Cox's Bazar Sea Beach (কক্সবাজার সমুদ্র সৈকত)

The beach starts at the mouth of the Bakkhali River near Cox's Bazar town and runs south along the Bay of Bengal toward Teknaf. The town grew up at the northern end, and the stretch inside it, from Laboni Point through Sugandha to Kolatoli, is where most hotels and visitors are concentrated.

The town takes its name from Captain Hiram Cox, an officer of the British East India Company and superintendent of the Palongkee outpost, who was sent to resettle Arakanese refugees in the area and died in 1799 before the work was finished. A market set up in his memory became known as Cox's Bazar.

Much of the shore is a wide, gently sloping band of fine sand, and some stretches include broad mud flats. At low tide the beach widens a long way, and the flat wet sand reflects the evening sky. Laboni, Sugandha and Kolatoli are the town access points, each with stalls, beach chairs and rides. Away from them the beach quickly empties into fishing settlements, casuarina plantations and rows of wooden boats pulled up above the tide line.

South of town the Marine Drive road follows the coast for about 80 km to Teknaf, with forested hills on one side and the beach on the other. Himchari, Inani and Patuartek are the best-known stops along it, and each has a different shoreline, from hill streams to coral stones.

The beach itself is free and open at all hours. Lifeguard flags and tourist police posts mark the guarded areas in town, and swimming outside them is risky in any season. November to February is the calm, dry period and the busiest; late afternoon is the best time of day for the light and the sunset, and early morning is the quietest.

About 120 km of sand, the longest in Asia

The beach runs about 120 kilometres and is described as the longest natural sea beach in Asia, and the third longest in the world after Praia do Cassino in Brazil and Padre Island in the United States. On average it is about 200 metres wide at high tide and about 400 metres at low tide.

The town was established in 1854 and became a municipality in 1869. A Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics survey in December 2021 estimated that about 3 million tourists visit Cox's Bazar each year.

The sea is more dangerous than it looks. One report counted 43 deaths on the beach over 13 years, and quicksand forms on parts of the shore during the ebb tide, so do not wander far out over the wet flats when the tide is going out. Swim only between the flags, never after dark, and follow lifeguard whistles.