Saint Martin Island: Rules, Permits & Travel Tips
Bangladesh's only coral island is fragile and protected — here are the rules, the ship routine and how to visit without harming it.
Saint Martin is eight square kilometres of coral island in the Bay of Bengal, and it is unlike anywhere else in Bangladesh: clear blue water, coconut groves, and starfish in the shallows. It is also ecologically fragile, which is why visiting comes with rules every traveller should know before booking.
The island is only reachable in season, roughly November to March, when ships run from Teknaf (and some seasons from Cox's Bazar). The crossing takes about 2.5 hours from Teknaf. Outside the season the sea is too rough and the island effectively closes to visitors — any offer of an off-season trip should be treated with suspicion.
Travellers must carry national ID (or a passport for foreign visitors) and complete the travel registration that the authorities require for the island; group tours handle the paperwork, but keep your ID with you for checks at the jetty. Overnight stays are regulated and visitor numbers are capped in peak weeks, so December and January departures sell out early.
On the island, the rules are simple and enforced: do not pick or buy coral, shells or starfish; do not litter — carry your plastic back to the mainland if you can; keep noise down after dark, because the beaches are nesting ground for sea turtles. Chhera Dwip, the small southern islet, is walkable at low tide and is the best place to see the coral formations — look, photograph, and take nothing.
Practicalities: electricity runs on generators and solar, mobile data is patchy, and cash is king — there is no reliable ATM. Fresh fish grills at the night market near the jetty are the island's great pleasure; order lobster a day ahead if it is on your list.
Visit gently and Saint Martin stays the island everyone hopes for. Our Saint Martin departures include the registration paperwork, ship tickets and a local guide who knows the tide tables by heart.
