Saint Martin’s Island is Bangladesh’s only coral island, a small crescent of sand, coconut palms, and reef roughly 9 km off the Teknaf coast in Cox’s Bazar district. The best time to visit is the dry winter window, roughly November to February, when the Bay of Bengal is calm enough for ships to run. But the single most important thing to know before you plan is this: visiting Saint Martin’s is now tightly regulated. You need a government travel pass; daily visitor numbers are capped, and whether you can stay overnight depends on the month. These rules have changed season to season, so verify the latest official notice before you book anything. This guide explains the rules as of the 2025-26 season (published November 2025) and how to travel responsibly.
Why this guide leads with the rules, not the beach
Most Saint Martin’s guides you will find online describe boarding a ship at Teknaf and sailing over for a day. That picture is out of date. Since the 2024-25 season the Bangladesh government has restricted tourism to the island to reduce ecological pressure on the reef, and the framework has kept tightening. If you plan your trip from an old blog post, you can arrive at the coast and be turned away.
So treat the rules below as the starting point of your plan, not an afterthought. And because they are revised almost every season, confirm each one against a current government or Bangladesh Tourism Board notice close to your travel date. When a rule and a random blog disagree, the official notice wins.
The three rules that decide your trip (2025-26 season)
Here is the current framework in plain terms, based on reporting from Bangladeshi outlets covering the 2025-26 season and the Bangladesh Tourism Board’s official portal.
- A Travel Pass is mandatory. No one boards a vessel to Saint Martin’s without it. In the 2025-26 system the pass is issued automatically when you buy an official ship ticket through the Bangladesh Tourism Board’s authorized portal (travelpass.gov.bd). Each ticket carries a unique QR code that is checked at boarding.
- Daily visitors are capped at about 2,000. Once the day’s allocation is gone, it is gone. This is why booking early in the season, and early in the day, matters far more than it used to.
- Overnight stays depend on the month. For the 2025-26 season the reported pattern was: November allowed day trips only (no overnight), December and January allowed regulated overnight stays, and February the island closed to tourists entirely to give the ecosystem a rest.
Because these month windows and the cap can shift, re-check them for the 2026-27 season before you book. Do not assume last year’s calendar carries over.
How to get the Travel Pass, step by step
In the 2025-26 system you do not apply for a separate paper permit. The pass is bundled with your ship ticket:
- Go to the Bangladesh Tourism Board’s official portal (travelpass.gov.bd) or an authorized ticketing channel it lists. Avoid unofficial resellers, since only the authorized channel produces a valid QR-coded ticket.
- Enter each traveler’s details. Every passenger needs their own ticket. In the reported 2025-26 rules, young children (under five) were exempt, but confirm the current age cutoff.
- Complete payment and download the QR-coded ticket. That QR code is your proof of authorization, so keep it accessible offline as well as on your phone.
- Carry a valid photo ID that matches the ticket for the boarding check.
If the portal or process looks different when you plan your trip, that is expected. Follow the current official instructions rather than these steps verbatim.
Ships and routes this season
Here is the biggest change most guides miss. For the 2025-26 season, authorized vessels departed exclusively from the Nuniachhara BIWTA ghat in Cox’s Bazar, not from Teknaf. The Teknaf and Inani routes that older guides describe were reported as not permitted for tourist ships that season, partly because of navigability and border-security issues on the Naf River.
Departures were scheduled in the morning, roughly between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m. to line up with tides, with return sailings in the afternoon. The Cox’s Bazar crossing is longer than the old Teknaf hop, reported at around five to five and a half hours each way, so a same-day November trip is a genuinely long day at sea.
The practical takeaway: confirm which port is authorized for your travel dates before you book a hotel or a bus, because the departure point has moved between seasons. Getting this wrong is the easiest way to miss the ship.
When to go: an honest month-by-month view
- November: The season opens and the sea calms down, but under the 2025-26 rules this was day-trips-only. Good for a taste of the island, exhausting if you want to relax.
- December to January: The sweet spot. Weather is dry and mild, the sea is at its calmest, and overnight stays were permitted, which is the only way to see the island empty after the day-trippers leave. This is also the busiest and most booked-out window, so plan early.
- February: In the 2025-26 season the island was closed to tourists this month for conservation. Do not plan around February without confirming it is open.
- Monsoon (roughly June to September): Ships do not run for tourists. Rough seas make the crossing unsafe, and the island is effectively off-limits.
Where to stay and the overnight reality
Saint Martin’s has a range of guesthouses and resorts clustered near the main bazar and along the beaches, from simple budget rooms to more comfortable resort-style stays. In months when overnight is permitted, book well ahead, because the daily visitor cap plus limited rooms means good places fill fast. In day-trip-only months, do not book a room at all; you will not be allowed to stay, and the ship leaves in the afternoon whether you are on it or not.
On the island: what is genuinely worth it
Saint Martin’s is small and quiet, and that is the point. There are no motorized vehicles for tourists, so you get around on foot, by bicycle, or by cycle-rickshaw (van). Highlights worth your time:
- The reef and clear shallows for snorkeling and just wading. This is the only place in Bangladesh you will see live coral, so it is the whole reason the island is protected.
- Chera Dwip (Chhera Dwip), the detached southern tip, reachable at low tide on foot or by small boat. Check tide timing and go with a local rather than alone.
- Sunrise and sunset walks along the beach, which are the best free experience the island offers.
Because the reef is fragile and protected, coral-protection rules apply: do not touch, stand on, or break coral, do not buy coral or shell souvenirs, and carry your trash back out. Reported conditions for the 2025-26 season also cracked down on loud sound systems, beach bonfires, barbecue parties, and bright lighting at night, all of which stress the ecosystem and nesting wildlife. Assume a low-impact, quiet trip is what the rules now expect.
The honest part: the rules will probably change again
Here is what most guides will not tell you plainly. There is no stable, permanent Saint Martin’s rulebook to memorize. The Travel Pass system, the daily cap, the overnight months, and even the departure port have all shifted within the last two seasons as the government balances tourism against a reef that is genuinely under strain. There has also been public debate about tightening access further.
That means the most valuable thing you can do is not to find the perfect old itinerary. It is to check the latest official notice, from the Bangladesh Tourism Board or the relevant district administration, in the weeks before you travel, and to build your plan around whatever the current rules actually say. If a source you are reading is not clearly dated to the season you are traveling in, treat it as background, not instructions.
If you are new to organizing your own trips, our complete first-trip checklist (publishing soon) covers the planning habits that make this kind of rules-heavy destination far less stressful.
Practical tips before you go
- Cash and connectivity: Carry enough cash and download tickets offline. Mobile network coverage on the island can be patchy, so do not rely on scanning a QR code from the cloud at boarding.
- Electricity: Power on the island is limited and often runs on generators or solar for set hours. A power bank is worth packing.
- Food: Fresh seafood is the local specialty. Eat where it is busy and freshly cooked.
- Kids and older travelers: The long sea crossing this season is demanding. Bring motion-sickness remedies and plan for the full day.
- Respect the cap: Book the moment tickets open for your dates. The cap is real and same-day walk-ups are not a reliable plan.
For a fuller planning picture, see our related guides: the dedicated Saint Martin’s Travel Pass how-to (publishing soon) and a 3-day Saint Martin’s cost breakdown (publishing soon). If you are weighing an international trip instead, our pillar guide to visa-free and visa-on-arrival countries for Bangladeshi passport holders (publishing soon) is a useful next read.
FAQ
Do I really need a travel pass for Saint Martin’s Island?
Yes. As of the 2025-26 season, a government Travel Pass is mandatory to board any tourist vessel, and in the current system it is issued automatically with an official QR-coded ship ticket bought through the Bangladesh Tourism Board’s authorised portal. Confirm the current process before you book.
Can I stay overnight on Saint Martin’s Island?
It depends on the month. In the 2025-26 season, November was day-trips-only; December and January permitted regulated overnight stays; and in February the island was closed to tourists. These windows can change each season, so verify the latest official notice.
Where do the ships leave from, Teknaf or Cox’s Bazar?
For the 2025-26 season, authorized ships departed from the Nuniachhara ghat in Cox’s Bazar, and the older Teknaf and Inani routes were not permitted. Because the port has shifted between seasons, confirm the authorized departure point for your exact travel dates.
What is the best time to visit Saint Martin’s Island?
December to January is the sweet spot: dry, mild weather, the calmest sea, and (in the 2025-26 season) the only window when overnight stays were allowed. It is also the most crowded and booked-out period, so plan early.
How long is the sea crossing?
From Cox’s Bazar’s Nuniachhara ghat in the 2025-26 season, the reported crossing was roughly five to five and a half hours each way. The older Teknaf route was much shorter, which is why so many out-of-date guides describe a quick hop; that route was not the authorized one this season.