Cat Ba is not just a beach island. Lan Ha Bay, a national park, a floating fishing village and an old clifftop fort sit within a few kilometers of each other, so the real skill is matching them to the days you have.
Cat Ba belongs to Hai Phong, in what was Cat Hai district and is now administered as the Cat Hai special zone. The things to do in Cat Ba fall into three groups that would normally need three separate trips: a coastline of small beaches, a bay of limestone towers rising straight out of the water, and a genuine tract of old forest in the middle. Everything sits within about 20km (12 miles) of the town, so the challenge is not distance. It is deciding what fits the days you have.
1. Lan Ha Bay, the reason people come
Lan Ha sits immediately south of the island, part of the same drowned limestone landscape as Ha Long Bay but with a fraction of the boat traffic. What sets it apart is the scattering of small sand beaches wedged between the karsts: the boat anchors offshore and you swim in, and at midday there is a decent chance the whole beach is yours. Day tours leave from Ben Beo pier, run six to eight hours, and usually include a kayaking stretch. Expect roughly 400,000-700,000d per person (about US$16-28) as an estimate.
2. The Cat Co beaches, a ten-minute walk from town
Three small bays sit side by side on the edge of Cat Ba town, joined by stone walkways cut into the cliff. Cat Co 1 is about ten minutes on foot from the center. The beaches are short but the sand is fine and the water is clearer than anything you will find on the mainland coast nearby. In summer they fill up in the late afternoon, so go early in the morning if you want space.
- Cat Co 1: the largest, the most facilities, and the busiest
- Cat Co 2: in the middle, with the prettiest cliff walkway
- Cat Co 3: the quietest, backed by a resort
3. Cat Ba National Park and Ngu Lam peak
About 15km (9 miles) north of town, the park is the part most visitors skip and most later wish they had not. The popular short route is the climb to Ngu Lam peak, 30 to 45 minutes each way up a steep path over jagged limestone, ending at a watchtower with forested ridges running to the horizon. The longer route crosses the forest to the Ao Ech wetland and down to Viet Hai village, which needs half a day and is best done with a guide. Wear shoes with real grip; this rock shreds soft soles.
4. Viet Hai village, marooned in the forest
Viet Hai lies on the eastern side of the island, and reaching it means a boat followed by a bicycle ride along a forest track, or walking across the national park. That inconvenience is exactly what has kept it quiet. A handful of households run homestays, meaning you sleep in a spare room of a family house and usually eat dinner with them. After dark you will not hear an engine.
5. Cannon Fort, the best view on the island
On the hill directly behind town sits an old military position with a surviving network of trenches, tunnels and large guns. People climb up mainly for what you can see from it: the whole town, the fishing harbor, and the ranks of limestone islands running out into Lan Ha. Aim to arrive about an hour before sunset, which gives you time to walk the tunnels and then sit at the lookout while the light goes.
6. Hospital Cave and Trung Trang Cave
Both sit on the road that crosses the island, so they slot naturally into a trip to or from the national park. Hospital Cave is a wartime underground hospital built inside the mountain, partitioned into rooms, cool and genuinely striking. Trung Trang is the stalactite one, with an easy walkway that suits older relatives and small children. Both are dark, so bring a flashlight or use your phone.
7. Cai Beo floating fishing village
Cai Beo is one of the oldest floating fishing communities on this coast and sits right beside the island's main pier. Early morning here is real work, not a performance: boats coming in, fish going ashore, the aquaculture rafts starting their day. You can hire a small rowing boat for a loop around the rafts, usually a few hundred thousand dong for the whole boat as an estimate.
8. Monkey Island and the small bay beaches
Monkey Island, also called Cat Dua, is a standard inclusion on half-day boat routes. The beach is good and the water clear, but the macaques are fearless and will snatch whatever you are holding. Beyond it the bay holds Nam Cat, Van Boi, Ba Trai Dao and a stack of unnamed beaches that skippers pick according to the tide on the day.
What is left when the weather turns
The bay is the first thing to go when the sea gets up, and between roughly July and September it can go for several days at a stretch. That is the commonest way a trip here falls apart, so it is worth knowing what still works. Hospital Cave and Trung Trang Cave hold the same temperature whatever the weather and both sit on the cross-island road, so a wet morning is the right time to do them rather than burning a bright one. The national park still walks in light rain, but the limestone on the Ngu Lam path turns slick and the watchtower view is the whole point of the climb, so leave it if the cloud is down. Cai Beo carries on regardless, because the fishing there is a job rather than a show. And an hour in the town market, picking through dried squid and dried fish to take home, is a better use of a washout morning than sitting in the hotel waiting for it to clear.
What a day of this costs
As estimate ranges: a full day on Lan Ha Bay is about 400,000-700,000d per person (roughly US$16-28) and it is the one large line in the day. A motorbike to reach the national park and the caves runs roughly 150,000-250,000d a day (about US$6-10) before fuel, with small site entry fees on top, and an electric buggy or taxi is the sensible substitute if you have not ridden on mountain roads before. Eating seafood at both main meals lands somewhere around 300,000-500,000d per person per day (roughly US$12-20), less if breakfast is a bowl of noodle soup from a street stall. A rowing boat around the Cai Beo rafts is a few hundred thousand dong for the whole boat rather than per head. Bring cash in dong, because the small boats, the parking attendants and most stalls do not take cards.
Do not try to squeeze the forest and the bay into the same day. A Lan Ha boat tour swallows the hours from morning to late afternoon, and the national park needs half a day plus the ride out and back. Combining them is the surest way to turn a holiday into a commute.
Things to do on Cat Ba Island, by how long you have
- Two days, one night: a full day on Lan Ha Bay, the remaining afternoon for Cat Co and Cannon Fort
- Three days, two nights: add a half day in the national park or a trip to Viet Hai
- Four days or more: add a night on the water and the long trek to Ao Ech
- With children: stick to Cat Co, Trung Trang Cave and a half-day boat tour
- In the cold months: drop the beaches and give the time to forest, caves and the fishing village
