If you are planning a trip to Northern Vietnam you have probably already been marveling at pictures of the beautiful limestone cliffs of Halong Bay. While most tourists go on an extremely touristy cruise along Halong bay, there is a way to explore this gorgeous scenery in a more authentic way. It is called Cat Ba National Park!
Cat Ba National Park Vietnam
Cat Ba island is with its 285 km² the largest island of the Cat Ba archipelago. It is bordered by the World Heritage Site of Halong Bay in the north and Lan Ha Bay in the south and features stunning limestone cliffs and mountains that are covered in lush greenery.
Activities on offer on Cat Ba island are hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, caving, and even more adventurous sports like rock climbing. Do be aware that, after a recent boom in tourism infrastructure, the main town of Cat Ba has transformed into a slightly tacky place with a lot of concrete high-rise hotels and a seaside boulevard lined with tour operators.
Aside from that, the rest of the island is still relatively unspoiled and makes up a large part of the Cat Ba National Park!
Cat Ba trekking, Vietnam
→ Also read: A complete guide to Mai Chau valley in Vietnam
While the largest part of Cat Ba island is considered Cat Ba National Park and you can walk around it freely, there is also a specific section of the island that has been set up as an actual national park with an HQ and visitor center.
Inside this national park there are four different trails ranging from easy to moderate and fairly difficult.
Kim Giao Ngu Lam trail, Cat Ba National Park bike
This is the most popular trail inside the national park and the one you should take if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands. It first leads you through gorgeous patches of forest before you ascend to Ngu Lam peak. From the top, you have a magnificent view of the island’s mountains.
Cat Ba hiking: At the top of Ngu Lam Peak
The trail is three kilometers to the top and back and you should be able to complete it in one and a half to two hours with some time at the top to take photos included.
While this is indicated on the official park’s website as a trail, this isn’t much more than a walk on the street from the park HQ to the entrance of the cave.
Trung cave is a 300-meter-long cave with a lot of beautiful stalactites. It was, as Hospital cave a bit further down the road, used as a medical center during the Vietnam war from 1964 to 1968.
Visiting Trung cave doesn’t take much time and is an easy activity to combine with the Ngu Lam peak hike.
This is the most hardcore trek inside the national park. This 14-kilometer trail will lead you through a flooded willow forest to the Viet Hai community, a small settlement that resides inside Cat Ba National Park.
After the hike, you can take a boat back from the Viet Hai pier or stay for the night in one of the homestays of the village before returning to Cat Ba town the next day.
This trail leads you to the flooded willow forest in the center of the island. It will take around four to five hours to complete this hike and requires a certain level of fitness.
Wildlife is supposed to be abundant in Cat Ba National Park but we haven’t seen any of it during our whole trip to Cat Ba. On the trails inside the park it should be easy to spot mammals and birds but due to the hordes of (loud) tourists that frequent the park, it is just about impossible to see any animals.
That said, there are 32 species of mammals, 20 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 78 species of birds living in Cat Ba National Park. Deer, Macaque monkeys, and civet cats are the most common to be sighted.
The island is also home to the critically endangered Cat Ba langur. There are only about 70 individuals left on the island. Because of the threat of extinction, Munster Zoo has set up the Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project on the island. It is not open for tourism, but you can have a peek at its Facebook page, where you can see that new babies are born every year.
If you want to see a Cat Ba Langur in real life, your best bet is to visit the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Cuc Phuong National Park. Inside this rescue center reside a few Cat Ba Langurs that have been saved from poaching and hunting. They cannot be rehabilitated anymore into the wild due to gunshots and/or missing limbs. They live in cages that are designed by scientists to give them the best life they can still possibly have, considering their injuries.
You can visit the Endangered Primate Rescue Center on a day trip from Tam Coc.
Trail in Cat Ba National Park
Cat Ba National Park is home to a diverse range of ecosystems ranging from limestone mountains and mangroves to rainforests and valleys. It boasts 1500 species of plants of which 160 contain medicinal characteristics.
If you like to know more about the different plants, trees, and other fauna on the island you can read the section about biodiversity on the website of Cat Ba National Park.
Here are the websites I personally use whenever I travel to Vietnam:
Booking.com: For the best cheap guesthouses, homestays or small hotels
Hostelworld: To find the best hostels located in the cities
Homestay: For unique immersive homestays in the cities as well as in the Vietnamese countryside
12GO and Bookaway: The best transport websites for long-distance buses and train travel in Vietnam
GRAB: for taxi rides in cities and nearby attractions
Skyscanner: For affordable flights to Vietnam
Eatwith: Dine with locals inside their home for an immersive foodie experience
Withlocals: Experience cities in Vietnam with local people that show you around. This is a good idea if you want to stray off the beaten path!
Viator and Get Your Guide: For (vegan) food tours, street food tours, and tours in general
Get your Visa for Vietnam online through the Evisa website
If you’re looking for travel insurance, the one with the best benefits online is without a doubt Heymondo! It’s very easy to ask for a quote on the website and if you book with this link you’ll get 5% off!
Get access to mobile data straight away when entering the country with a Vietnam E-sim or an Asialink E-sim when traveling through multiple countries.
Village in Cat Ba National Park
Activities at Cat Ba National Park are abundant and can keep you busy for days if not even weeks if you like to travel slowly. Whether you’re a beach bum or an adventure seeker, Cat Ba has something for every kind of traveler. Here are a few of the activities on offer!
Hiking is one of the main activities in Cat Ba National Park. You can opt to pay the entree fee at the park HQ to explore the four trails mentioned above in this article or you can head out on your own exploring small villages that can be found when you branch off the main roads of the island.
Hiking in Cat Ba National Park
For the best views of the densely covered limestone mountains inside the National Park, head to Ngu Lam Peak. If you like to explore secret beaches, head to a little beach near Xuan Dam village that is off the tourist trail. It’s not on Google Maps but it is located 200 meters before you reach Bayview Resort.
The coastline of Cat Ba island, Vietnam
If you’re an adventurous type, then rock climbing in Cat Ba might be the perfect activity for you! There are several areas where rock climbing is organized, like Moody Beach and Butterfly Valley.
Get in contact with Cat Ba climbing to start your climbing adventure on Cat Ba. There are also possibilities for deep-water soloing. Prices vary between $ 49 and $ 70 for half-day or full-day trips.
Hospital Cave, Cat Ba Island
If you like caving then you will surely enjoy Trung Trang cave and Hospital cave. While these caves are not that extensive, the natural surroundings in which they are located make for a pleasant activity.
Hospital Cave, Cat Ba, Vietnam
The entrance fee to Trung Trang cave is included in your ticket to Cat Ba National Park and costs 80 000 VND. The entrance fee to Hospital cave is 40 000 VND.
→ Also read: Hang Mua Viewpoint + Mua Caves: Is It Worth It?
Islands around Cat Ba Island
Boat cruise operators are plentiful in Cat Ba town and will harass you to book a tour with them. Unfortunately, because of the extensive amount of tourists in Halong Bay each year, there are some serious problems in the area regarding water pollution, mainly from the waste and oil from the many cruise ships that don’t incorporate sustainability into their business values.
If you pick a tour operator for a boat cruise, check out beforehand if they have some sort of sustainability policy written on their website. I found that Blue Swimmers seems to be the most sustainable option on the island.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go on a cruise due to the fact that I got food poisoning on Cat Ba island so I cannot say anything about the quality of the cruise.
Aside from cruises, Blue Swimmers also offers kayaking.
One of the best things to do on Cat Ba island is to stay in a locally owned guesthouse or a homestay. While the once sleepy village of Cat Ba town has been hit by overdevelopment and mass tourism there are still lovely homestays to be found in the small villages that dot the island.
One of the most picturesque villages is Xuan Dam which is located on the southern side of the island on the way from Cai Vieng port to Cat Ba town. We stayed at the beautiful bungalows of Spring Garden Homestay. They offer a year-round pool and it’s great to immerse yourself in the peaceful village atmosphere. Other nice homestay options in Xuan Dam are Green Homestay and Joystay.
Viet Hai village is located inside Cat Ba National Park and is only reachable by boat or via a strenuous trek through the park. The village offers an exceptional experience in which you can learn about the traditional cultural values of Cat Ba through a community-based ecotourism approach.
At Viet Hai you can chat with locals about their traditional way of life, enjoy the simplicity of nature and watch how a tight-knit community lives in joy and laughter despite being relatively poor.
There are some amazing homestays in Viet Hai like Lan Homestay.
While most of Cat Ba island is considered a part of Cat Ba National Park, you can visit a large section for free just by walking or cycling around. The entrance fee for the hikes at the park’s HQ is 80 000 VND (this also includes Trung Trang cave) and the entrance of the hospital cave is 40 000 VND.
To explore the waters of Cat Ba National Park check out the most recent tours and prices of Blue Swimmers.
Sunset over Cat Ba town, Vietnam
Getting to Cat Ba is relatively easy. Below I will give an overview of how to reach Cat Ba National Park from Hanoi and Haiphong and how to reach the park entrance to the hiking trails.
Hanoi, Vietnam
The best way to reach Cat Ba from Hanoi is by taking a combination of buses and a boat. You can opt to organize this on your own through public transport but the most convenient and budget-friendly option is to book the trip through a transport agency.
you can find most of the transport agencies operating this route on 12goAsia and Bookaway. We went with Goodmorning Cat Ba because of its easy pick-up location in the Old Quarter. It takes around three and a half hours to get from Hanoi to Cat Ba.
For more information, check out my Hanoi to Cat Ba transport guide.
A combination of bus and ferry is available through the website of Baolau. It takes around one hour and thirty minutes to get from Haiphong to Cat Ba.
If you want to get from Cat Ba town to the HQ to enjoy the trails then you can reach it by taxi, bicycle, or motorbike. The entrance is approximately 13 kilometers away from the town center.
Most tourists rent a scooter to get around the island but this is of course not the most sustainable option. Alternatively, you can hitchhike. We did this multiple times to get around the island and were always picked up by the first or second car that passed by.
If you are staying in a homestay in Xuan Dam village then you can take the road that crosses the island between the two main roads. We did this on our trip and were surprised that the road that is indicated on Google Maps is not an actual road but turns into a jungle trail at a certain point!
Cat Ba National Park hiking: Trails in the interior of the island
If you think this is a fun adventure, follow these directions. Walk from Xuan Dam village in the direction of Cat Ba Eco-lodge. At a certain point, you will pass by a large water reservoir on your left. Arriving at Cat Ba Eco-lodge, the road will turn into a jungle trail until you reach an asphalted road again. You can opt to walk the remaining four kilometers from this point. We hitchhiked from here to the park’s HQ.
Cat Ba Spring homestay
The best places to stay on Cat Ba island are situated outside the main tourist hub of Cat Ba town. Stay in a local homestay so your money benefits the local community. The homestays can cater to vegan travelers in Vietnam.
Xuan Dam:
Viet Hai:
Cat Ba town:
→ Also read: Can You Drink Tap Water in Vietnam? Things to Know!
The best time to visit Cat Ba National Park regarding the weather is in early spring or late autumn. The weather is still relatively nice and it is warm enough to go for a swim. Avoid the Vietnamese summer when the island will be swamped with domestic tourists.
We decided to visit Cat Ba island during the low season in December. Temperatures were around 20 degrees during the day which was pleasant for hiking and walking. It was warm enough to swim in the pool of our accommodation but since we got food poisoning on our last days on the island we didn’t get the chance to swim at Lan Ha Bay.
Cat Ba National Park
There you go! I hope you enjoyed this guide to Cat Ba National Park. Although tourism is taking its toll on this incredible destination I hope this guide can lead you to visit this place in a more sustainable way!
Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions or drop me a message through my contact page.
Also, don’t forget to check out my resources page with my favorite booking platforms and tips to start planning your trip. Additionally, have a look at my favorite travel gear if you want to pack more consciously!
ENJOY!
Disclaimer: This post may include affiliate links. If you click on them, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Hi! I am Annelies and this is Travelers & Dreamers, a blog about conscious travel which means traveling in a more mindful way, with a positive impact on the world and yourself!
On this website, I cover different topics like slow travel, plant-based food guides, responsible travel, sustainable packing, eco-travel, and more!
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