A session-by-session plan for three days on Cat Ba. Day one gets you onto the island and up to Cannon Fort, day two belongs entirely to Lan Ha Bay, day three is forest or caves before the bus home.
Getting from Hanoi to Cat Ba takes roughly four and a half to five and a half hours each way depending on the route, so a Cat Ba Island itinerary 3 days long is the shortest version of this trip that does not feel like a race. The structure below is simple and it works: give the entire middle day to Lan Ha Bay, and let the two days on either side absorb the travel and everything that sits close to town.
Cat Ba Island itinerary 3 days at a glance
- Day 1: travel from Hanoi, swim at Cat Co, sunset at Cannon Fort, seafood in town
- Day 2: a full day on Lan Ha Bay, with a swim stop, kayaking and lunch on board
- Day 3: the national park or the caves, the market, then an afternoon bus back
- The one rule that matters: the bay tour goes on day two, never on day three
Before day one: getting yourself to the island
International flights land at Noi Bai airport outside Hanoi, about 35km (22 miles) from the Old Quarter, and a car into the city takes 45 minutes to an hour. From Hanoi the easiest way onto Cat Ba is a limousine bus, which in Vietnam means a nine to eleven seat minibus with wide reclining seats rather than an actual limousine. The operator handles the sea crossing for you, whether that is the ferry or the cable car, so you never have to solve it yourself. Budget roughly 250,000-350,000d each way (about US$10-14) as an estimate.
Day 1: arrive, swim at Cat Co, sunset at Cannon Fort
Leave Hanoi around 7am to 8am and you will be in Cat Ba town in the early afternoon. Check in, sit down for half an hour, then walk out to the Cat Co beaches at about three o'clock. They are only ten minutes on foot from the center, linked to each other by paved paths cut into the cliff face. Around five, take a motorbike or an electric buggy up to Cannon Fort, timing your arrival for about an hour before sunset so you can walk the old tunnels and gun emplacements before settling at the viewpoint. Dinner is seafood in town, and you ask the price per kilo before you order anything.
- Morning: leave Hanoi, eat lunch en route or once you land on the island
- Early afternoon: check into your hotel in Cat Ba town
- Afternoon: swim at Cat Co 1 or 2, walk the cliffside path between them
- Late afternoon: Cannon Fort for the view over town, the fishing harbor and the bay
- Evening: seafood dinner, and lock in tomorrow's boat tour through your hotel
Day 2: a full day on Lan Ha Bay
This is the day the trip is built around. Boats leave from Ben Beo pier at around eight in the morning and return mid-afternoon. The standard route runs out past the Cai Beo floating fishing village, threads between the limestone karsts, stops at a small sand beach where you swim off the boat, then drops kayaks in sheltered water so you can paddle into the caves that cut through the rock. Lunch is served on board. Early afternoon usually adds one more stop, often Monkey Island or a quiet cove chosen by the skipper based on the tide. You are back at the pier by four or five.
- Morning: down to Ben Beo pier, board, cruise past the Cai Beo fishing village
- Mid-morning: swim stop at a small beach tucked between the karsts
- Midday: lunch on the boat, then about an hour of kayaking
- Afternoon: one more stop, then back toward the pier
- Evening: dinner on a floating fish farm restaurant or back in town
Day 3: forest or caves, then the bus home
The last morning splits two ways. If you have the energy, ride roughly 15km (9 miles) north to Cat Ba National Park and climb Ngu Lam peak, which takes about 30 to 45 minutes each way on a steep path over sharp limestone, and rewards you with a watchtower looking across ridge after ridge of forest. If you would rather take it gently, Hospital Cave and Trung Trang Cave both sit on the road that crosses the island and are easy to walk. Head back to town for lunch, buy dried squid at the market as a gift, then take an afternoon bus and land in Hanoi in the evening.
- Morning: national park and Ngu Lam peak, or Hospital Cave and Trung Trang Cave
- Midday: lunch in town, stop by the market for dried seafood
- Afternoon: check out, take the bus, arrive back in Hanoi that evening
Do not put the bay tour on your last day. The sea here can turn rough with very little warning and the boats simply stop running. If that happens on day three you lose the single best thing about Cat Ba with no room to reschedule. Book it for the middle day and keep a spare day behind it.
Getting around the island once you land
Cat Ba town is walkable end to end, so you only need wheels on the days you leave it. A rented motorbike is the usual answer at roughly 150,000-250,000d a day (about US$6-10) before fuel, and it is the cheapest way to reach the national park and the caves. Two things are worth knowing before you take the keys. The island road is a real mountain road, with steep grades and blind bends that arrive faster than they look, so if you have not ridden in Vietnam before, this is not the place to learn. And check the brakes and photograph the bike from both sides before you ride off, which settles any argument about scratches when you hand it back. If you would rather not ride, electric buggies and taxis cover the same ground, and short hops around town, such as the run up to Cannon Fort, cost very little.
The two-day version
- Day 1: leave Hanoi early, swim at Cat Co, Cannon Fort at sunset, seafood dinner
- Day 2: a bay tour that returns early, lunch on board, afternoon bus back
- Dropped: the national park, the caves and Viet Hai village
Book and pack these before you go
- Return bus seats and your room, two to three weeks ahead in summer
- The bay tour the night before, confirming the return time and whether bay entry fees are included
- Cash in dong for small boats, parking and street stalls, since cards are rarely taken
- Sunscreen, a hat and a dry bag for the kayaking day
- Shoes with grip if you are climbing Ngu Lam
- A check of the wind forecast about two days before you leave
What three days on Cat Ba costs
These are estimate ranges rather than quotes, and they shift with the season, but they will keep you within sight of reality. Return transport between Hanoi and the island runs about 500,000-700,000d per person (roughly US$20-28). A mid-range double room in town is around 700,000-1,500,000d a night (about US$28-60) in summer and noticeably less in autumn and winter, so split two ways it is the smallest line on the list. The full-day Lan Ha Bay tour is roughly 400,000-700,000d per person (about US$16-28). Eating seafood at both main meals comes to something like 300,000-500,000d per person per day (roughly US$12-20). Add another 300,000-500,000d (about US$12-20) across the trip for motorbike hire, site entry and the small things. Two people sharing a room should plan on somewhere in the region of 3,000,000-4,500,000d each (roughly US$120-180) for the three days, before souvenirs, and carry it in cash, because the small boats, the parking attendants and most stalls do not take cards.
