Room for 3,500 a day, fewer than 900 going: fares and distance keep Saint Martin's out of reach

Saint Martin's Island can take 3,500 visitors a day this season. In the first five days of sailings (5–9 November), 4,391 went in total: fewer than 900 a day, about a quarter of the cap. Travellers, tour operators and officials point to the same two reasons: the fare and the length of the journey.

The season so far, in numbers

• 4,391 visitors in five days: 2,149 on MV Bar Aulia, 1,223 on MV Teknaf and 1,019 on MV Karnaphuli Express (Bangla Telegraph, 10 November).
• The three approved ships have 2,298 seats between them, so they are sailing less than half full.
• On the first day, 5 November, the Karnaphuli Express sailing was cancelled and its passengers were moved onto the Bar Aulia (Somoyer Konthosor, 6 November).

What it costs

Round-trip fares per person, including the Tk 100 environment fee, from the fare list of 11 November:

Ship	Cheapest regular seat	New low-cost tickets
MV Teknaf	Tk 3,600 (main deck)	None
MV Bar Aulia	Tk 4,200	Standing Tk 2,200; extra plastic chair Tk 3,000
MV Karnaphuli Express	Tk 4,200	Extra plastic chair Tk 3,000

Cabins cost Tk 10,000 to 25,000. Last season's economy round trip was Tk 3,500; it has risen by Tk 700 (Outlook Bangla, 30 October). When ships still sailed from Teknaf, in the 2022–23 season, fares were Tk 1,000 to 2,000 per person (Prothom Alo, February 2023).

The cheap seats sold out. The others did not.

With ships sailing half empty, Bar Aulia and Karnaphuli Express released standing tickets at Tk 2,200 and extra plastic chairs at Tk 3,000. Every one of these tickets for sailings up to 19 November was gone within two days. Regular seats on the same ships are still going empty.

The message is plain: people still want to go to Saint Martin's. What they lack is the money. When the fare comes within reach, the passengers come.

Why fares are high: the operators' case

Hossainul Islam Bahadur, general secretary of the Sea Cruise Operators Owners Association of Bangladesh (SQUAB), says the ticket price covers the environment fee, the jetty lease, a 10 percent tour-operator commission, service charges, a beach-management contribution and fuel. None of these is itemised on the ticket.

Aktar Nur, who helps run MV Teknaf, wrote on Facebook: "As a traveller and an ordinary person, I am pained myself when I think about the ship fare to Saint Martin's." He says the Tk 3,600 round trip has to cover agent commission, the environment fee, government VAT and taxes, waterway conservancy charges, tolls, the district administration's service charge, rent and a large crew's salaries, among other costs, and that a sea-going ship cannot be run at the cost of a river launch.

Some of those costs are real government charges: BIWTA takes Tk 50 per passenger as jetty revenue, and the beach management committee takes Tk 20.

Questions nobody has answered

• Who sets the fare? Unlike the Sundarbans, BIWTA has not fixed fares on this route. Nayon Shil, its acting deputy director in Chattogram, said that after the complaints, fixing them is "now urgent". A coordination meeting chaired by the BIWTA chairman was called for 9 November. As of 13 November we could not find any published decision.
• Is the environment fee still payable? Khandaker Mahmud Pasha, deputy director of the Department of Environment in Cox's Bazar, said the fee was cancelled by a ministry notification and he did not know on what basis operators were collecting it. Tickets still include Tk 100. Aktar Nur says that if the fee is finally scrapped, MV Teknaf will spend that Tk 100 on orphaned students and seriously ill patients from the island and Cox's Bazar.
• A comparison: the same Bar Aulia charged at most Tk 600–650 non-AC on the Chattogram–Hatiya route, about 145 km (Somoyer Konthosor). Cox's Bazar to Saint Martin's is about 95–100 km.

The real problem is distance

Since December 2024, fighting in Myanmar's Rakhine State has kept the Naf river, and with it the Teknaf–Saint Martin's waterway, closed to vessels. Every tourist ship now leaves from Nuniarchhara jetty in Cox's Bazar town: about 100 km by sea, 5 to 7 hours each way depending on the tide. From Teknaf, the crossing took two and a half to three hours.

A traveller from Dhaka now spends the night on a bus, reaches the jetty at dawn, then spends another six or seven hours at sea. More distance means more fuel, and fuel prices were raised in September. The cost of the long route ends up in the ticket.

M A Rahim Jihadi, president of the island's hotel and resort owners' association, says nearly every hotel is already booked for December and January. People will go in the peak months. But in November, and for travellers on an ordinary budget, Saint Martin's is now out of reach.

What would help

• A fare ceiling and an itemised ticket. BIWTA could set fares on this route as it does for the Sundarbans, and tickets could show government charges, fees and the fare separately.
• One answer on the environment fee. If it has been cancelled, take it off the ticket. If it stays, publish what it is spent on.
• Keep the low-cost seats. Standing and plastic-chair tickets selling out in two days shows the demand. Within safety rules, cheaper weekday fares could fill empty seats.
• A long-term plan for a closer jetty. When security allows, a safe, modern jetty on the sea route from Teknaf or Shah Porir Dwip could cut both journey time and cost by more than half.

FAQ

How much is the ship fare to Saint Martin's Island now?

Tk 3,600 to 5,800 per person round trip for regular seats. Limited standing tickets cost Tk 2,200 and extra plastic chairs Tk 3,000. Cabins cost Tk 10,000 to 25,000.

Where do ships to Saint Martin's leave from, and how long does it take?

From the BIWTA jetty at Nuniarchhara in Cox's Bazar town. The crossing takes 5 to 7 hours each way.

Why don't ships sail from Teknaf?

The Teknaf upazila administration has banned vessels on the Naf river since December 2024 because of fighting in Myanmar's Rakhine State.

Sources

• Only 4,391 tourists at Saint Martin's in 5 days (Bangla), Bangla Telegraph, 10 November 2026
• Fare chaos on Saint Martin's ships, tourists angry (Bangla), Somoyer Konthosor, 6 November 2026
• Saint Martin's ship fare up Tk 700 (Bangla), Outlook Bangla, 30 October 2026
• Saint Martin ship ticket price 2026–27, updated 11 November 2026
• Report on approval of three ships for the Cox's Bazar–Saint Martin's route (Bangla), bdnews24, 4 November 2026
• 4,000 tourists a day to Saint Martin's (Bangla), Prothom Alo, 7 February 2023
• Bangladesh raises fuel prices by up to 17pct, New Straits Times, September 2026
• Indefinite ban on vessels in Naf, The Business Standard, 11 December 2024