A Speck of Coral at the Edge of Bangladesh
Saint Martin’s Island sits roughly 9 kilometres south of the tip of the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, making it the southernmost point of Bangladesh. It is small, covering just 3 square kilometres at low tide and shrinking to around 5 square kilometres when the sea rises. Yet for a country of 170 million people, it carries an outsized significance: it is the only coral island Bangladesh has.
The island goes by several names. Locals call it Narkel Jinjira, meaning Coconut Island, or Daruchini Dweep, meaning Cinnamon Island. Both names speak to the natural abundance that once defined the place. The official name, Saint Martin’s Island, dates to the British colonial period, when the island was named after O.M. Martin, the Divisional Commissioner of Chittagong between 1938 and 1940. Before that, Arabian merchants who first settled the island in the 18th century called it Jazira, simply meaning island in Arabic. Millennia before any of those names existed, the island was not an island at all. It was the southernmost tip of the Teknaf peninsula, gradually cut off as the Bay of Bengal flooded and submerged the connecting land.
Life on the Island
Around 3,700 people live on Saint Martin’s permanently, though some estimates put the figure closer to 5,500 when seasonal workers are counted. Fishing is the backbone of the local economy. Between October and April, fishermen from surrounding coastal areas bring their catch to the island’s temporary wholesale markets, turning the northern end of the island into a hub of activity. Rice and coconut are the main crops grown locally, while chicken, meat, and most other food supplies are imported from mainland Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The island is divided into nine neighbourhoods, from Uttar Para in the north to Dakkhin Para in the south, with the permanent structures concentrated in the far north. The centre and south are mostly farmland and makeshift shelters. During the monsoon season, rough conditions on the Bay of Bengal cut the island off from Teknaf entirely, leaving residents isolated for weeks at a time. There is a hospital on the island, though it has historically struggled to maintain a resident doctor.
Getting there requires a boat or ship from either Cox’s Bazar or Teknaf. There are no bridges, no ferries to a mainland port, and no airstrip. Internal transport is battery-driven auto-rickshaws, bicycles, and motorbikes on concrete roads. Electricity, which was knocked out by a hurricane in 1991, has since been partially restored, with many hotels and shops supplementing the grid with diesel generators and solar panels.
Extraordinary Biodiversity
Research by Bangladesh’s Department of Environment, conducted with UNDP support, has documented the remarkable range of life that Saint Martin’s Island supports. Surveys in 2010 recorded 153 species of seaweed, 66 species of coral, 187 species of oysters, 240 species of fish, 120 species of birds, 29 species of reptiles, and 29 species of mammals. The surrounding waters were declared a Marine Protected Area in 2022, a recognition of how much is at stake.
The island’s marine sponges have attracted scientific interest beyond ecology. Researchers have identified 31 bacterial species from nine collected marine sponges on the island, including Bacillus subtilis strains with significant probiotic potential. These strains produce antimicrobial compounds capable of preventing motile Aeromonas septicemia, a major fish disease affecting Rohu, one of Bangladesh’s most commercially important freshwater fish. The pharmaceutical and biotechnological implications of these findings are still being explored.
A small adjoining island called Chhera Dwip, separated from the main island at high tide, extends the coral ecosystem further south. It is uninhabited, and visitors are advised to arrive early and return before the afternoon tide makes crossing difficult.
Tourism and the Pressure It Brings
Saint Martin’s Island has become one of Bangladesh’s most popular tourist destinations, with eight shipping lines running daily trips during the peak season from November to February. The appeal is obvious: clear water, coral formations, coconut groves, and a pace of life that feels genuinely removed from the mainland. Eco-tourism has grown alongside conventional tourism, and travellers can book trips from both Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar.
But the pressure of that popularity has taken a serious toll. Between 1980 and 2018, the island lost an estimated 70 percent of its coral reef, driven by human activity. Pieces of coral are still removed and sold to tourists as souvenirs. Nesting sea turtles, including several endangered species, are sometimes taken for food, and their hatchlings are disoriented by artificial lights along the beach. Fish stocks are declining steadily, forcing local fishermen to travel further out to sea each year, many of them in motorless boats.
In February 2025, a nine-month tourist restriction came into effect on the island, a significant intervention aimed at giving the ecosystem some breathing room. The Cox’s Bazar to Saint Martin’s route remains the only one currently operating, partly because of ongoing tensions along the Myanmar border.
A Disputed Border and a Dangerous Sea
Saint Martin’s Island sits close to the mouth of the Naf River, roughly 8 kilometres west of Myanmar’s northwest coast. That proximity has made it the site of repeated and sometimes deadly confrontations. Bangladeshi fishermen have been shot and killed by Burmese naval forces on multiple occasions, with documented incidents in 1998, 1999, and 2000. In 2011, pirates attacked a fishing boat 5 kilometres off the island’s coast, killing four people.
In October 2018, the Myanmar government published updated maps showing Saint Martin’s Island as part of its own sovereign territory. Bangladesh summoned the Myanmar ambassador and delivered a formal protest. Myanmar called it a mistake. In June 2024, an unidentified armed group from Myanmar fired on a speed boat travelling along the Naf River toward the island, and Myanmar warships became visible from the island’s shore.
For the people who live on Saint Martin’s year-round, these are not abstract geopolitical disputes. They shape daily life, limit livelihoods, and create a persistent undercurrent of insecurity on an island that, to the outside world, looks like paradise.
Why Saint Martin’s Still Matters
Bangladesh has a long coastline, vast river systems, and the Sundarbans. But Saint Martin’s Island is something different: a coral ecosystem, a biodiversity hotspot, a fishing community, and a sovereignty flashpoint all compressed into 3 square kilometres of sedimentary rock and reef. The challenge for Bangladesh is holding all of that together, protecting what remains of the coral, supporting the people who depend on the sea, and managing the tourism that both funds and threatens the island’s future. The nine-month restriction is a start, but the island’s long-term survival will require sustained commitment well beyond any single policy measure.
Image: Wikimedia Commons