Bangladesh's Saint Martin's Island to Reopen on November 1, With Daily Cap of 3,500 Visitors
Saint Martin's Island, Bangladesh's only coral-rich island, is set to welcome tourists from November 1, 2026 to March 15, 2027. New guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change place limits on visitor numbers and tourist vessels in order to protect the island's fragile ecosystem.
Under the new guidelines, a maximum of 3,500 tourists will be allowed to visit the island each day. Every visitor will have to pay an environmental conservation fee of Tk100. Authorised tourist vessels will operate from Nuniyachhara Ghat in Cox's Bazar. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the Department of Shipping have been barred from issuing vessel movement permits without prior approval from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The directive was formally communicated by the ministry's Environment-2 branch following an inter-ministerial meeting held on October 12, 2026. The meeting was chaired by Abdul Awal Mintu, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Responsibility for enforcing the travel and shipping regulations has been assigned to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, the Ministry of Shipping, the Department of Environment, the Cox's Bazar District Administration, the Bangladesh Tourism Board, the Cox's Bazar Superintendent of Police and the Tourist Police. The ministry also clarified that the provisions of a previous notification issued on October 22, 2025 will remain in force alongside the new schedule and environmental restrictions.
Saint Martin's Island is located in the Bay of Bengal in southern Bangladesh. It covers eight square kilometres and is known for its coral-rich marine environment. The main island stretches approximately 3 kilometres from north to south and is 1.5 kilometres wide, with an average elevation of 3.6 metres above sea level. The island has a population of around 7,000, most of whom are fishermen. Following the announcement, local residents brought out a celebratory procession, expressing gratitude to the government for restoring their main source of income. The reopening has raised hopes of economic recovery among island residents, hotel and resort owners, watercraft workers and small traders whose livelihoods suffered during the prolonged travel restrictions.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：孟加拉国圣马丁岛海岸（资料图）。照片：Tanvir Rahat，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / The coast of Saint Martin's Island, Bangladesh (file photo). Photo: Tanvir Rahat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
