Welcome to Cat Ba Island, Hai Phong

Geographically and politically, Cat Ba Island belongs to Hai Phong city. Cat Ba Island is known as National Park and Biosphere Reserve, 150 km east of Hanoi. The park covers appro. 200 square km, two thirds of which consists of a forested zone and one third, a marine zone.

Cat Ba Island is the largest island in the Cat Ba Archipelago that consists of 350 limestone outcrops adjacent to Halong Bay World Heritage site.
With an area of 356 square km, Cat Ba Island has a wide variety of natural ecosystems, both marine and terrestrial, leading to incredibly high rates of biodiversity and encompasses forested zones, coastal mangroves, freshwater swamps, beaches, caves and waterfalls. In 1986, the Northeast side of the island was designated a National Park and includes a protected marine zone. Cat Ba Island has a population of over 20,000 inhabitants most of whom live off fishing or farming in and around Cat Ba Town. The town is small and ancient, with clusters of fishing boats. Since 1998, Cat Ba town has grown rapidly and has become a tourist hub for both the Island and greater Halong Bay.

WHEN TO GO ?
There are 02 distinctive seasons on Cat Ba Island:

• In summer: Vietnamese families go on holiday with kids, because children have a scholar vacation. Most of them come from Hanoi or other provinces in North Vietnam such as Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Lang Son etc….This is high season for local tourism.
• In winter: there aren’t Vietnamese travelers. This is the season for international travelers. Many foreign tourists come for 2 days/1 night cruise on a junk in Lan Ha Bay or some of them stay for more than 3 nights on the island to discover Cat Ba national park or trek around villages in Viet Hai district. 

HOW TO GET THERE ?
If you travel to Cat Ba Island from Hanoi, you have a choice to make:

• From Halong bay or Tuan Chau Island harbor, you can take a public tourist boat for 5 hours cruise to Cat Ba Island's northern port – Ben Beo wharf.
• From Ben Binh pier, Hai Phong city, there are many hydrofoil (speed boat) a day which deserve Hai Phong – Cat Ba Island route. The journey takes 45 minutes. 
• If you like adventure, you can take a public bus Hoang Long Bus company at Luong Yen Bus Station in Hanoi from Hanoi to Hai Phong, then you continue keeping this bus crossing 2 ferries before arriving to Cat Ba town. It takes nearly 5hours to get there.

WHERE TO STAY ?
There are some 3 and 4 star resorts with international standard for travelers seeking comfort,  relaxation, escape from bustling and noisy cities. It is ideal place to relax in summer with blue sky, sunny and windy. Unfortunately it is not convenient to have beach break in winter, because of cold weather or monsoon season. Please contact our Travel Directors for update information regarding weather and accommodation.

WHAT TO DO ?

• National Park, eastern part of Cat Ba Island. Discover  the domain of the endangered Cat Ba Langur, of which there are supposed to be only around 100 left.  Trekking or hiking to a peak viewing tower (1.5-2 hours round trip; slippery and muddy if it's rained recently), a frog lake (probably better in the off (wet) season), a short nature walk near the frog pond.
• Caves & beaches: enjoy 2 days/1 night cruise to explore natural caves and small beaches hidden among the limestone cliffs. Lan Ha Bay is an ideal place to swim and kayak for who  are looking for isolated paradise from mass tourism. Monkey Island apparently has monkeys, it merits our stop over for stunning beach. 
• Lan Ha Bay located in the East of Cat Ba Island and adjacent to Halong Bay. This is a peaceful arc – shaped bay with about 400 large and small islands, which makes it a picturesque scene of nature. Unlike Halong Bay, all of these 400 islands including the tiny one like a penjing are covered with green fauna and flora. The density of Limestone Mountains here is quite thick, which leads to the sea surface being divided into coves. These coves and grottoes still remain pristine and intact. There are up to hundreds of islands with different shapes such as Bat islet (which looks like a bat) or wooden shoe islet (which looks like a shoe). Those stalactic grottoes, which are the specialties of Halong Bay, can also be found here at Lan Ha Bay such as Ham Rong, Do Cung or Ca grotto. Unlike Halong Bay, Lan Ha Bay has 139 beautiful and deserted sandy beaches which are likened to the "blue straits". Some of these peaceful beaches lie between two limestone mountains, which make them the ideal places for sea bathing. Under the sea, there are numerous coral reefs with different colors. The calm waters in Sen islet, Cu islet and Khỉ islet (known as monkey islet) are the perfect places for tourist to experience snorkeling and contemplate the coral reefs. By using small boats, tourists are able to maneuver through the canyons to visit the beautiful grottoes or relax on the islands in the midst of the sea such as Cat Dua or Tung Gau. Residents on Cat Dua Island are currently raising monkeys and there are also hotels for tourists to stay overnight. Especially, tourists coming to this gorgeous island are also offered a chance to visit the pearl farms here. Discovering this Bay, you can easily find tranquil waters with small fishing villages isolated with the other part of the world. Dimly looming in the island are the farms raising green mussels, crabs, abalones and gropers.
• Cycling around Viet Hai villages and stay at local houses will give you unforgettable travel experiences while interacting with local people to learn about their daily life and activities. Viet Hai village - Cat Ba archipelago is considered as an “isolated world”– located in the midst of the valley, surrounded by high mountains and jungle. Viet Hai is a small village covered by high mountains range of the Cat Ba National Park, belonging to Cat Hai District of Hai Phong City. The local people here still retain some of the primitive traits from ancient times. The local residents are self sufficient and prefer to live in the style as of their ancestors thousands of years ago. Owning to this cultural practice, foreign visitors to this village increase gradually. In recent years, with recognition of the Cat Ba Archipelago as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, thousands tourists have trekked through the mountains, jungles to visit this unique attraction.

WHERE TO SHOP ?
There isn’t a place for shopping. There are products or foods for daily demand of local people only. It will be exciting for visitors to see local market with seafood, fresh vegetables and plants, fresh spicy plants etc…

WHERE TO EAT ?
There are lot of small restaurants in waterfront of Cat Ba harbor. Here are some for your reference:

• Green Mango on the waterfront towards the eastern edge of town has the broadest selection of international cuisine on the island, including Indian, Italian, Thai, and Vietnamese. It's not fine dining, but it approaches the mark without pushing up prices too far. A good bet if you want a break from Vietnamese food.
• Mr. Zoom hotel and restaurant at 25 1/4  Nui Ngoc street
• Phương Phương Restaurant at 232, 1/4 street, near Nam Dương Hotel on Cat Ba Island