Kuakata Sea Beach (কুয়াকাটা সমুদ্র সৈকত)

Kuakata Sea Beach is an 18 km beach on the Bay of Bengal in Latachapli union, Kalapara upazila, Patuakhali district, Bangladesh, about 70 km south of Patuakhali town. It is one of the few beaches in the country where you can watch the sun both rise and set over the sea, and it suits travellers who want two days of shore, Rakhine culture and boat trips.

Sunrise at Gangamati, sunset at the western end

The coast curves, so the sun rises over the sea at the eastern end and sets over it at the western end. Banglapedia gives the beach a length of about 18 km and a width of up to 3 km at low tide. Head to Gangamati, a reserved forest at the eastern end, for sunrise, and to the western end or Lebur Char for sunset.

The Rakhine story behind the name

Rakhine people driven out of Arakan settled along this coast in the 1780s. Local tradition says the first settlers found no fresh water and dug a well, giving the place its name: kua means well and kata means dug. An old well near the Rakhine quarter is shown as the original.

The community still lives in villages such as Keranipara, where women weave cloth and warm winter sheets on hand looms. Old Buddhist temples stand at Keranipara, Misripara and Amkholapara. The Seema Buddha Bihar at Misripara, about 8 km away, holds a large seated Buddha; local people put the temple at 100 to 150 years old. During Rash Purnima and Maghi Purnima, Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims come to bathe in the sea, which they treat as holy.

Fatrar Char mangroves and Crab Island trips

A reserved forest and a large teak plantation run alongside the beach. West across a river channel lies Fatrar Char, one of the larger mangrove forests outside the Sundarbans. Boat trips to Crab Island run roughly from October to March, and dried-fish yards work along the coast in the dry months.