Navigating the Route to Cat Ba Island - What to Eat? Where to Stay? What to Do?

Cat Ba Island shines like a radiant emerald amidst the vast sea, exuding both a pristine and romantic allure. Below is a guide to reaching Cat Ba Island recommended by Mytour for your convenience.

Navigating the Path to Cat Ba Island - What to Eat? Where to Stay? What to Do?

Located approximately 60km from Hai Phong city center, Cat Ba Island (also known as Ngoc Island) stands as one of the most beautiful islands in the Gulf of Tonkin. With its untouched beauty nestled amidst limestone mountain ranges, Cat Ba Island offers an ideal retreat this summer.

How to Reach Cat Ba Island

From Hanoi, head directly on National Highway 5 towards Hai Phong city, then turn left towards Chua Ve port. Follow the signs to Chua Ve port, then turn right towards Dinh Vu ferry terminal. From there, you can purchase high-speed boat tickets from two companies: Hoang Yen hydrofoil and CatBa Island Resort & Spa high-speed boat. Ticket prices range from 200,000 VND to 250,000 VND per person, with a travel time of approximately 45 minutes for a quick and convenient journey.

Cat Ba Island boasts nearly 400 islands, blessed by nature with many beautiful beaches, pristine forests, diverse ecosystems, and mild climate. This place is recognized by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve. The limestone mountains on Cat Ba Island form winding coastlines, creating small and large beaches with fine white sand and clear water. The beaches on Cat Ba are connected by a narrow road winding along the mountain range. Along that coastal road, you will feel like you are in paradise.

Where to Stay on Cat Ba Island?

Currently, there are many highly-rated hotels and resorts on Cat Ba Island offering the best services, meeting the needs of any traveler to enjoy their vacation here. You can arrange about 2 - 3 days to both relax and explore Cat Ba tourism.

Some Cat Ba hotels you can consider:

1. Monkey Island Resort Cat Ba

2. Sunrise Cat Ba Resort

3. Sandy Beach Resort Cat Ba

What to do on Cat Ba Island?

Cat Co Beach

Visiting this place, tourists can enjoy the beautiful scenery and relax on stunning beaches like Cat Co Beach 1, 2, and 3, Coconut Beach, Tung Thu Beach... Among them, Cat Co Beach 2 is honored to be among the top most beautiful beaches in Southeast Asia.

You can experience electric car rides, rent tandem bicycles, motorbikes for more convenient exploration. Tourists can swim, participate in beach games, or kayak. The beaches here are quite small and close to each other, so you can walk along the small roads around the mountains, connecting Beach 1 and Beach 3.

Lan Ha Bay

Situated in the southern part of Halong Bay, Lan Ha Bay bears many resemblances to the world natural heritage site with limestone mountains and small islands scattered around. From the boat, tourists can easily recognize the peculiar shapes of the mountains such as Hon Guoc, Hon Rua... If you want to fully experience the beauty of the bay, you can rent a kayak to get closer to the limestone islands and hidden caves nestled in the mountains.

Monkey Island

Monkey Island is an essential stop on the journey to explore Lan Ha Bay. Here, there is a lively group of monkeys, very suitable for groups with small children. If you enjoy immersing yourself in the sea, you can also swim at Coconut Beach or join a diving tour at a center on the island. Diving with instructors costs about 1 million VND/30 minutes.

Floating Fishing Villages

Fishing has been closely associated with the local people here, becoming a part of their cultural history. So, visit the floating fishing villages here. This is where you can experience the true beauty of Cat Ba Island, immerse yourself in the magnificent scenery of nature, and the daily life of fishermen.

Fortress of Divine Work

The Fortress of Divine Work is a must-visit destination this summer. The entrance fee to visit the fortress is 50,000 VND per person. This is a military site used during World War II, the Indochina War, and the Vietnam War. Located on a hill 177 meters high, from the fortress area, you can have a panoramic view of the beautiful Lan Ha Bay.

Cat Ba National Park

Cat Ba National Park is located along the route that tourists take to the center of Cat Ba. With ticket prices for adults at 80,000 VND per person and children at 40,000 VND per child, visitors can choose from various ecotourism routes, admire the vegetation inside the national forest, or visit some famous caves such as Trung Trang Cave, Bat Cave, etc.

What to Eat on Cat Ba Island?

When visiting Cat Ba Island, you can enjoy fresh seafood here. You can choose restaurants like Vien Duong Restaurant, located on Nui Ngoc Street... If you want a more unique and closer-to-nature experience, you can opt to dine at floating restaurants on the bay.

Cat Ba Shrimp Noodle Soup

Sam is perhaps the most distinctive dish here, bursting with the rich flavors of the sea. Sam is prepared in various dishes such as soup, salad, grilled, stir-fried with lemongrass and chili, sweet and sour, vermicelli, porridge with sam... These dishes are always accompanied by spicy, tangy, and hot seasonings such as galangal, lemongrass, chili, vinegar, and characteristic herbs like betel leaves, shallots, and coriander.

Green mantis shrimp

Green mantis shrimps are commonly found in coastal areas throughout Vietnam and are also a specialty of Cat Ba. In addition to being caught, green mantis shrimps are now also raised in brackish water ponds and integrated with other seafood species in cages in the Cat Ba, Ha Long area.

Source: Mytour

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Reference: Mytour Travel Guide