Kuakata

Kuakata is a scenic sea beach in south western Bangladesh. It is about 320 Kilometres south of Dhaka, the capital, and about 70 Kilometres from the Patuakhali District headquarters. The kuakata beach is 30 km long and 6 km wide. On 13 September, 2007 government had announced a red alert in Kuakata as caution for a possible Tsunami.

The name Kuakata originated from the word Kua English word “Well” dug on the sea shore by the early Rakhine settlers in quest of collecting drinking water, who landed on Kuakata coast after getting expelled from the Arakan (Myanmar) by Moughals. Afterwards, it has become a tradition of digging Kua-Well in the neighborhood of Rakhaine tribes for water. Kuakata is one of the rarest places which have the unique beauty of offering the full view of the sunrise and sunset from the same white sandy beach in the water of the Bay of Bengal. That places Kuakata among one of the world's most unique beaches.

Locally known as Sagar Kannya (Daughter of the Sea), the long strip of dark, marbled sand stretches for about 30km. Kuakata is one of the rarest places which have the unique beauty of offering the full view of the sunrise and sunset from the same white sandy beach in the water of the Bay of Bengal. That places Kuakata among one of the world's most unique beaches. The long and wide beach at Kuakata has a typical natural setting. This sandy beach has gentle slopes into the Bay of Bengal and bathing there is as pleasant as is walking or diving. Kuakata is truly a virgin beach-a sanctuary for migratory winter birds, a series of coconut trees, sandy beach of blue Bay, a feast for the eye. Forest, boats plying in the Bay of Bengal with colorful sails, fishing, towering cliffs, surfing waves everything here touches every visitor's heart.

On the eastern end of the beach is Gangamati Reserved Forest, an evergreen mangrove forest and snippet of the original Kuakata. When the Rakhines settled in the area in 1784, Kuakata was part of the larger Sundarbans forest. The Sundarbans is now a distant one-hour by speedboat. As a mangrove forest, Gangamati, like the Sundarbans, offers some protection against tidal surges, however it too is being threatened by logging and deforestation. The best way to reach the forest is by foot or bike along the beach, where a flock of flag flying fishing boats can be seen trawling the coast. Choosing to visit Gangamati in the late afternoon is a perfect time to watch the sun caste shadows on the abstract exposed mangrove roots.You can visit Buddhist Temple where you can see the statue of Goutom Buddha and two wells of 200 years old. Local name of the well is Kua and Kata is a local name of digging a well; so was the name Kuakata.

Fisherman village is another place where you can visit and watch the lifestyle of the Fisherman. If you are adventurous you may also go for fishing on the fishing boat if you can manage the local fishermen. That will give you pleasure and experience, which you won’t be able to gather from anywhere else. In the fishermen village you will find the fishermen coming back from the sea and you can purchase some fresh Hilsha fish from them, and by the side of village there are some local restaurants from where you can get the Hilshas cooked and ready for eating.

Kuakata is a famous tourist destination for people from both home and abroad. The significantly exclusive feature of the beach is that due to its "Cross Bow" like shape one can see both sunrise and sunset from some of its locations. The government and local business owners have made significant developments over the years to attract tourist to its shores. Not so long ago tourists were uncomfortable to visit Kuakata due to poor communication systems and dangerous road conditions. Beside that the local communities were not very supportive towards the tourists; resulting some unpleasant events in the beach area. These days, however, people are more business concerned and communications are much better than before. A new Police station was build 4 years ago and community awareness is in place.