About 130 km away from the main city, Bakkhali is one of the frequently visited tourists spots in South Bengal. If you are taking public transport, there are buses from Esplanade and trains from Sealdah. By train it takes around 3.15hrs and by bus around 4hrs. There are plenty of buses and trains; mostly in the first half of the day. While the train runs till Namkhana, Buses goes upto Bakhali bus stand. People traveling by train need to take another 40mins bus ride from Namkhana rail station.
Freasergunj, Henry’s Island, Kargil beach, Benfish Jetty, Jwambu Dwip and Mousuni Island are the popular sight seeing spots. However, the sea has moved away and one has to walk about 2kms to enjoy the waves in both Bakkhali and henry’s island. Freasergunj being a dock area is a bit dirty and not the best of the places to enjoy sea.
However, Balutot - the West Bengal Government Tourist department’s tourist lodge is an awesome place to stay. The nearest hotel to the Bakkhali beach, the double bedded AC rooms costs around Rs. 2500. Amidst greenery and water-bodies its a place to relax. It also has an in-house restaurant and the food is tasty. There is stay arrangement for the drivers and breakfast is complementary(puri-sabji/ bread-butter-omlette/ cornflex-milk). Overall, this can be considered as a weekend destination.