Photo of Maheshkhali Island — Jaka Ahmed · CC BY-SA 4.0
Destination guide
Maheshkhali Island
মহেশখালী দ্বীপ
Bangladesh's only hilly island — about 12 km from Cox's Bazar; hills, betel-leaf trellises, salt beds, casuarina groves and a dried-fish village across its 362 sq km. Travellers agree it works as a full day trip — the jetty greets you with fire-paan and coconut stalls.
History & significance
The accounts agree it became an island after an earthquake roughly 450 years ago; the hills are Tipam sandstone, an extension of the Chittagong range. It's been an upazila since 1982 with about 350,000 residents. Around 500 Rakhaine families have lived here for some 250 years, since leaving Arakan.
How to get there
City Jetty No. 6 (across from the airport) — auto/CNG 30–80 tk, ghat entry 20 tk each. Local speedboat 100 tk (20–30 min), tourist speedboat 150 tk (straight to the Shooting Bridge jetty), trawler 30–50 tk (40–60 min, Jetty No. 1). Life jackets are free at the jetty — take one. The last boat back leaves near sunset — don't miss it. On the island, a full-day auto is 500–800 tk (a 2.5–3 hour circuit); reserved rickshaws 250–300 tk. A reserved speedboat for a Maheshkhali+Sonadia day runs 3,500–6,000 tk.
Entry fee
৳20 · traveller-reported
No island entry ticket — the 20 tk ghat fee is the main cost; individual sights charge their own small fees (Adinath free, Swarna Mandir 10 tk).
Opening hours & best time
The boat schedule is the real limit — roughly dawn to dusk; the sea turns rough from March, and December–February is calmest.
Best time
The winter months — calm sea, green betel trellises, salt beds under the sun.
Traveller tips
Fire/sweet paan, 20–30 tk, is the jetty's signature; lotkon 400 tk per half kilo.
Buy shutki at Gorokghata bazar — cheaper than Cox's Bazar shops; some yards are wholesale-only, ask first.
Ask the owner before entering a paan baruj; the paan markets run Fridays and Tuesdays.
A day trip is enough — hotels run 1,500–2,000 tk if you must stay, but there's no need.
Rakhaine handloom (chadors ~250 tk) is worth a look at the temple-gate shops; temples are shoes-off.