3-star hotels in Teknaf

Teknaf is a narrow working port squeezed between forested hills and the Naf river, with the hills of Myanmar's Rakhine state rising green on the far bank a couple of kilometres away. There is no beach promenade and no hotel strip: there is a bazar, a port where trawlers unload through the morning, a long river bank and a hill behind the town with a wide view over the water. Almost nobody here is on holiday, which is precisely the appeal.

The two hotels sit on the island side of the crossing rather than in Teknaf town itself: Fantasy Hotel & Resort at Delpara on Saint Martin, and Dreamers Paradise on Post Office Road on Saint Martin Island. Both are 3-star, so this shortlist suits couples and small families on a short break built around the ferry from the Teknaf jetty, and travellers who want a simple base on the island rather than in the port town.

Getting there and around

St Martin's is reached by ship from the Teknaf jetty, a couple of kilometres out of town, and services run in the dry season only, broadly November to March, subject to sea conditions and to government regulation that has changed repeatedly in recent years — including caps on daily visitor numbers, mandatory registration and, in some seasons, restrictions on overnight stays. Nothing about this route should be treated as fixed. Carry your passport and a photocopy: there are checkposts on the approach roads and at the jetty, and identification is checked routinely. Teknaf itself is eighty kilometres south of Cox's Bazar along the Marine Drive.

When to go

The St Martin's Island ferry runs in the dry season only, broadly November to March. Outside that window there is no boat substitute worth taking, so plan the island stay inside it and treat any sailing date as provisional. The Myanmar border crossing here is closed to casual travel and the riverine border zone is sensitive and patrolled — stay in town and on the main roads.