Cox’s Bazar sea beach, Chittagong: Travel Guide, Attraction.

Why Famous Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach ?

Surrounded by the Bay of Bengal and beautiful hillside, this sandy beach is the main attraction of Cox’s Bazar sea beach. In the forests and on the hillsides, are varieties of tall trees, a huge number of migratory birds.

Extremely rich and diverse, nearly 8000 in number, make up cox’s bazar flora and fauna. As you explore the waters, sea life creatures including jellyfish, starfish, numerous fish species in abundance can be found and also two different types of rare sea turtles.

The name history of Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach

The history of this important district of Bangladesh started as early as the Mughal era. After leading by Mughals, it was ruled by Portuguese and then came under the control of the British. It was at that time when this district was named Cox Bazar Bangladesh after Captain Hiram Cox He was an officer who worked for the British East India Company.

The Location of Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach

It stretches across 125 kilometers of unbroken sandy beach. The area is located south of Chittagong, the industrial port city of Bangladesh.After its establishment, it has been a fishing village, meaning that the fish are plenty and include different varieties for centuries.

It is very near the Burmese border (Myanmar), to be more accurate 21°43′ N and 91°96′ W are the exact coordinates of Cox’s bazar beach.The town serves as the main economic source for tourism Bangladesh. Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus all comprise the population of Cox Bazar.

The culture of Cox’s Bazar

There are many tribal people living here with their distinct culture and lifestyle. Ramu, Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Maheshkhali, Ukhia, Pekua, Chokoria, Teknaaf, and Kutubdia are the 8 sub-districts or Upzillas of this district or Zilla.

It is considered the major source of foreign exchange. In Bangladesh, This beach is one of the few major spots for aquaculture like an oyster, snail, and pearl. Other sources of generating revenue are salt production and farming at small-scale.More will follow on this Beach as it is declared an official or notable wonder of Asia.

Top Things To Do In Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach

1. Sunset or sunrise

At the beach, you can relax in the warm golden sunshine while sipping refreshing coconut water. There are activities like swimming, deep water diving, surfing, boogie boarding and even jet skiing available to make your travel a very enjoyable one.

If your kids are a bit older, do rent a jet ski and ride along with them. The driver will be with you the whole time. There are professional cameramen hovering around the beach if you want your picture taken with a sunset or sunrise setting. No need to worry, they will later deliver the shots taken to your address.

2. Dulahazara Safari Park

You can also explore places like Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, the Buddhist monastery Aggmeda Khyang, and Ramu. Ramu is a Buddhist village 10 kilometers from cox’s bazar Bangladesh, famous for a number of monasteries, hangs, and pagodas with gold, bronze other precious gem decorated images of buddha.

There is a 100 feet statue of Gautama Buddha at the Vimukti Bibeshan Bhabna Kendra temple which is the largest Buddha statue in the country. The statue is in reclining position showing Buddha resting after achieving illumination.

Unlike many places, anybody is free to visit and take pictures in the temple without buying any ticket. The place and its surrounding are very peaceful if you love to wander around.

3. Laboni Beach

While there, people also enjoy three separate spots: Laboni Beach which is the main beach close to town, Himchhari which is famous for its waterfalls and Inani Beach which are preferred for sun tanning.

18 kilometers south of the beach area, Himchhari is a good place for picnic and shooting spot for movies. It is best to get a local guide if you do not want to miss out these sightseeing attractions definitely worth visiting.

4. Maheshkhali

Do not forget to visit and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Maheshkhali, an island located only at a distance of 9 square kilometers. The tribal nation called Rakhine lives on this island who are famous for knitting and weaving clothes with natural color and hand-made loom.

There are ranges of hills on this island atop of which is the famous Adinath Temple dedicated to Shiva. It becomes very busy during the month of Falgoon (march) when Hindu pilgrims gather for worship.

5. Sonadia Island

It is 7 kilometers’ northwest of sea-beach is the center of dry fish, Sonadia Island. During the winter season, fishermen make temporary camps to catch and dry fishes.

The western part of this nine square kilometer area of this crescent-shaped island is sandy and rich in an abundant variety of shells. In the northern part, beds of window pane oysters are found.

6. Teknaf

There is a beautiful small town worth visiting 80 kilometers south of Cox’s Bazar on the Naf river bank facing Myanmar. In Teknaf, you can not only enjoy a ride on a boat or the Sampan but also get the opportunity to appreciate the Arakan and Magh people and their culture.

If you plan to visit the place, there are some attractive resorts to stay. These resorts have already been established in the area primarily to cater to the Bangladeshi as well as foreign guests.

7. Marine life center

There is a marine life center, where you can see fish biodiversity as well as the skeleton of different preserved sea creatures. The museum is situated at Marine Fisheries and Technology Center of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh. Kids can enjoy this activity if they get bored of the sea and beach.

8. Temporary shops

By the side of the beach, there are a number of temporary shops which sell local crafts made of seashells, oysters, ornaments made of pearls and colorful beads. Shops also sell dry Fish, Burmese Gift Items, sea- foods, beach clothes, and accessories.

There is a bigger Burmese market located few miles away from the beach area. Besides many fancy items, you can get Burmese cosmetics, Burmese Pickle, Burmese Nuts, Burmese Ladies Parts, Burmese Men’s local dresses at these shops.

It will take about 25-30 BDT by rickshaw. Please make sure to exchange foreign currencies for local cash for hardly any shop will take credit cards. So. If you find anything, you like and want to buy it is better to carry ready cash with you.

Best Hotel & Resorts List In Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach

Many international hotels are established around this beach area. They offer best services to make your stay enjoyable. Many of these modern hotel in Cox’s Bazar have their own landscaped walkway to the beach.

There are rooftop open barbecue facilities offered by a number of hotels. There are services like Wi-Fi, swimming pools, café and restaurants in almost all of these the hotels. Below is a list of some best Cox Bazar hotels with room rate in USD.

Hotel Sea gull-. $59

Ocean Paradise- $57

Hotel the Cox Today- $85

Best Western plus- $58

Some hotels in the mid-range

White Orchid Hotel- $36

Prime park hotel–$46

Neeshorgo Hotel and resort- $54

Windy Terrace Boutique Hotel- $42

Devine Eco Resort- $30

Some budget Hotels

Hotel Sea Alif- $24

Nitol Bay resort- $19

Hotel Ocean Palace- $14

South Beach resort- $12

Suite Sadaf- $37

There are few motels operated by government tourism board, such as Parjaton Motel Shaibal, Parjaton Motel Upal, and Parjaton Motel Prabal. They are an option if you are looking for a standard place at fair price. Price ranges from $ 20-60.

Besides all these hotels, there are apartments rented out by individuals more a bigger group. For example, if two or three families are traveling together and want to stay together, this is a good option. The reservation has to be made prior, and it is better to explore from a known and reliable source.

When visiting Inani beach, there are some good hotels you can stay at like- Royal Tulip Sea Pearl Beach Resort- $119, Mermaid Beach resort- $170.

Best Restaurant & Food Item In Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach

There are a lot of restaurants along the Sea Beach Road and in the Hotel Motel Zone. They offer a wide variety of seafood cuisine display. Not only there are our local recipes; you can taste fast foods as well as, Asian and European dishes. In most of the major hotels, you can get western foods. Prices are in Taka (Tk) and American dollars.

Among them, Pushpee, Jhaubon, Niribilli are good choices for family besides individuals. They cost from from $60.00 TK to $130.00 TK or $1.00 USD to $2.00 USD. There is hardly any Bengali family who have not been to Jhaubon or Niribili restaurant.

I for one am a special fan of their Rupchanda fry (Deep Fried Pomphrey).But if you are a seafood lover, there are few restaurants who specialize in this. EFC (Elite Food Corner), a live fish restaurant where you can enjoy different fresh grilled fishes, Devine sea stone cafe, Mermaid cafe, Sea lamp beach cafe, Mermaid beach resort, The Cove are like that.

There are also restaurants like Koyla, Stone forest, Mamma’s food, Rock n roll, Taranga restaurant, Beach planet, Tabbaq where you can enjoy good food with affordable price. You can find lаkkhа, prawn, hilsha, crabs and lоbѕtеrѕ invariably all restaurants and hotels in Cox’s Bazar.

Besides typical Bengali dishes, you can enjoy fried fish, shrimp salad, pasta and fish pizza for BDT 450-800. A traveler should enjoy the local food of the traveling area, that can bring you a whole new test and experience.

Bengali dishes are daal (lentil curry), bhaat (boiled rice), beef curry, different types of bhorta ( a spicy mixture of different mashed vegetables), pickles and relishes. Sun dried fish dishes are a very popular local tradition.

How To Reach Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach & How Much It Costs

The distance from Cox’s Bazar to Bangladesh’s capital  Dhaka is approximately 297 km. Once you have reached Dhaka, there are buses, trains, and Airplanes to reach this destination. Domestic flights named Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Novoair, United Airways, Regent Airlines, US-Bangla Airlines operate Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar scheduled flights.

The round trip from Dhaka to cox bazar Bangladesh and back ranges from USD 80-100. During the high tourist season, daily flights are available. But in summer and monsoon or rainy season, there are fewer flights to 3-4 per week. If you want to reach the main bus terminal, it is east of city center. It will take only 15 minutes by rickshaw, a very common man-paddled three-wheeler ride.

There are also many private bus company (namely Scania, Shohag, Shamolee paribahan, Eagle paribahan, Hanif Enterprise, S Alam Service, Saudia paribahan, Silk Line, Greenline, etc.) that will take you to or from Dhaka and Chittagong.

The usual bus journey from Dhaka to Chittagong is 10-12 hours and Chittagong to Cox’s Bazar will take another 4-5 hour. AC bus fare is about USD 15-20 (BDT 1400-1800) from Dhaka to Cox’s bazar.

Most of them have their offices by the main road and in the Hotel Motel zone. You can find plenty of rickshaws to get around within the area; They cost around 15-20 BDT (Equivalent 17-29 US cents). If the hotel is located very close to the beach, then you will enjoy mostly walking.

When Time You Shold Go There ?

Interestingly, there is not a single day when you will not find people on Cox’s Bazar  Sea beach admiring the natural beauty of sunrise or sunset. The average temperature is 34.8-degree centigrade. Peak season when it is most visited remains between October and

March. It is the best time to fly because airlines are full and no delay in flight schedule. But you need to reserve the hotel rooms earlier because of the soaring price. But if you plan to travel during the monsoon and summer which is from May till September you may avoid the certainly crowded beach.

While there I wanted to avoid the crowd but wanted to see the sunrise, so we got up early and walked to the beach. People are still in their warm and cozy beds, but we had a lovely walk along the beach and walked back to our hotel. But on our way back had very hot, freshly made breakfast in one of the nearby restaurants beside the beach.

Tips For Tourists

Though it is yet to become a major international tourist destination, be assured that the beach of Cox’s Bazar will be filled with days of endless fun for you and your family and far from boring. May through September may not be the right season to go to cox bazar.

But from November, get your backpack ready. Do take hats and sandals because the sand becomes very hot during mid-day. Do not forget a change of clothes, towels, and camera.

A piece of advice to the visitor from abroad, do exchange your local currency to Bangladeshi taka when you arrive here before setting off to Cox’s bazar. Most banks will give you best exchange rates. Another good place also for exchange is hotels.

There are many ATM’s available at this place beside the capital city which gives visitors facility to pull currency from their local banks. Please clarify with your bank that your ATM card is accepted in Bangladesh before using it here.

When you are, all set to visit this less known tourist spot, you can easily reach there by road and air. There are a lot of nice places to stay on this beach to choose from.

All around the beach area as well as in the hotels, there are Souvenir shops that sell native handicrafts, shell markets, and restaurants serving authentic Bangladeshi cuisine are found in abundance.

It is very commonplace in Bangladesh that local people are saying hi-hello to you even though they don’t know you. They may even ask personal questions like your marital status, numbers of children, etc. which a foreigner may find pretty peculiar. You will find people friendlier than residents pf metro when you are traveling around the countryside.