Cat Ba Island: ferries, national park and beaches

Đảo Cát Bà (Cat Ba Island), in Hải Phòng south of Ha Long Bay, is the largest island of its archipelago, with a national park, and the base for Lan Ha Bay.

Read about Lan Ha Bay

5.443 km sea bridge, which reaches Cát Hải only

17,362.96 ha Cát Bà National Park, since 1986

More than 90 Cát Bà langurs, September 2024

Looking down through trees on a bay dotted with moored boats, with forested islands under blue sky and cloud. — Thị trấn Cát Bà The small bay where Cát Bà town stands, with moored boats and low islands, seen from the western lookout at Cannon Fort. Photo: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0

Where is Cat Ba Island?

Cat Ba is the largest island of the Cat Ba archipelago, in the Gulf of Tonkin south of Ha Long Bay, and belongs to Hải Phòng (Hai Phong). Lan Ha Bay lies off its east and south-east coast.

The island has roughly 150 km² of land, an approximate figure because no official one could be found, and it leads an archipelago of more than 350 islands; the World Heritage component counts 358. About 19,000 people live on it (18,934 in 2021). It forms the Cat Ba half of Hai Phong’s Cát Hải special zone, created on 1 July 2025, which takes in the old Cat Ba town and the communes of Gia Luận, Hiền Hào, Phù Long, Trân Châu, Việt Hải and Xuân Đám.

Much of the island is national park, and the island, its forests and the waters of Lan Ha Bay joined the World Heritage property on 16 September 2023. UNESCO had already named the Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve in 2004: 26,419 ha of tropical forest, wetlands, mangroves and coral reefs, on land and at sea.

From Ha Long, Cat Ba is a detour by road via Hai Phong, about 60 km away, plus the boat, roughly 2.5 hours in all, or a direct crossing by water from Tuần Châu (Tuan Chau). The national park is about 45 km east of Hai Phong city. Visitor numbers have risen fast: IUCN reports 1 million visitors in the first half of 2023, up 111% on a year before, and about 70,000 came in the first two days of the 30 April to 1 May 2026 holiday.

Dense green hills in the foreground, a long floating pier on the water and low islands on the horizon under scattered cloud. — Pháo đài Thần Công, Cát Bà Forested hills and the sea to the west of Cát Bà town, seen from Cannon Fort. Photo: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0

Satellite image of a coastline with dense clusters of small dark islands in turquoise water, a large forested island at the lower left and deep blue water at the lower right. — Vịnh Hạ Long A Copernicus Sentinel-2 image of the Hạ Long Bay area on the northern coast of Vietnam, with Cát Bà Island in green at the lower left. Photo: European Space Agency (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data, 2025), CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

How to get to Cat Ba Island

From Hà Nội (Hanoi) the usual route is about 2 hours by expressway to the Đồng Bài ferry terminal, then the 1.86 km ferry crossing and the road to Cat Ba town, roughly 3 to 3.5 hours without queues. A cable car, fast boats from Hai Phong and a ferry from Tuan Chau are the alternatives, and no road bridge reaches the island.

Every way across to Cat Ba, with the date of each figure. Fares and timetables change and were reported inconsistently; check before travelling (checked October 2026).
Route	Crossing	Fare	Date
Car ferry, Đồng Bài to Cái Viềng	1.86 km, about 20 minutes; every 30 to 60 minutes	12,000 VND on foot, 45,000 VND by motorbike, 190,000 VND by car under 9 seats	April 2026
Cable car, Cát Hải island to Phù Long	3,955 m, under 10 minutes	100,000 VND for an adult	2023
Fast boat from Bến Bính, Hai Phong	About 50 minutes	250,000 to 270,000 VND	April 2026
Catamaran from Hồng Bàng pier, Hai Phong	40 to 60 minutes	130,000 to 250,000 VND	2023 and 2024
Passenger ferry, Tuan Chau (Ha Long) to Gia Luận	About 50 minutes	70,000 VND a passenger, 450,000 VND a vehicle	April 2024
Through speedboat and limousine from Hanoi	3 hours 15 minutes door to door	250,000 to 300,000 VND	April 2024
Public bus 16C, the ferry, then bus 14 into town	Not published	13,000 VND a bus leg	2023

No road bridge reaches Cat Ba. The Tân Vũ to Lạch Huyện sea bridge, opened on 2 September 2017 and 5.443 km long, is Vietnam’s longest, but it joins central Hai Phong to Cát Hải island and stops there. A second bridge was floated in 2018 and a Cát Hải to Phù Long road link has not been found built or under way; in March 2025 the city put about 100 billion VND into widening the ferry terminals instead.

The car ferry moved on 1 March 2024 from the old Gót dock to the Đồng Bài terminal, about 3 km away. Its 2024 timetable ran from 05:30 to 18:30 from Đồng Bài and 05:30 to 18:00 from Cái Viềng, and one report says the last sailing from the island has been 17:30 since 1 September 2026. The cable car, three ropes with 60 cabins of 30, takes under ten minutes against about twenty by ferry; in 2023 it ran every 15 minutes from 09:00 to 15:45 on weekdays and to 17:00 at weekends, closed on Tuesdays, and it carried 6,600 passengers on 30 April 2026. Route VHL5 from Ha Long also ends one way at Gia Luận on the north coast.

A wide view across dark blue water to a low shore with mangrove green, a white two-deck ferry at a landing beside a few red-roofed buildings, and a long ridge of forested limestone hills under a blue sky with thin cloud. — Phà Cát Bà - Cát Hải Cát Bà seen from a ferry bound for Cát Hải, with a white car ferry at a landing below a ridge of forested limestone hills, August 2018. Photo: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Hanoi to Ha Long Bay page covers the road out of Hanoi.

Cat Ba National Park

Cat Ba National Park was established on 31 March 1986 and covers 17,362.96 hectares of forest and sea. It has short trails to Ngự Lâm peak and Trung Trang cave, and it is home to the Critically Endangered Cat Ba langur.

The park was set up by Decision 79/CP of the Council of Ministers and covers 10,912.51 ha of forest and 6,450.45 ha of sea, about 174 km². Its own records list 1,595 plant species, 63 mammals, 209 birds, 58 reptiles and 27 amphibians, and a specimen house holds about 2,500 animal and plant specimens.

Trails. The short trails take one to two hours: through the Kim Giao forest to Ngự Lâm peak, to Trung Trang cave, a passage of about 400 m that runs through the mountain, and an environmental-education trail. The long trail, four to five hours, crosses Mây Bầu, Ao Ếch and Áng Phay to Việt Hải village; a 2023 guide describes it as a 10 km trek of about four hours.

Hospital Cave. Hang Quân Y, near Cat Ba town on the road to the park, is a natural cave turned into a field hospital in the 1960s to shelter staff and patients from US bombing: three levels, 17 rooms, room for over 100 patients and a secret rear exit, reached by a climb of about 50 m from the road. That account rests on one 2012 newspaper report.

The langur. The Cat Ba langur (voọc Cát Bà, Trachypithecus poliocephalus) lives only on the Cat Ba archipelago and is Critically Endangered. IUCN reports a 97% fall since the 1960s, to fewer than 50 animals in the early 2000s. The Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project counted more than 90 in September 2024, the most in 100 years by its account, after 15 births in the first half of that year. The langurs live on cliffs 100 to 150 m up, so a sighting is a matter of chance and no tour can promise one.

Children under 6 or under 1.2 m and people with severe disabilities enter free; Vietnamese visitors aged 60 or over pay half. Children aged 6 to 14 pay the child rate.

Vườn quốc gia Cát Bà Two Cát Bà langurs (Trachypithecus poliocephalus), dark-bodied with pale golden heads, sit among leafy branches in Cát Bà National Park.
Đỉnh Ngự Lâm, Vườn quốc gia Cát Bà A forested limestone valley seen from Ngự Lâm Peak in Cát Bà National Park.
Vườn quốc gia Cát Bà The roots of a fig tree wrapped around limestone boulders beside a trail in Cát Bà National Park.
Vườn quốc gia Cát Bà Rough steps with a wooden handrail on a hiking trail through forest in Cát Bà National Park, January 2024.
Vườn quốc gia Cát Bà Low cloud over limestone hills beyond a dry seasonal lake bed in Cát Bà National Park, January 2024.
Đường vào làng Việt Hải A concrete lane under an arch of trees on the road to Việt Hải, Cát Bà Island, January 2024.

Cat Ba beaches

Cát Cò 1, 2 and 3 are Cat Ba’s town beaches, and the remote beaches such as Monkey Island (Cát Dứa) need a boat and belong to Lan Ha Bay. The press lists April to October as the island’s best season.

The three Cát Cò beaches sit by the town; a 2014 guide called Cát Cò 2 the prettiest. Out in Lan Ha Bay the boat routes reach Cát Dứa 1 and 2 on Monkey Island, Ba Trái Đào with its white sand and clear water, and the Vạn Bội sand bar, and press accounts describe swimming there; no rule against swimming on the Hai Phong side was found. No source covers facilities, lifeguards or fees at any of these beaches.

VnExpress’s 2026 Cat Ba guide gives April to October as the best season, with the peak from May to July, and advises watching typhoon forecasts in July and August, while a 2023 guide calls autumn and early winter the months with cleaner air and fewer visitors. No sea temperature has been measured for Cat Ba itself; the open-water figures on the weather page, 29.1 to 29.8°C from June to September, are for the sea near Ha Long Bay.

A high view of a curved sandy beach and calm green water below a wooded hill with hotel buildings, with islands in haze beyond. — Bãi Cát Cò 1, Cát Bà Cát Cò 1 Beach from the air, with hotel buildings on the hillside beside it, April 2021. Photo: Saaremees, CC BY-SA 4.0

A pale paved path curving between tall palm trees, bright green grass and forested limestone hills. — Cát Bà A paved path lined with palm trees running between green limestone hills on Cát Bà. Photo: Preparetavalise.com, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cat Ba Town and where to stay

Cat Ba town sits on a central bay with waterfront hotels and guesthouses, and rooms range from about 300,000 VND for a homestay to 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 VND for a resort (VnExpress, April 2026).

Room prices on Cat Ba from the VnExpress Cat Ba guide (updated 16 April 2026) and, for Việt Hải, a 2023 VnExpress report. No hotels are named here.
Where	Type	Price a night	Date
Cat Ba town	Homestay	About 300,000 VND	April 2026
Cat Ba town	Mid-range sea-view hotel	500,000 to 1,000,000 VND	April 2026
Around the island	Resort	1,500,000 to 2,000,000 VND	April 2026
Việt Hải village, inside the park	Bungalow	500,000 to 700,000 VND	2023
Việt Hải village, inside the park	Homestay	200,000 to 300,000 VND	2023

About 14 floating restaurants were moved off the town’s central bay in 2022 to moorings opposite Cái Bèo pier, a boat ride of about 40,000 VND return. Above the town, Pháo đài Thần Công (Cannon Fort) is a hilltop military post with a 177 m summit, about ten minutes by motorbike from the centre, with tunnels, trenches, preserved coastal guns and views over the archipelago and Lan Ha Bay. Weekends are busy, and holiday peaks bring the ferry queues described above. The plan your visit page covers costs across the trip.

White and pastel buildings along the harbour below a forested hill, with a small boat and moored fishing boats on blue-green water. — Thị trấn Cát Bà Harbourside buildings and moored boats below a green hill in Cát Bà town, August 2018. Photo: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0

A long rusted gun barrel pointing up from a circular concrete pit, with green statues of soldiers around it and trees behind. — Pháo đài Thần Công, Cát Bà A gun in its circular emplacement at Cannon Fort on Cát Bà, with green figures of gunners beside it. Photo: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0

Rows of lit tanks with live seafood above brightly coloured bowls of shellfish on a tiled pavement. — Thị trấn Cát Bà Live seafood tanks and bowls of shellfish outside a seafood shop in Cát Bà town, January 2024. Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0

A wooden market stall with flat dried squid on round woven trays and in plastic bags, and orange dried shrimp heaped in baskets, bowls and bags. — Chợ Cát Bà Flat dried squid and baskets of orange dried shrimp are laid out on a wooden market stall in Cát Bà. Photo: Bình Giang, Public domain

Cat Ba as a base for Lan Ha Bay

Cat Ba has the Bến Bèo pier where Lan Ha Bay boats start, so a stay on the island puts day boats within easy reach. Kayaking and rowing-boat services there have been suspended since 15 November 2024, and the ferry sets the pace of arrivals and departures.

Bến Bèo (Cai Beo pier) in Cat Ba town is where Lan Ha day boats and hourly-hire boats start; visitors buy the bay ticket and hire the boat there. In 2022 a shared tour with lunch cost 200,000 to 350,000 VND and ran from about 08:30 to 16:30, private hire for 25 people cost 2.2 to 5.7 million VND for 2.5 to 6 hours, and a speedboat 500,000 to 1,000,000 VND. Where overnight cruises board has not been reported since March 2024, so read the pick-up point on the booking.

Kayak and rowing-boat services in the Cat Ba archipelago waters have been suspended since 15 November 2024, and no restart was found by 3 October 2026. Since 1 May 2025 licensed Cat Ba tour boats may also work Ha Long routes VHL3 to VHL6, and since 1 April 2026 a passenger service links Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay.

Weather closes the water here too. Hai Phong’s transport department orders boats to safe moorings before a storm, Lan Ha overnight cruises were cancelled for Typhoon Yagi in September 2024, and ferries stopped during Typhoon No. 4 on 22 August 2026. Allow slack in the plan at either end of a stay.

Làng chài Cái Bèo Floating houses and fish pens below a green limestone cliff at Cái Bèo, near Cát Bà, in August 2018.
Cái Bèo, đảo Cát Bà A blue and red fishing boat near Cái Bèo village on Cát Bà Island, with misty limestone hills behind, in January 2024.
Bờ biển đảo Cát Bà An offshore fishing settlement on the coast of Cát Bà Island, January 2024.
Bờ tây bắc đảo Cát Bà Mangrove trees on a tidal flat on the north-west coast of Cát Bà Island.

The Lan Ha Bay page covers the bay’s beaches, villages and boats.

Questions visitors ask

Where is Cat Ba Island?

Cat Ba is the largest island of the Cat Ba archipelago, in the Gulf of Tonkin south of Ha Long Bay, and it belongs to Hai Phong. Lan Ha Bay lies off its east and south-east coast.

How do you get to Cat Ba Island from Hanoi?

About 2 hours by expressway to the Đồng Bài ferry terminal, then the 1.86 km ferry crossing and the road to Cat Ba town, roughly 3 to 3.5 hours without queues. Alternatives are a cable car from Cát Hải island, fast boats from Hai Phong and a ferry from Tuan Chau to Gia Luận in about 50 minutes.

Is there a bridge to Cat Ba?

No road bridge reaches Cat Ba. The 5.443 km sea bridge opened on 2 September 2017 reaches Cát Hải island only, and a ferry, the cable car or a boat covers the last stretch.

What is there to do in Cat Ba National Park?

The park, established on 31 March 1986 and covering 17,362.96 hectares, has short trails to Ngự Lâm peak and Trung Trang cave, a long trail to Việt Hải village and a specimen house. Entry costs 80,000 to 160,000 VND for adults depending on the route (2026), and the park is open 07:00 to 17:00.

Can you see the Cat Ba langur?

Wild Cat Ba langurs live on steep limestone cliffs, and sightings are chance events. The Critically Endangered species is found only on the Cat Ba archipelago, and the conservation project counted more than 90 animals in September 2024.

Which is better, Cat Ba or Ha Long Bay?

They do different jobs. Ha Long Bay is where the large caves and most cruises are, while Cat Ba is a land base with a national park, town beaches and the pier where Lan Ha Bay day boats start. Its cost is the ferry, with queues at weekends and holidays.

What is the best time to visit Cat Ba?

VnExpress’s 2026 guide gives April to October, with the peak from May to July, and advises watching typhoon forecasts in July and August. A 2023 guide calls autumn and early winter the cleaner-air, fewer-visitors months, and holiday weekends bring queues.

Is it worth going to Cat Ba Island?

It suits walkers, wildlife watchers and anyone who wants a base for Lan Ha Bay and accepts a ferry hop. Kayaking is suspended, and the ferry queues and holiday crowds are real. That is a judgement drawn from the facts on this page.

Sources

Facts checked Oct 2026

Cát Bà National Park, Giới thiệu Vườn quốc gia Cát Bà (About the park), read October 2026.
Cát Bà National Park, Các hoạt động du lịch (Visitor activities), read October 2026.
Cát Bà National Park, Bảng niêm yết phí tham quan Vườn quốc gia Cát Bà (fees under Hải Phòng Resolution 47/2025/NQ-HĐND), posted 23 April 2026.
UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve.
Government of Vietnam policy portal, Toàn văn Nghị quyết số 1669/NQ-UBTVQH15, 16 June 2025.
Tuổi Trẻ, Đưa vào sử dụng đường cầu vượt biển dài nhất Việt Nam, 2 September 2017.
Tuổi Trẻ, Hải Phòng: Phà Bến Gót quá tải sau khi thông cầu vượt biển, 3 September 2017.
Tuổi Trẻ, Cáp treo 3 dây hiện đại tại Hải Phòng đã sẵn sàng, 1 June 2020.
Tuổi Trẻ, Bí quyết vi vu Cát Bà không lo chờ phà, 26 April 2024.
Tuổi Trẻ, Vịnh Hạ Long - Cát Bà chính thức trở thành di sản thế giới, 16 September 2023.
Tuổi Trẻ, Thăm bệnh viện dã chiến trong lòng núi, 17 July 2012.
Tuổi Trẻ, Ngắm đảo Ngọc từ Pháo đài thần công, 5 July 2012.
Tuổi Trẻ, Voọc Cát Bà ôm đàn con trên vách núi gây sốt cộng đồng mạng, 6 May 2024.
Tuổi Trẻ, Cát Bà dừng hoạt động chèo thuyền kayak trên vịnh, 20 November 2024.
Tuổi Trẻ, Chủ nhà hàng nổi tại vịnh trung tâm Cát Bà kêu cứu vì phải di dời, 26 April 2022.
VnExpress, Quần thể voọc Cát Bà tăng lên hơn 90 con, 2 September 2024.
VnExpress, Lưu ý khi đi bến phà mới ra đảo Cát Bà, 3 March 2024.
VnExpress, Kinh nghiệm du lịch Cát Bà 2026, updated 16 April 2026.
VnExpress, Bốn cách tới đảo Cát Bà không phải đợi phà lâu, 8 July 2023.
VnExpress, Đầu tư 100 tỷ đồng mở rộng bến phà ra đảo Cát Bà, 13 March 2025.
VnExpress, Tắc bến phà, du khách chờ tới 12 tiếng để rời Cát Bà, 14 September 2026.
VnExpress, Hơn 1.700 du khách vẫn ở trên đảo Cát Bà, 22 August 2026.
VnExpress, Khách đến Cát Bà 'đông chưa từng thấy', 2 May 2026.
VnExpress, Cát Bà vắng khách dịp nghỉ lễ 2/9, 1 September 2026.
VnExpress, 48 giờ ở Cát Bà, 17 November 2023.
VnExpress, Các loại tàu và tuyến tham quan vịnh Lan Hạ, 20 June 2022.
VnExpress, Kinh nghiệm cho chuyến du lịch Cát Bà, 23 June 2014.
VnExpress, Hủy nhiều tour du thuyền đêm trên vịnh Hạ Long, Lan Hạ vì bão, 5 September 2024.
IUCN, World Heritage Outlook: Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, finalised 11 October 2025.
English Wikipedia, Cát Bà Island (population 2021), read October 2026.

Prices, fees and timetables change. Figures on this page were checked in the month shown on the postmark.