Cox's Bazaar is known for its wide sandy beach which is claimed to be the world's longest natural sandy sea beach. It is an unbroken 125 km sandy sea beach with a gentle slop. Since the rise and fall of the tide here is not great, it is a good place for sea bathing. Cox's Bazar (Bengali: কক্স বাজার Kôksho Bajar or Kôks Bazar) is a town, a fishing port and district headquarter in Bangladesh. It is known for its wide sandy beach which is claimed to be the world's longest natural sandy sea beach. [2][3][4] It is an unbroken 125 km sandy sea beach with a gentle slope. Since the rise and fall of the tide here is not great, it is a good place for sea bathing[5]. It is located 150 km south of Chittagong. Cox’s Bazar is also known by the name "Panowa", the literal translation of which means "yellow flower". Its other old name was "Palongkee". The modern Cox's Bazar derives its name from Captain Cox (died 1799), an officer serving in British India. In the 18th century, an officer of British East India Company, Captain Hiram Cox was appointed as the Superintendent of Palongkee outpost after Warren Hastings became the Governor of Bengal. Captain Cox was specially mobilized to deal with a century long conflict between Arakan refugees and local Rakhains. The Captain was a compassionate soul and the plight of the people touched his heart. He embarked upon the mammoth task of rehabilitating refugees in the area, and made significant progress. A premature death took Captain Cox in 1799 before he could finish his work. But the work he had done earned him a place in the hearts of the locals and to commemorate his role in rehabilitation work a market was established and named after him as Cox's Bazaar ("Cox's Market"). Although Cox's Bazar is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Bangladesh, it has yet to become a major international tourist destination, due to lack of publicity. The greater Chittagong area including Cox's Bazar was under the rule of Arakan Kings from the early 9th century till its conquest by the Mughals in 1666 AD. When the Mughal Prince Shah Shuja was passing through the hilly terrain of the present day Cox’s Bazar on his way to Arakan, he was attracted to the scenic and captivating beauty of the place. He commanded his forces to camp there. His retinue of one thousand palanquins stopped there for some time. A place named Dulahazara, meaning "one thousand palanquins", still exists in the area. After the Mughals, the place came under the control of the Tipras and the Arakanese, followed by the Portuguese and then the British. It was settled by Dr. Cox. The name Cox's Bazar/Bazaar originated from the name of a British East India Company officer, Captain Hiram Cox who was appointed as the Superintendent of Palonki (today's Cox's Bazar) outpost after Warren Hastings became the Governor of Bengal following the British East India Company Act in 1773. Captain Cox was especially mobilized to deal with a century long conflict between Arakan refugees & local Rakhains at Palonki. The Captain made significant progress in rehabilitation of refugees in the area, but had died (in 1799) before he could finish his work. To commemorate his role in rehabilitation work a market / bazaar was established and was named after him as Cox's Bazaar (market of Cox). Cox's Bazar thana was first established in 1854 and a municipality was constituted in 1869. After the Sepoy Mutiny (Indian Rebellion of 1857) in 1857, the British East India Company was highly criticized & questioned in humanitarian ground specially for its Opium trade monopoly over the Indian Sub-Continent. However after getting dissolved on January 1, 1874, all of company's assets including its Armed Forces were acquired by the British Crown. After this historic take over, Cox's Bazar was declared as a district of the Bengal Province under the British Crown.
Cox's Bazar is one of the most attractive tourist spots & the longest sea beach in the world (approx. 120 km long). Miles of golden sands, towering cliffs, surfing waves, rare conch shells, colorful pagodas, Buddhist temples and tribes, delightful seafood--this is Cox's Bazar, the tourist capital of Bangladesh. The warm shark free waters are good for bathing and swimming & while the sandy beaches offer opportunities for sun-bathing. The beauty of the setting-sun behind the waves of the sea is simply captivating. Locally made cigars and handloom products of the tribal Rakhyne families are good buys. Every year lots of foreign & local tourist come here to spend their leisure in Cox's Bazaar. Though the season is in winter but Cox's Bazar sea beach is crowded almost through out the year. Especially in winter season, it is hard to get an accommodation in the hotels if booking is not made earlier. If you are really adventurous and want to enjoy the wildness and madness of the ruff and tuff Sea you can come to Cox's bazar in the month of mid April, Sea continue its wildness till August; and its even more exotic if you come to Cox's Bazar in the time of depression of the Sea. Bangladesh's fledgling but troubled tourism industry is slowly luring foreign and domestic travellers, industry officials say. One of the most popular destinations this winter was this beach resort town of Cox's Bazar on the Bay of Bengal, which drew sun-worshippers from as far away as Europe and Southeast Asia. "Foreigners come here, but we cannot offer everything they need. But still they enjoy the beach and of course the warmth of the people here," said Mahbubul Alam Akash, who hires out colourful beach chairs and sun umbrellas. "A large number of Bangladeshis crowd the town now and their number has been increasing over the past years... we will find time to breathe once the official tourism season is over." There are no official figures on the numbers of visitors to Cox's Bazar this winter, but hotel owners said the 10,000 rooms available were full almost seven days a week in December and a second rush is expected for the Eid-al Adha festival February 13. "The winter season helps us to go through rest of the year, when the number of travellers drop dramatically along with revenue," said an official at a major hotel. Cox's Bazar got its first five-star accomodation in December, a hotel overlooking the world's largest natural white sand beach and basking in its spectacular sunsets. The maximum temperature here in the winter is only about 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 degrees Fahrenheit), but tourists on the seashore enjoy cups of tea, snacks or the very popular green coconut water. A spokesman for the state-owned Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), told AFP tourism was growing every year, with the government doing its best to lure travellers to the South Asian nation.
Near the border with Myanmar this town is noted for one of the world’s longest and least-crowded beaches—an incredible 121 km in length! The setting for this beach with its silvery gold sand is tropical-forested hills. The best time to go there is at sunrise and sunset when the sand changes colors. Enjoy water-related activities, shop for handmade clothes, relax and enjoy the scenery. Cox's bazar is very quickly becoming a well visited tourist spot for Bangladesh and during the months of September and October the beach can get very crowded. Usually hotel walk-ins are almost hard to find, specially the ones which are closest to the beach. Further down south from the town are other parts of the beaches which are not well known to tourists. Here you can go early in the morning and see the fishermen coming back with her morning catch as the sun rises by the horizon. Despite its increasing commercialisation, Coxs Bazar is a great place to visit. If you are a foreigner, everyone will want to talk to you and have their picture taken with you, which is a bit annoying, but at least it is a way to get to talk to people and meet local people. I personally prefer the hotels away from the town, southwards, which although more 'touristy' are quieter and nearer to the emptier parts of the beach. A favourite activity in CXB is watching the sun set; everyone watches it and it is lovely. Good for photos. In Cox'sBazar have lots of tourist accomodation facilities in different types. Hotel, Motel, Guest house, Backpakers and Five Star also. As a most beautiful and famous tourist spot of Bangladesh, the major source of economy of Cox's Bazar is tourism. Millions of foreigners and Bangladeshi natives visit this coastal city every year. Therefore, a number of hotel, guest house, and motel have been built in the city and coastal region. Many people are involved in these hospitality and customer service type business. A number of people are also involved in fishing and collecting seafood and sea products for their livelihood. Out of several sea products various kinds of Oyster, Snail, Pearl and their ornaments are very popular to tourists in the seaside and city stores. A number of people are also involved in the transportation business for tourists. Cox's Bazar is also one of the few major spots for aquaculture in Bangladesh.[13] Along with Khulna, it is considered as a major source of foreign exchange earning of the country from this sector. Besides, a mix of small-scale agriculture, marine and inland fishing and salt production are other industrial sources from this region that plays important role in the national economy.
