Sonadia Camping Trip
Well, think about it.
It's dawn, you're out of the tent, walking barefoot on the sand of a lonely beach, and there's nothing but the sound of a huge mountainous blue wave crashing all around .... there's nobody anywhere.
You stretch out your arms and keep your eyes on the wheel, looking for yourself.
"Nine square kilometers of gold"= Sonadia
Walking a little farther on the deep sand, he saw thousands of red crabs all over the place. Wanting to get closer, you ran, but at the sound of your footsteps, they quickly hid in the hole. When you look back, you see that the crabs on that side are standing with their heads up, and if you want to go that way, the crabs hidden in the hole in front of you will stand up, looking at you with curious eyes. This hide and seek game will continue ...........!
You will also touch the last edge of fascination.
Boats with small engines will take you through small canals through the paragon. While the boat was moving, he suddenly saw a sinking pankauri fluttering its wings from your side and flew away.
Rows and rows of gannets, bucks are flying, you are walking through the bushes of Kaya and Nishindar. The water of the canal is dark blue.
Or think, late at night. In a secluded place, many of you are sitting in a circle, lighting a fire next to the thirsty tent, and getting up on the guitar tuntang ........!
Or the last afternoon, you're sitting on the edge of a shrimp enclosure, the wide green edge calling to you.
Isn't that exciting...?
Yes, if you want to bring these thoughts to life, you have to go to Sonadia Island in Maheshkhali.
Winter will be gone - if you don't go on a camping trip at this time, it won't freeze. This time I went camping on Sonadia Island. Sonadia is undoubtedly one of the best camping spots in Bangladesh.
I left Dhaka for Cox's Bazar by bus at 11 pm on Thursday. It was 8:30 in the morning when the bus dropped us off at Kalatali. After a slow and healthy breakfast, I went to the jetty number 7 with a tomtom around 10 in the morning.
There are various ways to reach Sonadia from the ghat. We reserved a gumboat and set sail for Sonadia Island. You can also go directly to Sonadia by speedboat. Again, you can go to Maheshkhali by speedboat and go to Sonadia even after breaking down. We went to Gamboat to see the sea. This journey was a great adventure. About an hour and a half later we reached Sonadia to see the beauty of the winter blue calm sea.
Sonadia has two neighborhoods - East and West. Camping can be done in both the neighborhoods. Earlier, we had to camp here with the help of 2/3 local people. Now there are 2/3 campsites who provide everything including tents, food and drink. We went to Purba Para. Our campsite was right next to the beach. I went to talk to the Campfire Resort in the eastern part from Dhaka. They took care of everything we needed, including our tent, lunch, dinner, midnight barbecue, and breakfast the next morning.
Sonadia is a tourist spot in Bangladesh where you can taste both sea and mangrove forests at the same time.
The main occupations of the people of the island are salt farming, shrimp farming, dry production and raising of shrimp fry.
I really enjoyed the beauty of Sonadia Island. I spent all day sitting on the shores of the lonely beach, watching the sea swinging on the hammock and swinging, walking around this strangely beautiful island, campfire and chatting and listening to the sound of the sea lying in the tent at night and counting. I will remember the form of sunset and sunrise for a long time. All in all, I spent a day and a half fascinated by Sonadia.
The island is located at a depth of 6 km northwest of the city of Cox's Bazar. Beaches on three sides, sand dunes covered with sea vines, Keya-Nishindar bushes, small canals like nets inside the parabon, sanctuaries of different species of aquatic birds have made this island unique to everyone. The sea of deep blue water will fascinate any traveler.
There are also vast green meadows. A shallow freshwater pond created by the accumulation of rainwater in a sand dune in the middle of the Zhaoban. You can swim wherever you want if you are afraid to take a bath in the waves of the sea.
The island has a cyclone center, two mosques and a sea turtle observation center.
It is the main dried fish production center of the country. You can buy the best quality dried fish from here if you want. The island has been selected for the deep sea port of Bangladesh.
On the day of my return, I took a boat from Sonadia to Maheshkhali. Seeing Adinath temple there, I had a great afternoon at the shooting bridge. Then I drank sweets from Maheshkhali Ghat and got on the boat back to Cox's Bazar. Back in Cox's Bazar, I ate dinner and caught the bus back to Dhaka.
The best time to travel:
October to March (can be visited at any time of the year.
⚠ Alert: Refrain from planning tours when there is a signal.
How to come:
Come to visit Cox's Bazar from anywhere in Bangladesh.
You have to come from any place in Cox's Bazar to '8th Ghat'. There are always many speedboats and trawlers in this wharf. If you are 10 or less in number, you can rent a speedboat for 1500-2000 tk, you must bargain).
If the number people is 20-35 then you can rent a trawler to come and go. The rent will be 2000-3000 tk (of course you will have to bargain). Get on the west side of Sonadia by trawler or speedboat.
⚠Alert: Do not pay the full rent at the first boat or on arrival at the island. Pay the full amount at the end of your trip.
If you go on this route, the speedboat / trawler will take you across the Maheshkhali Channel and drop you off at Sonadia Purbapara via Bay of Bengal. But you will miss the boat ride through the small canal of Parabon (if you don't want to miss, follow the next route). Moreover, there is not much to see in the eastern part, so come directly to the western part.
⚠ Alert: Speak at the beginning of the middle of the speedboat or trawler going west. If you land in Purbapara, it will be very difficult to walk in Paschim Para.
Many tourists come by speedboat and just go around the sea beach of Purbapara. They really missed a big part of the Sonadia tour.
If you are one or two in number or have low tour budget then you can follow this route.
You will come to Maheshkhali jetty by speedboat from Ghat No. 6 of Cox's Bazar. The fare is 75 tk.
Then walk from the jetty or come to Gorakghata by rickshaw. Buy food from here for barbecue or on demand.
From Gorakghata you will go to Ghatibhanga by auto. Rent 20-30 Taka.
Then from Ghatibhanga to Sonadia by boat through a small canal inside the parabon. Rent 30 tk.
If you want to walk or have low tide then you can walk through Sonadia Road (Road is bad so cars do not run but there are two bridges on this route) It will take 40 minutes - 1 hour.
Travel in the morning and come back in the afternoon if you do not plan to stay on the island at night.
◼ Accommodation:
There is no food or accommodation on the island except for a couple of grocery stores. So you have to bring the food yourself. Or you can arrange to cook food by telling a local. They cook fish and dried chicken and eat it, in return they have to pay some money. Contact the following person if you need to arrange meals.
A local fishmonger
Mr. Jasim Uddin,
Mobile: 01817700212
- Changed new number of Jasim: 01819676725
He provided food and accommodation and security for the tourists.
You can go to Sonadia and call him.
He will sincerely help. Give him some money in return. For example, you can pay him 150-200 rupees per head for one meal at a time
If you want to go camping, you have to take a tent with you. A good camping spot is usually found just behind the cyclone center, in the vicinity of the mobile tower. When I went there, a team from Dhaka University pitched a tent here.
Those who want to go to Sonadia and stay in a tent at C-Beach can call Jasim Bhai in advance. He has 10 tents for tourists. For a tent that can accommodate four or five people, the rent will be 300 tk per night.
The waves of Sonadia are usually several times bigger than other sea beaches due to the deep sea. So you have to be extra careful while swimming in the sea. If you are afraid, do not go into the water. Turn around and take a bath in the tubewell next to the cyclone center or you can take a bath in a pond surrounded by sand near the beach.
Alert: Put a few packets of shampoo in the bag.
Many tourists are worried about the security situation on the island. Especially if you plan to spend the night. However, no such untoward incident has been reported so far.
In this case, if you want to camp and spend the night on the island, you must talk to the local ward member of the island and the people who have arranged your meal at your home. If possible, go to Google and take the number of OC, SI of Maheshkhali police station.
Note: If you contact the person mentioned, the security system will be completely assured.
Personal advice:
You can call Jasim Bhai (mentioned above) after leaving for Sonadia. So that he can guide you, prepare food as per your need.
If you want to eat fish, chicken, dried crab, fried crab, tell him in advance. He will keep it ready. There is no market in Sonadia, so it is better to say in advance.
Hopefully, your modesty will make a simple person like him more sincere.
Warning and caution:
* The island is often secluded and noise-free so don't go too far alone. Stay tuned.
- Please don't leave this beautiful island in the same condition as other places.
- Take extra care when going out to sea, again, avoid being scared.
- Do everything by bargaining as much money as you have.
- And yes, when you light a fire for barbecue, at the end of the cooking, keep the coal ash well pressed in the sand pit. Strong winds on the shore, fire can not be easily extinguished. Stay away from anything that could cause a major accident.
Make your trip to the noise-free, secluded Sonadia very enjoyable. You can knock any information you need. As one of Maheshkhali, I will definitely help you with the right information for the purpose of spreading the beauty of Maheshkhali among all.
Note
Dispose of rubbish at designated places.
You must make sure that you do not harm the environment. Do not leave these packets of plastic bottle chips. Leave your unused plastic and polythene in any one of the polythene and bring it to Cox's Bazar.