Cox's Bazar Beach (), located at

Cox's Bazar Cox's Bazar (; ; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and Cox's Bazar District, district headquarters in south-eastern Bangladesh. Cox's Bazar Beach, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangladesh, is the longest uninterrupte ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, is the longest natural sea beach in the world running and 5th longest beach after

Praia do Cassino Praia do Cassino ( Portuguese for ''Casino Beach'') is the world's longest sea beach and is located in the southernmost of the Brazilian coast (), on the South Atlantic Ocean, in the Rio Grande do Sul state. It is purported to be the longest unint ...

of Brazil,

Padre Island Padre Island is the largest of the Texas barrier islands and the world's longest barrier island. The island is located along Texas's southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico and is noted for its white sandy beaches. Meaning ''father'' in Spanish, ...

on the US

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

Eighty Mile Beach Eighty Mile Beach also spelled Eighty-mile Beach or 80-mile Beach, and formerly called 90-mile Beach, lies along the north-west coast of Western Australia about half-way between the towns of Broome and Port Hedland. Despite its name, it is so ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, and Ninety Mile Beach of Australia. It is the top tourist destination of

.Mariam Whyte and Jui Lin Yong, ''Bangladesh'', page 136, Marshall Cavendish, 2010,

Geography

At high

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

, the beach is wide, and at low tide, it is wide on average.

Quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...

is a danger during

ebb tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide ...

History

From the early 9th century, the greater

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

area including Cox's Bazar was under the rule of

Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...

kings until its conquest by the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

in 1666 AD. When the Mughal Prince Shah Shuja was passing through the hilly terrain of the present-day Cox's Bazar on his way to Arakan, he was attracted to its scenic and captivating beauty. He commanded his forces to camp there. His

retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', ...

of one thousand

palanquin The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the el ...

s stopped there for some time. A place named Dulahazara'','' meaning "one thousand palanquins," still exists in the area. After the Mughals, the place came under the control of the Tipras and the Arakanese, followed by the Portuguese and then the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. The name Cox's Bazar originated from the name of a

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

officer, Captain Hiram Cox, who was appointed as the superintendent of Palonki (today's Cox's Bazar) outpost. He succeeded

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...

, who became the

Governor of Bengal In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to build a factory at Hooghly district, Hughli, without fortifications. Various chief agents, Governors and presidents were appointed to look after co ...

following the British East India Company Act in 1773. Cox embarked upon the task of rehabilitation and settlement of the Arakanese refugees in the area. He rehabilitated many refugees in the area, but died in 1799 before finishing his work. To commemorate him, a market was established and named after him, called Cox's Bazar. Cox's Bazar was first established in 1854 and became a municipality in 1869. Just after the end of British rule in 1947, Cox's Bazar became part of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. Captain Advocate Fazlul Karim, the first post-independence chairman of Cox's Bazar Municipality, established the Tamarisk Forest along the beach. He wanted to attract tourists as well as to protect the beach from

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

s. He donated much of his father-in-law's and his own lands as sites for constructing a public library and a town hall. Karim was inspired to build Cox's Bazar as a tourist spot after seeing beaches of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, and was a resort pioneer in developing Cox's Bazar as a tourist destination. Karim established a maternity hospital, a stadium and a sewer system by procuring grants from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

and

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

through correspondence. T. H. Matthews, the principal of the Dhaka Engineering College, was a friend who had helped him in these fundraising efforts. Engineer Chandi Charan Das was the government civil engineer who worked on all these projects.

Parts of the beach

Kolatoli Point

Kolatoli Point () is an important part of Cox's Bazar beach situated near Dolphine Intersection of the city of Cox's Bazar. Many hotels and restaurants reside in this area. Buses stop near this point. Before government restrictions, bus stations were in the beach area of Kolatoli. Now all buses stop near Dolphine Moor.

Sayeman Beach Resort Sayeman Beach Resort is a five-star seaside resort located by Kolatoli Square in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. It is the successor of Sayeman Hotel, the first private hotel of the city. The construction of the resort was started initially in 2013 and co ...

is located on the shores of this stretch of beach.

Sugandha Point

Sugandha Point () is situated from the north of Kolatoli point. There is a Burmese Market that is famous in Cox's Bazar. There were sea food restaurants but they were later demolished by the government. It also has a Fly Dining restaurant.

Laboni Point

Laboni Point () is another famous part of the beach. People mainly gather mostly here. This part is best for horseback riding, speed-boat riding, etc.

Darianagar Beach

Darianagar () is situated near Himchhori waterfall and hill track. It is a beach with waterways flowing through it. Darianagar is well known for

parasailing Parasailing, also known as parascending, is an activity where individuals are harnessed to a modified parachute canopy that is designed to ascend into the air when towed behind a motor vehicle on land, or a recreational boat over water. Commerc ...

too.

Inani Beach

Inani Beach () is an sea beach in Ukhia Upazila of

Cox's Bazar District Cox's Bazar District () is a district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. It is named after Cox's Bazar town. It is located south of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the names ''Panowa'' ("yellow flower") and ''Palongkee''. T ...

. It has a lot of coral stones, which are very sharp. These coral stones look black and green, and they are found in summer or rainy seasons. Patuartek Beach is situated nearby.

Teknaf Section

Teknaf Beach () is situated in

Teknaf Upazila Teknaf ( ''Ṭeknaf'') is an upazila of Cox's Bazar District in the Division of Chittagong Division, Chittagong, Bangladesh. It forms the southernmost point in mainland Bangladesh (St. Martin's Island is the southernmost point overall). The name ...

of Cox's Bazar district. This is unlike the main part of the beach. Teknaf Beach has more wildlife than the main beach and surrounded by Teknaf Peninsula's mangroves. This section is divided by many beaches. Other beaches of the section are: * Shamlapur Beach (Baharchara Beach) * Shilakhali Beach * Hajampara Beach * Shapuree Island Beach

Tourism

According to a survey of

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (), is the centralized official body in Bangladesh for collecting statistics on demographics, the economy, and other facts about the country and disseminating the information. History Although independ ...

in December 2021, each year roughly 3 million tourists visit Cox's Bazar. However, the number of trips to Cox's Bazar beach is declining due to various issues.

Controversy

In 2021, an area of Cox's Bazar beach was declared a women-only zone, but the government reversed the decision after controversy.

Gallery

Cox's Bazar–Teknaf Marine Drive *

St. Martin's Island Saint Martin's Island () is a small coral island in the north-eastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, and forms the southernmost part of Bangladesh. It has an area of only 3 ...

* List of beaches in Bangladesh * Tourism in Bangladesh

References

External links

Places of interest in Cox's Bazar : Cox's Bazar Development Authority
{{Asia topic, List of beaches in

Beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

Seaside resorts in Bangladesh