The main purpose of going to St. Martin in the off-season was to cross the sea from Teknaf by trawler!

On October 3, 2019, we started our journey to St. Martin, the only atoll in Bangladesh. Non-AC bus fare from Dhaka to Teknaf was 900 rupees per person. Our journey started at 8 pm and we reached Teknaf at 6 am. Arriving there, we did not have breakfast. Then we go looking for the trawler. The fare for a trawler from Teknaf to St. Martin was 220 rupees per person. Here we had to wait quite a while for the tide. Because if there is not enough water, the trawler cannot go to the main river due to lack of water. Our trawler started running from 11 o’clock. It took us about 3 to 3.5 hours by trawler from Teknaf to St. Martin. We get off the trawler and go out to look for the hotel.

One thing to keep in mind is that most hotels and restaurants in St. Martin are closed during the off-season. So there may be some problems with staying and eating during this time. The hotel we stayed at had a double bedroom rent of TK. 800 per night. Due to lack of time, it was not possible for us to leave the island.

On the night of the 4th, we fixed the speedboat. For 5 of us, the speedboat to St. Martin to Shah Parir Island cost a total of 5,000 TK. and took about 30 minutes. The speed boat from Teknaf to St. Martin will cost TK. 750 per person during the season. There are 8 seats in total.

From there it cost 500TK. to go to Teknaf by CNG. The road from Shah Parir Island to Teknaf was not good so we had some trouble crossing this road.
From Teknaf we reached Cox’s Bazar by CNG again by Marine Drive. The CNG fare from Teknaf to Cox’s Bazar was 1100 TK.

After lunch, we started our journey to Chittagong. It cost Tk 250 per person to reach Bahaddarhat from Cox’s Bazar to Chittagong by a non-AC bus. From Bahaddarhat we go to Dampara bus stand by renting CNG for 150TK. There are many bus counters here. We reach Dhaka by AC bus at a fare of TK. 1000 per person.
Be sure to keep a copy of your identity card with you. You will want to see a copy of your identity card at checkpoints in several places when coming and going.