Give a day to the town beach at Laboni, Sugandha and Kolatoli, then hire a car for the 80 km Marine Drive south to Inani's coral boulders and the rock shelf at Patuartek. Spend the second day in Ramu among the monasteries and the 100 foot reclining Buddha, and the third on Maheshkhali Island, fifteen minutes by speedboat. Saint Martin's is a winter trip and needs a permit.
Bangladesh's beach town sits at the head of a sand shelf the country counts as the world's longest natural sea beach, 120 km of it, running unbroken down to Teknaf. Behind the sand are Buddhist Ramu, a hilly island of betel vines and salt flats, and a forest reserve with elephants in it.
The town beach, and the head of the shelf Bangladesh counts as the world's longest natural sea beach at 120 km. Laboni is the busiest access point, thick with horses, beach chairs and speedboat touts. Walk south towards Sugandha for the same sand and fewer sellers.
Eighty kilometres of two-lane road pinned between the Bay of Bengal and the hills, opened in 2017 and the reason to rent a car here. The sea stays on your right the whole way, with pull-ins at Himchari, Inani and Patuartek before the road ends at the country's southern tip.
Inani runs 18 km and swaps town sand for coral boulders that surface at low tide. Six kilometres further on, Patuartek is the rock shelf proper, pocked with oysters and snails. Check the tide before you set out, because high water hides the whole point of the trip.
A 1,729 hectare reserve of hills and mixed evergreen forest, declared in 1980 and run by the Cox's Bazar South Forest Division. The draw is the waterfall, which only performs after rain, and the hilltop viewpoints looking down on the beach road.
Ramu is the old Buddhist centre of the district: monasteries, a 13 foot bronze Buddha, and at Vimukti Bibeshan Bhabna Kendra the largest reclining Buddha in Bangladesh, gilded and 100 feet long. The weaving and handicraft workshops are worth the extra hour.
The only hilly island in Bangladesh, and the easiest day off the mainland. Speedboats cross the channel in about fifteen minutes. Ashore it is betel vines under thatch, salt flats, and the climb up Mainak Hill to the Adinath Temple.
The town's Rakhine monastery, its prayer hall raised on round timber columns and built from Arakanese teak and ironwood. Inside is a repository of bronze Buddhas and old manuscripts. Five memorial pillars stand in the courtyard beside a Shilkoroi tree the community dates at 250 years.
The Forest Department's safari park, 2,224 acres of hill forest holding roughly 4,000 animals across 165 species. It runs as a drive-and-walk park rather than a zoo, and it is the one stop on this list that reliably works with children.
The country's largest dried fish yard, 200 acres of racks worked by around 20,000 people in season. It is a working place rather than an attraction, and it smells like one. Come for the scale, and buy your shutki here instead of at the beach stalls.
Bangladesh's only coral island and its southernmost point, with Chhera Dwip cut off from it at high tide. Access is now a short winter season with a capped daily headcount and a QR travel pass, and boats leave from the BIWTA jetty at Nuniachhara rather than Teknaf.
2,224 acres and about 4,000 animals, run by the Forest Department.
The annual fair at the foot of Mainak Hill on Maheshkhali, held in Phalgun.
Bengali New Year, marked on the beach with processions, music and food stalls.
A national holiday, and the biggest day of the year in Ramu's monasteries.
The busiest domestic holiday here. Hotels fill and room rates jump.
The Hindu festival, with immersion processions ending at the water's edge.
The Buddhist lantern festival. Ramu floats its Kalpa Jahaj on the Bakkhali.
The island opens to visitors for a short winter window, under a daily cap.
Bangladesh's national day, in the middle of the dry-season beach peak.
The airport sits in the town itself, with daily flights from Dhaka on Biman, US-Bangla and Novoair. Its runway is being extended to 9,000 feet for wide-body aircraft.
The Cox's Bazar Express has run since December 2023, covering the 551 km from Dhaka in around eight hours, six days a week. Book through Bangladesh Railway's e-ticket site.
Coaches run day and overnight on the 400 km road route through Chattogram, taking nine to twelve hours. Green Line, Shyamoli NR and Saintmartin Paribahan are among the operators.
Battery autos and CNG three-wheelers cover the beach points and the town for a few taka. For Marine Drive, Ramu or the safari park, hire a car with a driver for the day.
Pomfret, split and fried whole. The default order at any beach kitchen.
Dried Bombay duck, rehydrated and cooked down hard with chilli.
Rakhine rice vermicelli in broth, with half an egg and skewered chicken.
Sea bass, grilled whole. Ask for it fresh rather than out of the freezer.
Prawns in coconut milk, the Bengali curry kept for good occasions.
Shellfish tossed raw with onion, red chilli and thankuni leaf.
Chattogram's fierce feast-day beef curry, sold by the plate here.
Dried fish mashed with chilli, onion and raw mustard oil.
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