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Saint Martin’s Island will reopen to tourists from November 1 and remain accessible until March 15, with a daily limit of 3,500 visitors. Each tourist will have to pay a Tk 100 environmental conservation fee.
The decisions were taken at an inter-ministerial meeting held at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on October 12 to regulate tourism on the ecologically critical island. On Sunday, the ministry’s Environment-2 wing issued instructions to the relevant ministries and agencies to implement the decisions.
According to the directive, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the Department of Shipping will not be allowed to permit vessels to operate to the island without approval from the environment ministry. Approved tourist vessels will continue to operate from Nuniyachhara jetty.
The Department of Environment has been asked to take necessary steps to collect the conservation fee under Rule 26 of the Ecologically Critical Area Management Rules, 2016. The provisions of a notification issued by the environment ministry on October 22, 2025, will also remain in force.
The notification instructed the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, the Ministry of Shipping, the Department of Environment, the Cox’s Bazar district administration and other relevant agencies to take necessary measures to implement restrictions on tourism to the ecologically critical island.
However, the latest directive does not clearly specify whether tourists will be allowed to stay overnight on the island in November.
Mohammad Zamir Uddin, director of the Department of Environment’s Chattogram divisional office, told Samakal that he was also unaware whether overnight stays would be permitted in November.
Tourism to Saint Martin’s was restricted under the interim government as part of efforts to protect the island’s fragile environment. Although the island was opened to tourists from November 1 last year, visitors could not travel there that month because vessel operations remained suspended. Overnight stays were also prohibited in November.
Tourists were allowed to stay overnight in December and January, with a daily limit of 2,000 visitors permitted to visit and spend the night on the island.
