Saint Martin’s Island is Bangladesh’s tiny, jewel-like coral island off the Cox’s Bazar coast, long prized by domestic and international travelers for its turquoise shallows, sandy beaches and rare coral life.

The island, which occupies only a few square kilometres, attracts thousands of visitors every high season, and it has become a symbol of coastal tourism for the nation. This year the government reopens Saint Martin’s Island to tourists from Saturday (November 1), after a seasonal closure and following a published set of 12 eco-rules aimed at reducing ecological damage.

The question now is whether those rules will discourage visitors and cause a negative effect on the island’s tourism-dependent communities.

What and where Saint Martin’s Island is, and why it matters?

Saint Martin’s Island sits in the northeastern Bay of Bengal, near the mouth of the Naf and Teknaf channels. It is Bangladesh’s only coral island, and despite being small estimates commonly put its land area at roughly 7 to 8 square kilometres. Its marine environment supports coral patches, seagrass beds, diverse reef-associated fish, and migratory birds.

Scientific surveys and government-environmental studies over recent years record hundreds of marine species in the island’s vicinity, including more than 200 finfish species and dozens of coral species, which led to the area’s designation as part of a larger marine protected area.

Tourism to the island has grown steadily over the last decade. Before seasonal management and closures were introduced, peak-season daily arrivals often surged well beyond the island’s carrying capacity, putting pressure on waste disposal, freshwater supply, and fragile reef systems. 

The local economy depends heavily on tourism income, alongside traditional fishing and coconut cultivation. The need to balance conservation and livelihoods is therefore more than abstract: it is an urgent, socio-ecological challenge.

The government’s 12 conditions

Government authorities issued 12 conditions and a seasonal access plan to regulate visitors. The headline measures include a strict daily cap of 2,000 visitors, a ban on overnight stays for certain months, prohibition of single-use plastics and certain polythene items, restrictions on motorised water sports and motorbikes on beaches, mandatory eco-briefings for visitors, and penalties for property owners still offering unauthorised lodgings.

The rules also make tourism access seasonal: November will allow only day trips, December and January may permit some overnight stays, and February will be a closure month to relieve ecological stress.

These rules were formalised in gazette notifications and widely publicised by national press and local administrations. The government frames them as precautionary measures intended to protect the coral habitats, reduce plastic and sewage pollution, and allow natural recovery of benthic communities.

Why is Saint Martin’s Island attractive?

Visitors flock to Saint Martin’s Island for several clear reasons. First, it is one of the few places in Bangladesh where coral and reef-associated marine life can be observed close to shore, offering snorkeling and shallow diving opportunities that are both photogenic and scientifically significant. Second, the island’s shoreline offers expansive beaches and calm waters in the right season, ideal for day trips and family outings. Third, cultural and culinary attractions- local seafood, coconut groves, and the relaxed island way of life add to its charm. Finally, improved road and ferry connections from Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf in recent years have made the island more accessible to domestic tourists, accelerating its popularity.

The ecological case for restrictions

Scientific papers and government assessments have documented degradation risks: trampling of corals during low tide walks, physical damage from anchoring and watercraft, freshwater stress from inadequate waste systems, and accumulating plastic pollution. Coral reefs are slow-growing systems; even small cumulative impacts can reduce reef resilience to warming seas and storms. Declaring a larger marine protected area around the island and managing visitor numbers are internationally recognised strategies to conserve such fragile ecosystems. In short, the new measures are grounded in a robust conservation rationale.

Immediate tourism impacts

A daily cap of 2,000 visitors and seasonal limits will almost certainly reduce visitor volumes compared with recent peak years. That reduction directly affects day-trip operators, boat owners, guesthouse and homestay hosts, restaurants, and informal vendors who rely on tourist footfall. Reports show authorities gave property owners a short deadline to remove online listings for overnight accommodation if they cannot comply with licensing and environmental rules, leading to sudden loss of bookings for some villager-run stays. For micro-entrepreneurs who lack diversified income, a sudden drop in customers can be economically painful.

Tour operators and travel agencies are also likely to see fewer tourists in the important November-January window if stricter enforcement is combined with practical barriers, such as limited ferry capacity or increased compliance costs. The immediate economic impact can therefore be significant, especially for households with thin financial buffers.

Will tourists be discouraged in the medium term?

Whether tourists are discouraged in the medium term depends on three factors: how strict rules are enforced, whether visitors find the new arrangements inconvenient or simply different, and how the island market repositions itself.

Environmentally conscious international travelers increasingly prefer destinations that manage visitors responsibly, and a clearly marketed “eco-friendly Saint Martin’s Island” could attract higher-value, lower-volume tourists. If rules are enforced transparently, with clear visitor information, capacity-managed boat schedules, and better on-island services, many travelers will accept, or even applaud, the restrictions.

However, if enforcement is heavy-handed, inconsistent, or if the cap is implemented in a way that creates long queues, cancellations, or expensive permit systems, the visitor experience will suffer and some will be discouraged. The design and communication of the new regime therefore matter as much as the rules themselves.

Social and governance risks

Local people fear income loss, and there are legitimate governance risks. If management decisions exclude island residents from benefits or revenue-sharing, or if enforcement penalises informal entrepreneurs without offering alternatives or compensation, tensions could rise. Effective co-management where local community representatives, fishers, tourism entrepreneurs and government agencies share decision-making and revenue is essential to avoid harmful conflict. Past experiences in other fragile island and reef systems show that conservation imposed from above without livelihood safeguards can backfire.

Opportunities hidden in the restrictions

The new rules create openings for sustainable tourism upgrade: capacity limits can be paired with improved infrastructure, such as waste segregation and recycling, controlled mooring for boats, eco-trained guides, modest visitor fees directed to community conservation funds, and community-run homestays that meet environmental standards. These measures can raise per-visitor revenue while lowering ecological footprint, which is attractive to many international travellers who pay a premium for responsible tourism. Additionally, a February closure can act as a “seasonal reset” helping coral and benthic communities recover, improving long-term attractiveness.

Practical recommendations to reduce negative impacts

1.   Implement transparent visitor booking and quota systems, with online and walk-in allocations, to avoid long waits and cancellations.
2.   Channel a portion of any visitor fee into a community-managed conservation and livelihoods fund, with clear auditing and local representation.
3.   Provide rapid training and micro-grants for local tourism microbusinesses to meet new environmental standards, so incomes are not lost overnight.
4.   Improve ferry and landing facilities to match the new capacity limits, ensuring a smooth flow that maintains tourist satisfaction.
5.   Pair the plastic ban with safe water-refill stations and reusable bottle distribution programmes to avoid inconveniencing tourists.
6.   Monitor ecological indicators publicly, so the benefits of the restrictions are visible and credible to both locals and visitors.

The path forward

The government’s new conditions for Saint Martin’s Island are ecologically justified and, if well implemented, can protect Bangladesh’s unique coral asset while enabling sustainable tourism. In the short run the measures will cause economic strain for many local actors and may discourage some tourists, especially price- or convenience-sensitive visitors. Over the medium term, however, strict but well-communicated management combined with local inclusion, infrastructure improvements, and a repositioning toward sustainable, higher-value tourism could make Saint Martin’s Island more resilient and more attractive.

In other words, the rules will likely reduce visitor numbers immediately, and that may look like a negative for tourism metrics, but they also open a pathway to healthier reef recovery, better visitor experience, and more durable income streams for local people provided the government, communities and private operators cooperate on fair, practical implementation.