Saint Martin’s Island, one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, is set to reopen to visitors on 1 November after remaining closed for nearly 10 months.
Tourist travel to Saint Martin’s Island will continue until 15 March next year. A maximum of 3,500 tourists will be allowed to visit the island each day, with each visitor required to pay an environmental conservation fee of Tk 100.
The decisions on tourist access to the ecologically critical Saint Martin’s Island were taken at an interministerial meeting held at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 12 October. On Sunday, the ministry’s Environment-2 wing issued directives to the relevant ministries and departments to implement the decisions.
The directives state that the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the Department of Shipping cannot permit vessels to operate to Saint Martin’s Island without approval from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Approved tourist vessels will continue operating from the Nuniyachhara jetty.
The Department of Environment has been instructed to take the necessary measures to collect the environmental conservation fee in accordance with Rule 26 of the Environment Conservation Area Management Rules, 2016. The directives issued in a notification by the Environment Ministry on 22 October 2025 will also remain in force.
The notification instructs the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, the Ministry of Shipping, the Department of Environment, the Cox’s Bazar district administration and other relevant agencies to take the necessary steps to implement the decisions on tourist access to the ecologically critical island.
During the interim government’s tenure, access to Saint Martin’s Island was restricted to protect the environment. Although the island was opened to tourists on 1 November last year, visitors could not travel there that month because vessel operations remained suspended. Overnight stays were also prohibited in November. Tourists were allowed to stay overnight in December and January, with a daily limit of 2,000 visitors permitted to visit and spend the night on the island.
Four years ago, five to six thousand tourists travelled to Saint Martin’s Island every day on nine to 11 vessels departing from Teknaf. They reached the island after crossing the 13-kilometre Naf River and travelling across 21 kilometres of the Bay of Bengal.
However, vessel operations on the Teknaf–Saint Martin’s route were suspended amid several developments, including the conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, the Arakan Army’s takeover of territory in the state, gunfire targeting Bangladeshi trawlers and passenger vessels operating on the Naf River, and the abduction of Bangladeshi nationals along with their boats.