How about accommodation and food?

There's lots of hotels, motels and guest houses for tourists' accommodations and restaurants for having a variety of great food. Of course, there's three star and five star hotels alongside cheap and budget friendly accommodation options. However, the delightful seafood is probably what most people plan on eating in Cox's Bazar. Though, there are other dishes there alongside seafood, albeit the prices are expensive because they're brought from other parts of the country.

Typical dishes at a restaurant. Some seafood, some not.

A set of delicious seafood dishes. Lobsters, crabs, prawn and fishes.

What is so interesting about all of these? Any conclusions?

Without a doubt, swimming in the clean, shark-free and wavy waters is one of the top attractions. But of course, you have an ample options for enjoyment. The more you get to the south, the more the water becomes blue. As you go further down south of the city, you will come across many beautiful small canals that empty into the Bay of Bengal. Watching the sun set is another one of my favorite activities. Strolling through the Burmese markets is fun too. Talking to local people is a great way to meet and get to know local people. Bangladeshis are extremely friendly, helpful and peace-loving people.

There are lots of wonderful tourist attractions near the city, but I have only talked about the beaches in Cox's Bazar and St Martin's island. If you love exploring beaches, eating and trying new stuff, I promise Cox's Bazar will not disappoint you.