Travel guide

Cox's Bazar Beach

কক্সবাজার সমুদ্রসৈকত · Cox's Bazar Sadar, Cox's Bazar district, Chattogram Division

Sunset at Cox's Bazar sea beach — silhouettes on the wet sand — Photo: Tanweer Morshed · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The world's longest natural sea beachThe 80 km Marine Drive — hills on one side, sea on the otherDay trips to Himchari, Inani and PatuartekThe live fish market and seafoodNazirartek's sunset and Ramu's heritage

Suggested plan

Day 1 — Arrive and the three beaches

Leave Dhaka by night train or bus, arrive early morning৳695-3,000
Local auto from the station to Dolphin Mor — bargain first৳15-720
Sugandha, Kolatoli and Laboni sit side by side — cover them on foot
Stay for sunset — that is when the beach is at its liveliest
The evening live fish market — buy by the kilo and have it cooked

Day 2 — Himchari and the Marine Drive

Himchari in the morning — climb the hill, bring proper shoes৳200 (per trip)Entry: ৳30-40 (per person)
Along Marine Drive to the Parasailing Point and the jhau woods
A half-hour of kayaking at Rezukhal
Patuartek at noon — a quiet coral beach; lunch there
Inani in the afternoon light — the coral rocks show at low tide

For the day's car: a reserved CNG, auto or chander gari — check current fares — ৳800-6,000

Day 3 (optional) — Ramu or Maheshkhali

Ramu: the Buddhist temple, the hundred-foot Buddha and the rubber garden৳40-50 (per person)Entry: ৳20 (per person)
Or Maheshkhali: by speedboat to the hilly island, Adinath temple, Mini Kashmir৳110-3,000Entry: ৳50-200 (per person)
On the way back, Nazirartek — the dry-fish village and an exceptional sunset

Getting there

Fares and prices change — confirm before travelling.

Train (Cox's Bazar Express)

Dhaka → Cox's Bazar

Leaves at night, arrives in the morning; Shovan-chair class

৳695-3,000

Tip: Tickets sell out fast — book online a week to ten days ahead

Bus

Dhaka → Cox's Bazar

Several operators from Sayedabad terminal (Hanif, Shyamoli, S Alam); the 9-10pm buses arrive at dawn

৳800-3,000

Tip: Buses give you timing flexibility; non-AC seats cost less

Marine Drive car (reserved)

Dolphin Mor → Inani / Patuartek / Shah Parir Dwip

A reserved CNG or auto covers the whole day; a chander gari splits nicely across 10-12 people

৳1,000-2,000 (per trip)৳800-1,500৳800-2,500৳3,000-6,000 (per trip)

Tip: Off-season bargaining brings fares down; holidays cost more

Local auto / CNG

Around town and nearby spots

Station → Dolphin Mor, Sugandha → Himchari, Dolphin Mor → Ramu — all by local auto or CNG

৳20-6,000৳200 (per trip)৳40-50 (per person)

Rented motorbike

Dolphin Mor onto the Marine Drive

Most brands available; fuel is on you; with a licence you can ride all the way to Teknaf

৳100-1,000৳1,200-1,500 (per day)

Tip: Film the bike's condition before taking it — it prevents return disputes

Maheshkhali speedboat

Ghat 6 → Moheshkhali

A 15-20 minute crossing; ride with the locals per-person or reserve a whole boat as a group

৳110-3,000

Day train (Snigdha / AC chair)

Dhaka → Cox’s Bazar

A day train also runs — departs ~6:40 AM, arrives ~3 PM (about 8 hours); Snigdha AC chair ~৳1,350/pp, non-AC from ৳700. It leaves Kamalapur ~6:15 and the Airport station ~6:35.

৳695-3,000

Tip: Book online about a week ahead; the mobile booking copy is enough at the ticket check — no printout. Online booking adds a ৳20 charge.

Station rickshaw fare chart

Cox’s Bazar rail station → town / Dolphin Mor

The station posts an official fare chart — ৳20 per person, ৳100 reserved; the ride takes about 10 minutes. BRTC buses outside also charge ৳20/person to Kolatoli.

৳20 (per person)৳20-250

Tip: Pullers may still ask ৳150–200 — point at the chart.

BRTC bus from the rail station

Rail station → Kolatoli

BRTC buses parked outside the rail station charge ৳20 per person to Kolatoli.

৳20 (per person)

Tip: The cheapest last-mile option from the station.

Marine Drive CNG / chander gari day trip

Cox’s Bazar → Himchari → Inani → Patuartek

Reserve a whole CNG or chander gari for the Marine Drive circuit; day rates vary by vehicle and bargaining.

৳800-1,500৳800-2,500৳3,000-6,000 (per trip)

Tip: The 10am–2pm slot can cost about half; the Rezukhal bridge is one-laned — expect long jams on Fridays.

Places to visit

Marine Drive Road

About 80 km from Cox's Bazar to Teknaf — hills on one side, sea on the other, with jhau woods, Dolona beach, Rezukhal and sampan boats along the way

Himchari National Park

The hilltop shows the sea and Marine Drive together; the waterfalls are fullest in the rainy season; expect stairs

Entry: ৳30-40 (per person)

Good to know: The climb is strenuous — elderly visitors and those with heart conditions should skip it

Inani Beach

Coral rocks show clearly at low tide — afternoon light is the best; a calmer feel than Cox's Bazar's busy beaches

Good to know: The rocks are wet, mossy and slippery — walk carefully, barefoot

Patuartek

A quiet green-hilled coral beach — the place for peace away from the crowds

Crab Beach (Salsa Beach)

Red crabs appear on the sand at low tide; shaded jhau woods and swings next door

Good to know: No crabs in the afternoon — time your visit with the low tide

Ramu

The hundred-foot Buddha and an old Buddhist temple, next to a shaded rubber plantation — late afternoon is the pleasant time

Entry: ৳20 (per person)

Maheshkhali Island

Bangladesh's only hilly island — Adinath temple, the Mini Kashmir hillock, windmills and the famous sweet pan

Nazirartek

The country's largest dry-fish village, at the very start of the beach, with an exceptional sunset

Radiant Fish World

An air-conditioned aquarium with a 3D art gallery, movies and a mirror zone — good with kids

Entry: ৳240-2,000 (per person)

Cox’s Bazar railway station

Built in the shape of an oyster shell — billed as Bangladesh’s first iconic railway station; photo-worthy from the front, and climbing the structure is prohibited.

Food

Live fish market (Laboni / Sugandha)
৳600-1,500
Fresh-from-the-sea fish by the kilo in the evening — buy, fry or barbecue on the spot; prices vary by catch
Al-Goni Restaurant
৳30-720
A tidy restaurant near Simon's — coral barbecue, beef kalo bhuna and chicken chap praised; the pick in a two-restaurant comparison
Poushi Restaurant
Behind Ocean Paradise; mash platters and kalo bhuna — opinions differ, and most found it average
Breakfast around Kolatoli
৳60-100 (per person)
A local breakfast at Poushi or Kolatoli Restaurant — both are decent
Lunch at Patuartek
৳130-250 (per person)
Local lunch at the beachside restaurants; travelers report different prices — a small strip with limited options
Green coconut water
৳100-160
Available along the beach everywhere; tourist-area prices start high — bargain
Sagarika Live Seafood
Near Kolatoli — pick live fish for fry or barbecue; the squid reportedly tastes slightly bitter
Train meals (Dhaka–Cox’s Bazar)
Breakfast is a ৳200 set package (nothing sold separately), lunch ৳180, khichuri ৳170 — eatable, not gourmet.
Dolphin Mor breakfast
Around Dolphin Mor square, a filling breakfast at the good restaurants runs ৳100–150.
Local rice-plate thali
A full lunch of rice, fish, bhorta and vegetables at a local restaurant near Kolatoli costs around ৳150.
Inani resort dining
Room-service set-menu dinner for two (Rupchanda bhuna with rice) totals ৳1,350 — 15% off applies to the set menu only; loitta fry ৳250; daab on the beach strip ৳150, prices effectively fixed.

Where to stay

Sugandha–Laboni–Dolphin Mor area

Most visitors stay in this strip — the densest hotel area, within walking distance of the beaches. Budget rooms need a bit of searching; the closer to the beach, the better.

৳300-6,000

Government holidays nearly double room prices; Friday-Saturday fills up too
Check rooms in person — skip station brokers and third-party middlemen

Budget

From one budget traveler's own cost breakdown — sharing the room and bike lowers the per-person total

Dhaka→Cox's Bazar train (incl. VAT)	৳720
Station→Dolphin Mor auto	৳20
Breakfast	৳60
Room (1500 for two)Room and bike shared	৳750
Lunch	৳200
Dinner	৳150
Day-2 breakfast	৳60
Bike (5 h, 1000 shared by two)Room and bike shared	৳500
Lunch	৳200
Dinner	৳150
Return bus Cox's Bazar→Dhaka	৳800
Total per person	৳3,610Nothing shared: ৳4,860

With an unshared room and bike the total is about 4,860 per person; sharing brings it to about 3,610. Reported costs — they change over time.

Good to know

Ignore unknown brokers at the station — inspect hotels yourself
Check seafood prices carefully — vendors may ask up to three times the going rate
Ask food prices before ordering
Agree photo and ride prices before you start
Inani's coral rocks are slippery — walk barefoot and carefully
The Himchari climb is strenuous — skip it if you are older or have health concerns
Before leaving valuables in a beach locker, talk it through with the attendant
Parasailing is sometimes suspended — check it is running before you go
Outside the rail station, auto drivers pressure groups into hiring a whole vehicle (~৳200) — agree the fare before boarding and point at the chart
Never buy “black” train tickets — resold at about double the counter price (a ৳700 ticket for ৳1,000)
Beach horse rides quoted at ৳200 can shrink to a two-minute circle — agree the route and duration first
Some fish shops smell of rotten fish — one traveller lost ~৳1,200 to a fish swap; buy at the live market where you pick the fish yourself