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Beach & Islands |
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The longest unbroken Beach |
Cox's Bazar Arguable the most attractive tourist resort of the country located on a low range of sand hills between the river Bakkhali and the Bay of Bengal with a long open beach towards the sea. The unbroken 125 km beach at Cox's Bazar is sandy with a gentle slope. Since the rise and fall of the tide here is not great, it is a good place of sea bathing. A large variety of Fish, including excellent Pomfret, soles and oysters are also caught here.
Cox's Bazar is about 150 km from Chittagong and is connected to the port city by bus, air and steamer services. It is a district town and is also the headquarters of the Cox's Bazar forest division. The town and surrounding places have many colourful pagodas and Buddhist temples and are inhabited by, among others, many tribal people who have their own distinct customs and traditions.
In addition to the long sea-beach with its silvery waves breaking at the foot of hills and sea-bathing, the attractions of Cox's Bazar include a drive along the beach, the view of the sun setting on the rolling sea-waves, the moonlit night, and the exciting interior of the bazar and its people. Interesting places around Cox's Bazar include Himchari, Ramu, Sonadia Island , Maheshkhali island, Teknaf and St. Martin's Island .
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Himchari - located 18 km south of Cox's Bazar along the sea beach, is a nice place for sightseeing and film shooting. The broken hills and waterfalls here are unique spots. Another attraction is the Christmas trees.
Ramu - about 10 km from Cox's Bazar on the main road to Chittagong , is a Buddhist village and boasts a number of Buddhist temples containing status and images of Gautam Buddha in gold, bronze and other metals inlaid with precious stones.
Sonadia island – is a crescent shaped island about 7-km north-west of Cox's Bazar. The area of the island is about 9 sq km. Every winter thousands of fishermen camp here and make large hauls. The island is a center of the dry fish industry. Another attraction of the island is the sight of game birds migrating here in great numbers during winter season.
Maheshkali – also an island off the coast of Cox 's Bazar, has an area of 268 sq km. There is a famous Hindu temple, the Adinath Temple , on the top of the hills, which becomes a place of pilgrimage during the month of Falgun (March). The coasts of the island on the west and north form a low-lying tract that is fringed by mangrove forest.
Teknaf – is a small township on the Naf river at the end of the hill region. It is 80 km south of Cox's Bazar and is a beautiful place facing Myanmar across the Naf. One of the major attractions of Teknaf is the journey by Boat or sampan. A picturesque hilltop resort has also been developed at Teknaf. The town and its surrounding areas provide outsiders an opportunity to see the people and culture of the Arakan and Magh communities.
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Island of Coral and Coconuts
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St Martin's Island - a small island in the northeast of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsular tip and forming the southernmost part of Bangladesh . It is about 8 km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar at the mouth of the river Naf. The local people call it Narikel Jinjira. It is almost flat and is 3.6m above the mean sea level. The 9.7 km wide channel between the mainland and the island is much shallower than the open sea southwest of the island. There are reefs from 10-15 km to the west-northwest.
The island is 7.32 km long. Launches and country boats ply between the island and Teknaf regularly. The population is about 3,700 and most of them are fishermen belonging to 535 families. This island is very famous and popular for tourists to see the wildlife and living coral. One hundred eighty-two species of wildlife are recorded from this island. Of these, 4 species are amphibians, 28 reptiles, 130 birds and 20 mammals. Tourism to the northern part of the island exists during four months (November-February). The main vegetation is coconut, betel nut and bamboo. Coconut tree are abundant and more concentrated in the Jinjira area. Several living small coral colonies are found in small sheltered pools very near the low tide level around the St. Martin's Island.
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