Cat Ba Island – the largest island within Halong Bay
Last Update: 24th October 2020
Located 20 kilometers from Haiphong City, Cat Ba Island is the only inhabited island at Halong Bay. Half of the island is declared as one of the national forest parks in Vietnam. The island is home to the endangered golden-headed langur and around 13,000 Vietnamese people.
- Name: Halong Bay
- Area: 146 x square kilometers
- Things to do there: Adventure, Photography, Boating, Hiking
- Who visits: Photographers, Adventurers
- Time required: 2 – 3 x Hours
Cat Ba Island offers the tropical limestone forest, coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, lagoons, beaches, caves, etc. Tourists can find precious wood and rare animals, such as white-headed monkey, and golden monkey. The surrounding waters is home to squid, sea shrimp, abalone, sea cucumber, sardines and so on.
There are five townships and one fishing port on the island. Cat Ba Town is the business center of the island. The island is decorated with rolling mountains. On the mountain 5 kilometers from Cat Town lies a cave. The remains at the Neolithic Age is found in the cave.
Cat Ba Island features a variety of exciting activities to enjoy. You could rent a motorcycle to travel around the island. Enjoying sunbathing at one of the beaches is one of them. Swimming in the sea in summer is also enjoyable. In addition, you’ll find shops offering snorkelling and diving gear rental service as well. If you love trekking and rock-climbing, the island has several spots to you to experience, especially in the Cat Ba National Park.
With the development of tourism on the island, tens of hotels, restaurants and bars have been built there to meet the need of tourists. If you love to stay in a quiet surrounding, you could just have a cup of coffee at the balcony at your room in the hotel, appreciating the sunrise or sunset.
The best time to visit Cat Ba Island is in the morning or at sunset.
The best months to visit are from April to November.
Unfortunately, there is no bus to Cat Ba Island from Ninh Binh or Hanoi. Thus, you could rent a vehicle and ferry to get to the island. Alternatively, join in a one-way trip to the island organized by tour agencies in Hanoi.
- Opening hours: 08:00 – 17:00
Tourists can visit the island for free. - As at 24th October 2020, the entrance pricing to Cat Ba National Park is 40,000 VND per person. For the latest pricing information, please contact us via email (info@wendyweitours.com)
- If you’d like to do more hiking in the national park, it is suggested that you get to the park very early.
- If you want to enjoy the sunrise or sunset on the island, you could stay overnight at one of the hotels there.
- Please wear sunscreen cream and sunglasses with you.
Wendy Wei Tours offers a variety of different packaged tours as well as custom tours including the Cat Ba Island, among other attractions and destinations. To find out more, please visit our Tours page or Contact Us directly to find out more.