Tourist attractions near the town

Local hotels arrange beachside accessories for the tourists at Cox's Bazar. The beach is the main attraction of the town. Larger hotels provide exclusive beachside area with accessories for the hotel guests. Visitors in other hotels visit the Laboni beach, which is the area of the beach closest to the town. Other than the beach there are several places of interest near the town, which can easily be visited from town center.

Aggmeda Khyang: a large Buddhist monastery, and a place revered by around 400,000 Buddhist people of Cox’s Bazar; and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The main sanctuary is posted on a series of round timber columns. It has a prayer chamber and an assembly hall along with a repository of large and small bronze Buddha images and a number of old manuscripts.

Ramu: about 10 km from Cox’s Bazar, is a village with a sizeable Buddhist population. The village is famous for its handicrafts and homemade cigars. There are monasteries, khyangs and pagodas containing images of Buddha in gold, bronze and other metals inlaid with precious stones. One of the most interesting of these temples is on the bank of the Baghkhali river. It houses not only interesting relics and Burmes handicrafts but also a large bronze statue of Buddha measuring thirteen feet high and rests on a six feet high pedestal. The wood carving of this khyang is very delicate and refined. The village has a charm of its own. Weavers ply their trade in open workshops and craftsmen make handmade cigars in their pagoda like houses.

Dulhazra Safari Park: This safari park is an extension of an animal sanctuary located along the Chittagong-Cox's Bazar road about 50 km from Cox's Bazar town. The sanctuary itself protects a large number of wild elephants which are native to the area. In the safari park there are domesticated elephants which are available for a ride. Other animal attractions include lions, Bengal tigers, Crocodiles, Bears, Chitals and lots of different types of birds and monkeys.

Risks and Hazards

The coastal areas of Cox's Bazar are prone to devastating cyclones and landslides on a yearly basis. The areas near the Cox’s Bazar town are located directly in the high-risk area for surge water heights above 1 meter as well as landslides. There was a 70% casualty rate near the town area during the 1991 cyclone. Another hazard of the Cox's Bazar area is the high natural background radiation, which has been found to be above global average. There have been reported incidents of human casualty due to actions of wild elephants in the locality. The threat of mosquito borne diseases like Malaria also may be higher in the area. However, all these hazards mainly affect long term residents of the area and visiting tourists should be able to guard against these risks with appropriate precautions.

Tourists and accommodation

Cox's Bazar, arguably the best tourist spot in Bangladesh, is visited by a large number of tourist from Britain, America, Korea, Japan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and many more countries each year. Though there is no specific record in Bangladesh Porjatan Corporation (BPC) on how many people usually visit Cox's Bazar each year but an AFP report says that during the winter 10,000 available rooms in the beach area hotels usually remain occupied almost seven days a week. Accommodation near the beach varies from an expensive range to a reasonable price. Many private hotels, BPC Motels and two Five Star hotels are located near the beach.

Places of interest along the beach

Cox’s Bazar, mostly famous for its beautiful sea beach and the sunset, has several other attractions, including:

Himchari: It is about 32 km. South of Cox's Bazar along the beach, a nice place for picnic and shooting. The famous "Broken Hills" and waterfalls here are rare sights.

Laboni Beach: This is the main beach of Cox's Bazar and is considered the main beach due to the fact that it is closest to the town. Close to the beach, there are hundreds of small shops selling souvenirs and beach accessories to the tourists.

Himchari: Located about 18 km south of Cox’s Bazar along the sea beach, is a nice place for the picnic and film shooting. This picnic spot is famous for its waterfalls. The road to Himchari runs by the open sea on one side and hills on the other which makes the journey to Himchari very attractive. Its another attraction is the Christmas tree.

Enani Beach: Located 35 km south of Cox’s Bazar, this white sandy beach is located within Ukhia Thana. This beach is famous for its golden sand and clean shark free water which is ideal for sea bathing. Most tourists prefer to come down here for relaxing because it is free from the crowd of tourists that is usually seen at the Laboni beach.

Mineral content in beach sand

The sand at Cox's Bazar beach and surrounding areas is rich in heavy-metal mineral content. The heavy minerals of Cox's Bazar beach sands are dominated by hornblende, garnet, epidote, ilmenites (both unaltered and altered) with magnetite, rutile, pyrite and some hydroxides. Cox's Bazar beach alone is believed to have a deposit of 5.119 Mt of minerals, while nearby Enani beach is expected to have another deposit of 0.729 Mt. of minerals. Surrounding islands of Maheshkhali, Kutubdia and Nijhum Deep as well as mainland beach in Teknaf area are also believed to have similar large deposits. The total deposit in these locations is about 20.5 million tons of raw sand, which contains 4.4 million tons of heavy minerals.

Other tourist attractions near Cox's Bazar

Maheshkhali is a small island (268 square kilometres) off the Cox’s Bazar coast. The island offers panoramic scenic beauty and is covered by a range of low hills, about 300 feet (91 m) high, streatches through the center of the island and along its eastern coastline. The coasts of the island on the west and north form a low-lying tract that is fringed by the mangrove forests. Adinath Temple, a temple of Shiva, and a Buddhist pagoda are also located on this island.

Sonadia Island, a small crescent shaped island of only 9 square kilometers, it is 7-km north-west of Cox's Bazar. The western side of the island is sandy and different kinds of shells are found on the beach. Off the northern part of the island, there are beds of window pane oysters. During winter, fisherman set up temporary camps on the island and dry their catches of sea fish. Sonadia Island supports the last remaining part of mangrove forest in southeast Bangladesh. Sonadia's mangroves are distinct from the well-known sunderbans, due to their development in a coastal lagoon setting rather than in a delta. Another attraction of this island is the sight of game birds migrating here in great numbers during the winter seasons.

Teknaf, a place situated by the side of Naf river is the southernmost part of mainland Bangladesh. This also marks the end point of Cox's Bazar beach. Tourists usually come here to have a river cruise along beautiful Naf river, which flows between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

St. Martin's Island, a small island in the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsula. It is the only coral island in Bangladesh. It is about 8 km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar at the mouth of the Naf River. The local name of the island is "Narical Gingira", also spelled "Narikel Janjina/Jinjera", translated from Bangla, meaning 'Coconut Island'. St. Martin's Island has become a popular tourist spot. Three shipping liners run daily trips to the island. They are Kutubdia, Sea-Truck and Keary-Sindbad. Tourists can book their trip either from Chittagong or from Cox's Bazar. The surrounding coral reef of the island has an extension named Chera Dwip. The island is home to several endagered species of turtles, as well as the corals, some of which are found only on this island.

Chakaria: One of most large area in Cox's Bazar.

Bandarban: Bandarban lies three hours away from Cox's Bazaar by bus. The Buddha Dhatu Jadi, the largest Buddhist temple in Bangladesh, located in Balaghata, 4 km from the town, is an excellent place to visit. This Theravada Buddhist temple is made completely in the style of South-East Asia and houses the second largest statue of Buddha in Bangladesh. The waterfall named Shoilo Propat at Milanchari is also an excellent site. In addition, the numerous Buddhist temples, known as kyang in local tongue, and vihars in the town include the highly notable the Rajvihar (royal vihar) at Jadipara and the Ujanipara Vihar. Bawm villages around Chimbuk, and Mru villages a little further off, are also lies within a day's journey from the town. Prantik Lake, Jibannagar and Kyachlong Lake are some more places of interest. And, a boat ride on the river Sangu is also an excellent proposition.

Rangamati: One can reach Rangamati from Cox's Bazar either via Chittagong or Bandarban. Rangamati offers several attractions including local tribal museum, Buddhist temple, tribal markets, hanging bridge and even the palace of traibal kings. The major attraction of the district is Kaptai Lake. It is a man-made lake in the Kaptai upazila of Rangamati District. The lake was created as a result of building the Kaptai Dam on the Karnaphuli River, as part of the Karnaphuli Hydro-electric project. The beautiful view of surrounding green hills has turned the lake into a wonderful spot for boating and cruising.

MadhabKunda Waterfall

Madhabkunda waterfall is one of the most attractive tourist spots in Mowlovi Bazar District, Sylhet division. Lots of tourists and picnic parties come to Madhabkunda every day for their enjoyment. You can go to Madhabkunda either from Sylhet if you go by road or from Kulaura if you go by train.

From Kulaura rail station its about one hour journey by microbus to Madhabkunda. The journey to Madhabkunda itself is exotic. On the way you can see the greenish beauty of tea garden, the hills and the zigzag road through the hills will increase the joy of your journey. In Madhabkunda you will see the great waterfall – falls of million tons of water form 200ft. height. Big bolder of stones and the black stones in giving a shape of care in Madhabkundu. There is a Parjatan Motel with a good restaurant for accommodation and food facility.

When I last went to Madhabkunda, it was July. My suggestion is, if you want to enjoy the complete beauty then please go in rainy season. I went there from Srimongol, by Microbus. It takes almost 2 hours to reach there.

There is also a district council Bunglow for night stay. Here you can enjoy adventurous feelings to stay in a jungle. All you need to have a prior booking for the bunglow from Moulvibazar Zilla Parishad office.