Sundarban- Natural World Heritage Site

The Bengali name Sundarban means “Beautiful Forest”. The Sundarbans may have been named after the Sundari tree, which grows abundantly this forest. Willingly, it has been anticipated that the name of Shundarban came from “Samudraban/Shomudrobon ( Sea Forest)” or “Chandrabandhe” a name of the tribe. It extends from the Hooghly River in the Indian state of West Bengal to Baleshwar river in Bangladesh.

Sundarban is the gigantic mangrove forest in the world. The Sundarban was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 6 December 1997. The total area of Sundarban is about 10,000 square kilometers, which is joinly located between Bangladesh & India.  In Bangladesh, Sunderban reserve forest take up almost 6,017 square kilometers.  Sundarban is in South West part of Bangladesh, in the Khulna Divison (Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Patuakhali & Barguna) & The 2 districts of the India state of West Bengal ( North 24 Parganas & South 24 Parganas). Sundarban is formed on the rivers- Ganges, Brahmaputra & Meghna on the Bay of Bengal. There are 4 restricted areas in the Sundarbans are enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, specifically Sundarbans National Park (India), Sundarban South, Sundarban West & Sundarban East (Bangladesh) wildlife sanctuaries.

Sundarban is the natural habitation of the World’s famous animals Royal Bengal Tiger, Spotted Deer, Crocodiles & Wild Bear etc. The biodiversity of Sundarban includes over 339 species of birds, 528 species of plants, 35 species of reptiles, 278 various kinds of fishes & 42 species of mammals.

Every year thousands of the tourists visit the Sundarbans. A lot of tourists from home & abroad are coming to visit the unique beauty of the Sundarban . Many Tourists visit those places just to have some relief from the busy town life and to get ideal place to take rest, merged with the wild beauty of forests and natures blessings. Sundari,  Gewa, Goran, Keora grow prominently throughout the area. The whole forest has sea currents, small rivers, canals  &  muddy islands (chars).

Main tourist Spots in Sundarban :

Karamjal Tourism Center :

Karamjal is one of the most famous tourist spot in the Sundarban. It’s located in the Sunderbans (Bagerhat) on 30 hectares of land on the banks of the river Pashur.  Karamjal has been developed by the Forest Department as a model for the Sundarbans. You can see here Deer, Crocodiles (natural Crocodile breeding center), Monkeys, wooden trails, towers etc. The name of the wooden path is ‘monkey path’.  Entrance fee for domestic tourists at Karamjal is TK. 20 per person and foreign tourists is TK. 300 per person. Local Researcher pay TK. 40 per person and foreign Researcher pay TK. 500 per person. Tk. 200 per camera for domestic tourists and Tk. 300 per parson for foreign tourist’s camera. 15% VAT is applicable with all the above prices.

Jamtala  Sea Beach:

Sundarbans has some very beautiful places to visit & Jamtola Sea Beach Is one of them. It’s mainly situated in Khulna & Bagerhat in the southeast corner of the Sunderbans . This beach is wild & beautiful. Many trees increase the beauty of this Beach. In the morning you have to get off ship and trek for 2 hour walking distance in middle of the forest to reach the beach. About 3 kilometers of dense forest (Gewa, Sundari, Garan, Keora etc trees) have to be crossed to reach the beach. There is an observation tower on the way,  from there you can see little bit beauty of the Sundarban.  This sea beach is most dangerous beach in Bangladesh. The size of the waves on this beach is very high and it is risk to go into the water for quicksand.

Katka Sanctuary Center:

Katka is one of the most beautiful spot in the Sundarbans and it is the main center of the Sundarbans East sanctuary (shoronkhola range). Katka is a favorite place in the list of tourist because it has beautiful and peaceful nature like forest on the other side of the sea. It has neat and clean sea beach. You can hear the nature music from here. Tourists can see lots of  Chitra deer, Monkeys, Wild Boar etc here and it is also well spot to see tigers if you are lucky. You will see the footprints if Tiger inside the forest. Deers come in group. If you want, you can feed the branches of the trees. You can also see various kinds of birds. There is a rest house of forest department in here. Tourists can see the view of Sunset & Sunrise from here.

Harbaria Eco Tourism Center:

Harbaria Eco Tourism Center is the biggest littoral mangrove forest in the world.  It’s located in the   Khulna Division at Sunderban .This center has been set up under the initiative of Forest Department under Chandpai Range. Here tourist can see lots of monkeys as well as beautiful trees. This place is ideal place for those who want to take a day trip in the Sundarban. The canal in front of the Eco Tourism Center is a crocodile sanctuary.  Crocodiles are often seen this center. Crocodiles can be seen in the sun during the winter in the mud char. Moreover, Deer, Wild Boar, Monkeys, various kinds of Birds and Madantak etc can be seen here. The Tigers are also seen here. This Tourism center has a hanging bridge over a small canal. The wooden walking path of about one kilometer ends in a deep forest.

Bangabandhu Island:

This small island (Char) rises in the Bay of Bengal. It is located 220 kilometers south of Mongla.  The size of this island is increasing. Sunset & Sunrise can be observed on this beach. The island is a green mangrove forest. There are Red Crabs, Snails, Turtles on the island. Sometimes you can see Dolphins playing in the clean blue water.

Dublar Char Island:

Dublar Char is a little beautiful island in Sundarban. This island is located on the southern coast of the Sunderbans.  The local name of this island is “Alor Kol”.  The total area of this char is 61 square miles. This island is famous for fishing, dried fish production & coastal green belt. This island is basically a fishing village.  It is also Sea-Dry food processing center. A variety of fish are available here. The Hindu communities observe the famous 3 days long “Rash Mela (fair)” in every year (Month of Kartik {November}). The fair is going on since last 200 years stated by the local people. Lots of people come here to join this fair (Mela). Red-breasted Kingfisher and Madantak birds can be seen here. You can see here lots of deer too.

Haringhata Tourism  Center:

Haringhata Tourism Center is located in the Barguna district at Khulna Division. This place is a part of sundarbans and it is a Coastal area. There is a huge mangrove forest in this Tourism Center. This place of unknown trees and wildlife is a part of the Sundarbans. You can see here the chirping of Birds in the natural beauty of nature with various kinds of animal like Deer, Monkeys, Wild Boar etc. In Haringhata Tourism Center has a Watch tower in the forest to enjoy the beautiful Sundarbans nature.

Tin Kona Island:

Tin Kona Island (three cornered island) is a remote and famous place in Sundarbans.  This place is popular spot for wildlife spotting in Sundarbans. This island is well known for Deer and Tiger.

Kochikhali Sanctuary:

Kochikhali  is one of the scenic areas in Sundarbans. This place is located 14 kilometers to the  east of Katka. This spot features sense forests facing the Bay of Bengal. It is an amazing place for trekking as well as watching the Tiger.  This place has an enchanting, but wild beauty merged with wild forest and estuaries. It’s a little scary to see Tiger Point and Tiger fun Point here. It is difficult to see a Tiger if the luck is not very good.

Mandarbariya Sea Beach:

Mandarbariya Sea Beach is also an attractive spot in Sundarbans. This beach is located in the Satkhira District. This Sea Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the Bay of Bengal.This beach is unknown to most people in Bangladesh. The length of this beach is 8 kilometers. You can see the lovely view of Sunset & Sunrise from here. The forest at the Mandarbaria on the banks of the Hariyabhanga River in Satkhira and the pleasing sandy beach across the Bay of Bengal in front of it.

Hiron Point:

Hiron Point is a beautiful sanctuary spot, It is  also known as Nilkamal (southern part of the Sundarbans, Khulna). It is called the World Heritage State. This place is called Hiron Point (deer point) because of the free movement of deer in this area.  This spot is famous for Tiger, Deer, Monkey, Crocodiles and many precious Birds. It is safe haven for wild animals like Chitra deer, Wild Boar, White Chest, different types of  Kingfisher, small Red Crab, colorful Bufferflies. This place attracts many tourists owing to its natural beauty and innate splendor. There is a watch tower at Keorasuthi (3 km from Hiran point). There are three rest houses in Hiron Point which run by Mongla Port Authority.

Tiger Point:

Basically tourist likes to visit Tiger Point of the front side.  3 major Tiger Points in Bangladesh are- Kachikhali Tiger point, Katka Tiger Point, Heron Point. In fact, those places are relatively easy for tourists to visit, for this reason those places are very popular for the visitors.

Also more places of interest in Sundarban:

#Putney Island (Khulna, Bangladesh)

#Dimer Char (Khulna, Bangladesh)

#Dimond Point (Bangladesh)

#Sundarban National Park (India)

#Halliday Island wildlife Sanctuary (India)

#Sajnekhali (India)

# Buridabri (India)

#Dobaki (India)

#Dalhousie Island (India)

#Jambudwip (India)

How to go Sundarbans?

Travelling to the Sundarban along or in small groups is very expensive. So it is an easy way to travel to the Sundarban through a travel agency. Those who want to visit all the spots of the Sundarban and spend the night in the deep forest river; they can take package by contacting a good travel agency from Dhaka.

There are so many travel agencies. They are Golden Bengal Tours, Sundarban Air Travel, Peninsula Tourism, Nijhoom Tours, Winux Travels.com, Rainbow Tours, Rocket & Sundarban Tour, Sundarbans Safari, Travel Mate etc. Those agencies have different tour packages. In this case the package cost starts from TK. 8000 for per person to TK. 22000+ for per person. Everything is included in the packages.  Or you can go to Khulna and take a ship package. You can see MV Flamingo, MV Rainbow, MV Oboshor etc. Or for one day tour you can go to Satkhira / Barguna / Bagerhat and take an Engine Boat. It cost you TK. 2000 for one day.

Where do you stay?

If you go through a travel agency, you will stay on the ship for 3 days. And if you do not go through a travel agency then you have to stay in the rest house at the forest. There are some Govt. rest houses at katka, Harbaria Eco Tourism Center, Hiron point etc. There are different types of hotels and resorts in Mongla, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Barguna. You can choose your own according to your budget.

There are a few resorts present in Mongla to stay at night such as Shundarban Eco Resort, Gol Kanan Eco Resort etc.

Where to eat?

The foods are included within the packages offered by the different agencies. They have managed it in the ship. So, you don’t have to worry about foods. If you stay at resort/local hotel, you order food per their food menu.

It is our Responsibility to keep our tourist spots clean. Let’s keep the spots neat & clean as we go around. Happy Travelling 🙂