Bangabandhu Island (বঙ্গবন্ধু আইল্যান্ড)

The island lies off the Sundarbans coast about 15 kilometres from Hiron Point, south of Dublar Char. It formed from accreting sand in the river mouths of the delta and is still changing shape.

Satellite images showed it from 1976, appearing and sinking again over the years. In 1992 the fisherman Malek Farazi and two companions landed there and put up a signboard giving it the name it carries today.

The island rises only about 2 metres above sea level. It is mostly open sand with patches of young vegetation, and its outline shifts with the tides and seasons.

Red crabs and other crabs, molluscs and insects are the main wildlife on the flats. There are no facilities of any kind on the island; plans for a tourist centre and watch tower have been discussed but not confirmed.

There is no separate ticket, but the island lies within Sundarbans waters, so Forest Department permits and fees apply, normally arranged by the launch operator. Most visitors come on a multi day Sundarbans launch tour from Mongla or Khulna that also includes Dublar Char and Hiron Point. The winter months, roughly November to February, bring calmer seas.

From 2 acres to around 10 square kilometres

Bangabandhu Island has grown from the original 2 acres to around 10 square kilometres. Its size stabilised after 2004, and since then it has kept growing without sinking. A sandy beach about 9 kilometres long and 500 metres wide runs along one side, the main reason launch tours make the stop.

Vegetation has spread quickly. Within less than ten years of the island settling, young forest and mangroves had taken root on the higher ground, giving shade to parts of the sand. Early surveys found four species of crab, 16 molluscs, eight plankton species and two kinds of barnacle on the island, along with an ascidian, or sea squirt, recorded for the first time in Bangladesh. Grasshoppers, butterflies and bees live in the new vegetation.

The island lies about 15 kilometres from Hiron Point. Sources disagree on the distance from Dublar Char, giving figures between 10 and 20 kilometres, which reflects how much the sandbanks around it have moved. Tide times decide when a launch's small boat can land you on the beach, so follow the crew's schedule and carry drinking water, sunscreen and shoes for wet sand.