By Ibrahim Khalil Mamun

COX'S BAZAR, Feb 1, 2026 (BSS) - Tourist travel to Saint Martin's Island, the country's only coral island in the Bay of Bengal, has been closed for nine consecutive months from February 1 following the end of the tourism season on January 31.

Although the government allowed tourists to visit the island for three months from November to January, tourist arrivals were largely limited to December and January as overnight stays were not permitted in November.

Hossainul Islam Bahadur, general secretary of the Sea Cruise Operator Owners Association of Bangladesh, said around 117,000 tourists visited Saint Martin during the two-month period.

"The government opened Saint Martin to tourists from November 1 to January 31. However, due to restrictions on overnight stays, no tourists came in November. Most of the visitors arrived in December and January," he said.

Residents of Saint Martin said at least 3,000 tourists, hotel and motel employees and businessmen left the island on six ships and a few wooden trawlers on Saturday afternoon. 

After 4 pm, more than 200 hotels, resorts, restaurants and most shops on the island were closed. The entire island is devoid of tourists.

Alamgir Hossain, 45, a resident of Moghbazar in Dhaka, said he went to Saint Martin by speedboat from Teknaf last December. He works in a restaurant. The restaurant will be closed from Saturday. So he is also returning to Dhaka.

On Saturday morning, a few tourists were bathing in the clear blue water on the west beach of the island. One of them is Ali Akbar, 45, a resident of Baridhara, Dhaka. 

He said the three of them went to Saint Martin on January 28 on the MV Karnaphuli ship. They explored the entire island on foot. They boarded the ship at 3 pm on Saturday and returned to their destination. Before that, they bathed in the blue water for the last time.

Nur Ahmed, vice-president of the Saint Martin Island Shop Owners Association, said the island remained bustling for two consecutive months and business activities were comparatively brisk during that time.

"Since Saturday afternoon, the entire island has been empty. More than 200 hotels, resorts and restaurants have shut down," he added.

Cox's Bazar Additional District Magistrate Md Shahidul Alam said at around 7 am on Saturday, six ships left for Saint Martin from the Nuniachata jetty on the city's Bankkhali River. There were no tourists on the ships. 

At around 1 pm, the ships reached the jetty on Saint Martin Island after traveling 120 kilometers. By 3 pm, the ships returned to Cox's Bazar town with at least 2,500 tourists staying there.

Another 500 employees of the hotels left the island in several wooden trawlers.

According to the Department of Environment (DoE), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued a 12-point directive on October 22 last year to protect the island's biodiversity.

Under the guidelines, Saint Martin remains closed from February 1 to October 31 and opens for tourism from November 1 to January 31, with a daily cap of 2,000 visitors. Overnight stays are allowed only in December and January.

The directives prohibit lighting on beaches at night, loud noise, barbecues, entry into the key forest, and the collection or sale of key fruits. Any harm to biodiversity, including sea turtles, birds, corals, king crabs, snails and oysters, is strictly banned.

Movement of any motorised vehicle including motorcycles, sea bikes is prohibited on the beach. Apart from this, strict restrictions are also imposed on carrying and using polythene while travelling. The use of single-use plastics such as chips packets, plastic spoons, straws, mini packs of soap and shampoo, and 500 or 1000 ml plastic bottles is also discouraged.

Md Jamir Uddin, Director of the Cox's Bazar Office of the DoE, said due to strict control of government instructions and increased awareness among tourists, the environment of Saint Martin is healing, and biodiversity is also returning. 

The island was declared an Ecologically Critical Area in 1999. On January 4, 2023, the government also declared 1,743 square kilometres of the adjacent Bay of Bengal as a marine protected area under the Wildlife (Conservation and Protection) Act.