Travel Guide

Cat Ba Island is situated 50 km east of Hai Phong city, belongs to the Cat Ba Archipelago that consists of 350 limestone outcrops adjacent to Halong Bay. With an area of 356 km², Cat Ba encompasses forested zones, coastal mangroves, freshwater swamps, beaches, caves and waterfalls. Almost half of Cat Ba Island and 90 km² of the adjacent waters were declared as a national park in 1986 to protect the island’s diverse ecosystems. In April 2005, Cat Ba was officially recognized as World Archipelago Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

 

In order to save your budget, you should combine your cruise trip to Halong Bay with a visit to Cat Ba Island. Cat Ba is easily accessible and matches neighbouring Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay for stunning natural beauty. After a day discovering Halong Bay, cruise will take you to Cat Ba. 

 

Cat Ba Island

 

Cat Ba Town is in the South of the island where you can find hotels and restaurants easily. From Cat Ba town, you can join a boat trip to visit Lan Ha Bay located to the south of Halong Bay and east of Cat Ba Island, which is under the management of Cat Ba National Park. In reality, regardless of the administrative boundary, Lan Ha Bay is a part of the complex of Halong Bay with around 400 islets. But unlike its famous neighbor, Lan Ha Bay has long been famous for its exclusive scenery with an intense concentration of pristine limestone mountains by which the sea surface is partitioned into smaller bays and gulfs. A lot of tourist says that they love to travel Lan Ha Bay as it is not as crowded as Halong Bay and there are a lot of beautiful small beaches where you can come to have a picnic lunch, swimming, kayaking... There are a lot of beautiful small, sandy beaches in Lan Ha Bay which are ideal for swimming such as Van Boi, Ba Trai Dao, Nam Cat... You can take a boat to travel around and visit Cai Beo floating village on Lan Ha Bay. This is an ancient floating village where people have resided for about 4500 years.

 

  Overnight Cruise which offer visit Cat Ba

 

In Cat Ba Island, you can walk or cycle to Viet Hai village – a small fishing village inside Cat Ba National Park. You will go about 6 km through the forest path to reach the village surrounded by high mountains and jungle. On the way, you will see many species of animals and birds while enjoying green nature. In the village, you can see old houses with soil walls, paddy fields, buffaloes. At the village, you have chance to experience the true fishing culture of Halong bay. Hiking to Hai Quan (Navy) Peak, you can have a panoramic view of the whole island and Ha Long bay.

 

Biking in Viet Hai Village in Cat Ba

 

There is a group of beaches about 1 km to the southeast side of the island included Cat Co 1, 2, 3. The beach here is beautiful with majestic scenery of mountain range, soft white sand and warm jade water. You will have wonderful time of enjoying the fresh air of the ocean, swimming, playing football, volleyball... on the beach.