Cat Ba Travel Guide

Cat Ba archipelago consists of 367 islands located south of Ha Long Bay. Of which, Cat Ba Island is an attractive destination for tourists. This place has the typical scenery of Ha Long Bay with limestone mountains and calm blue sea.

What season is Cat Ba beautiful?

Summer is the ideal time to travel to Cat Ba. From April to October, the weather is cool, suitable for relaxation and swimming. The peak season is from May to July. If you plan to go to the island from July and August, visitors should pay attention to the weather forecast three to five days in advance to ensure there are no storms. From November to March, the island is quite deserted. However, this time is ideal for exploring nature and relaxing.

Move

From Hanoi , visitors can take a private car to Hai Phong, cross the Tan Vu sea bridge to Got Ferry. The ferry docks at Cai Vieng wharf in Cat Hai district, and after about 20 km, you will reach the center of the island - Cat Ba town. The cost for cars with less than 9 seats includes the road fee of 210,000 VND, and the ferry fee of 190,000 VND. The ferry fee for motorbikes is 45,000 VND per vehicle.

If traveling by bus, a ticket from Hanoi to Pha Got pier costs about 150,000 VND, then to the island by ferry for 12,000 VND per person. In addition, visitors can choose bus companies that go directly to the center of the island, for 250,000 VND per person. The Cat Hai - Phu Long cable car helps save time to get to the island, only 10 minutes, instead of 20 - 30 minutes by ferry. Crossing Tan Vu bridge towards Pha Got, visitors enter the Cat Hai cable car station following the signs on the road. The round-trip cable car ticket price is 200,000 VND per person, for those with Hai Phong household registration it is 150,000 VND. There is a parking lot at the station. The cable car operates from 9am to 4pm on weekdays, 9am to 5pm on weekends. There is a motorbike rental service on the island, about 40,000 VND per hour and 200,000 VND per day. Taxis from Cat Ba center have service running along the sightseeing route, costing 200,000 - 500,000 VND round trip.

Where to play

Lan Ha Bay The bay is located in the east and is a member of the Association of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World (MBBW). The water here is calm and blue. At Cai Beo wharf, visitors buy a sightseeing ticket for 30,000 VND per person, then take a boat or canoe to Lan Ha. The price for renting a private boat is 2.2 - 3.8 and 5.7 million VND for 2.5 - 4 and 6 hours respectively, the boat can carry 25 people. The motorboat costs 500,000 - 1 million VND, corresponding to the type that can carry 5 - 10 people. Visitors should buy a tour to save money, about 200,000 - 350,000 VND per person with lunch. Popular itineraries include visiting the bay and the ancient fishing village, swimming and diving at some pristine beaches, and free kayaking.

Cai Beo Ancient Fishing Village, also known as Vung O, is considered the oldest fishing village in Vietnam. Coming here, visitors can see firsthand the daily life of the people for thousands of years. Stepping onto the raft houses, rowing boats among the floating rafts, buying seafood... are experiences not to be missed. This is a popular destination on a one-day tour from Cat Ba Island.

Monkey Island was formerly known as Cat Dua because of the many wild pineapple trees. There are more than 20 monkeys on the island. When there are many tourists, they become more tame, come down to the beach to play and ask for food. There are two crescent-shaped beaches, Cat Dua 1 and Cat Dua 2, where tourists can avoid the crowds. All beaches have food services, resort bungalows, swimsuits, life jackets, and kayaks for rent. The one-day Lan Ha Bay discovery tour stops here.

Cat Ba National Park This is also a world biosphere reserve. Visitors can choose to climb the mountain for 4 - 8 hours, or a short route of about 2 hours. Walking, cycling, motorbike or car for 2 - 3 hours is also the choice of many people. Visitors can go through the green Kim Giao forest, go to Ngu Lam peak to see the whole view of the national park, see wild animals at night, explore caves... Entrance fee is 40,000 VND per adult, 20,000 VND for children. Military Hospital Cave This is a unique destination, about 8.5 km from the town center, on the way to the national park. Inside the cave is a field hospital, built from 1963 - 1965. Entering the cave, many visitors are surprised to see a system of 17 rooms on three floors; there are treatment rooms, rehabilitation training areas, movie theaters...;. The cave has a bomb-proof door design, created during the war. The entrance fee to the cave is 80,000 VND per person.

Trung Trang Cave Located in the same direction as Quan Y Cave, visitors should visit the cave about 300 m long through the mountain, with a capacity of hundreds of people. The system of stalactites and stalagmites here is large, with many shapes, sparkling, about 6 million years old, still being formed by small water drops. This place also contains archaeological sites of ancient Vietnamese people. The entrance fee is 80,000 VND per person.

Cannon Fort To both visit and rest, visitors can go to the Cannon Fort relic site, also known as High Point 177. The two large cannons and the trench system on the top of the mountain were built in the 1940s and are still quite intact. What attracts many visitors is the high position, from here you can see the whole view of the bay. This place is suitable for watching the sunrise and sunset on the island. The entrance ticket is 80,000 VND per person. Visitors who want to take the electric car must pay an additional 50,000 VND per person. In addition, the fee for viewing the scenery with binoculars is 5,000 VND.

Beautiful beaches on Cat Ba Island If you don’t have time to explore the islands outside the bay, you should go to the central beaches. Among them, Cat Co and Tung Thu beaches are popular. These beaches are spacious, calm, have blue water and are easy to navigate.

Hotel, resort

Photo: Scarlet Pearl Cruise

In Cat Ba, there are many hotels and motels from budget to luxury for tourists to choose from. Hotels with sea views, located along 1/4 Street, Tung Dinh Street... average price from 500,000 VND to 1,000,000 VND per night. Some resorts such as Flamingo Cat Ba Beach Resort, Nam Cat Island Resort CatbaBay, Monkey Island Resort... average price from 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 VND per night. For more economical costs, tourists can refer to homestays such as Santorini Homestay, Lepont Bungalow... priced at around 300,000 VND per night. Staying overnight on a cruise in Lan Ha Bay is also a different option, with prices ranging from 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 VND per person per night.

What to eat

Cuisine in the bay is mainly seafood. Tourists whisper to each other about specialties such as sea horseshoe crab, geoduck, grouper, lobster, mantis shrimp, sea snake, snails, shrimp noodles... In addition, seafood can be bought as gifts, with reference prices of about 500,000 - 700,000 VND for a pair of sea horseshoe crab, 200,000 - 250,000 VND for a kilogram of geoduck, lobster from 600,000 VND to 1.8 million VND per kilogram... To enjoy cuisine, tourists can go to Cat Ba market, where there are many restaurants serving meals or buffets. In addition, Thuy Anh hot pot and grill restaurant on Cai Beo street is one of the restaurants chosen by many tourists. The average price is 200,000 VND per person.

Note

Do not swim after 6pm because of high tide. Travel by cable car on weekends because Got ferry terminal is often overloaded. Bay exploration tours may cut out some spots such as beaches and small islands due to high tide. Before shopping or eating, visitors should ask for prices.

Spiritual

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