Cat Ba

Cat Ba Island, lying in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the northeast coast of Vietnam, is a favourite travel destination for foreign and domestic tourists alike. Roughly equidistant from two of northern Vietnam’s largest industrial cities – Hai Phong (to the west) and Ha Long (to the north) – Cat Ba Island is, nonetheless, one of the country’s star natural attractions, and part of the world-famous Halong Bay. A large, green and rugged island (most of which belongs to a national park), Cat Ba’s interior is a forest of limestone karsts, whose pointed peaks are overlaid with thick jungle, echoing to the sounds of insects and animals; while its dramatic coastline is indented with myriad bays, coves, and cliffs. Cat Ba is a beautiful island and there’s lots to see and do here, but it’s also one of Vietnam’s major tourist hot spots. Cat Ba’s population is around 16,000, but each year the island receives some 2.5 million tourists. With this popularity comes some familiar problems: crowds during peak times, over-development in concentrated areas, pollution, noise, threats to the natural environment. However, Cat Ba is still a great place to explore as an independent traveller, and you can avoid the crowds and tourist paraphernalia if you choose. Below is my full travel guide to Cat Ba Island.