How big is Saint Martin's Island, how old is its coral and why is it called Narikel Jinjira? The key facts, with sources.
Saint Martin's Island (St Martin Island, or Narikel Jinjira) is Bangladesh's only coral island. Here are the key facts about it, with where each comes from, put together by the team at El Marena Eco Resort near Chera Dip.
Where it is and how big
- Where: in the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar–Teknaf peninsula (Banglapedia).
- Length: about 7.3 km, running north-north-west to south-south-east (Banglapedia).
- Width: the northern part is up to about 1.4 km wide, the middle only about 500 m, and the south up to about 1 km (Banglapedia).
- Height: about 3.6 m above mean sea level (Banglapedia).
- Chera Dip: tiny islets off the southern tip, which you can walk to at low tide.
Its names
Locals call it Narikel Jinjira, "coconut island", for its coconut palms (Banglapedia). The English name Saint Martin's dates from the British period; the usual story is that it was named after a British official, but the accounts we found don't agree on the details.
Coral and geology
- Small living coral colonies grow in sheltered pools near low-tide level (Banglapedia).
- The oldest fossil coral found there has been dated to about 33,000 years ago (Banglapedia).
- Dead coral found above today's low-tide level shows the island is still slowly rising (Banglapedia).
Why it's protected
The government has declared Saint Martin's an Ecologically Critical Area, so each year it sets when tourists may visit and how many. Sea turtles nest on its beaches in winter. Our coral and island rules article explains what visitors should and shouldn't do.
Visiting
Tourist ships leave from Nuniarchhara jetty in Cox's Bazar, about 5 to 6 hours each way. For the full picture, see our Saint Martin's Island travel guide.
