Cat Ba, Vietnam Travel Blogs

Train and Ferry to Cat Ba Island
Mar 19, 2007 (7 photos)

The ferry ride was mildly pleasant.  It was 30,000 VND for locals, 70,000 for tourists.  Everyone once again ignored the no smoking signs on the small vessel, so we spent the end of the trip on the deck watching the islands roll by.  As ...

The Beaches of Cat Ba
Mar 21, 2007 (21 photos)

... haze.  After a few days I decided that the lack of sunlight may not be due to unlucky weather, but be a product of Cat Ba's proximity to Halong City and Hai Phong, two very large industrial cities on the nearby coast.  Whatever the reason, the ...

Motorbike Tour of the Island
Mar 22, 2007 (40 photos)

... in Hue and we have internet in our hotel room.  $11 can set you up pretty nicely.   Halong is stunning.  Cat Ba was beautiful.  But I don't even know how to describe it.  Lindsey does a lovely job.  You should go check that ...

Ha Long Bay - Day 118-119
Jun 20, 2008 (40 photos)

... area, really comfortable. I'll be sleeping on the boat tonight somewhere in the majestic Ha Long Bay, then tomorrow night in a hotel on Cat Ba island. After we boarded the boat, we sat down for a spot of lunch, I was sat next to an old German guy. A ...

Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island
Jun 23, 2005 (5 photos)

... been in the mood. It was still nice though with the full moon rising from behind the islands. The next day we set off for Cat Ba island, a resort island and the biggest one in the bay (they say its a bay but its not really - its about 3000 spooky ...

Island Visit
Mar 19, 2008 (14 photos)

Cat Ba Island is a pleasant little place just off the coast of mainland Vietnam that offers cool stuff to do like hiking, kayaking, and rock climbing.  The problem was, however, that there was no one here to do any of these things with.  Which ...

Karaoke followed by a very long day of travel!
Feb 25, 2006 (12 photos)

Given that there wasn't much else to do on Cat Ba Island, the group ventured out to a nearby pub for a dose of karaoke. This trip will go down as giving me a healthy dose of firsts... I had never sung in public before but gave it a go with 'Love Me Tender ...

Slaughter and the dogs
May 20, 2005

Rock the Cat Ba
Feb 18, 2005 (9 photos)

After one day in Hanoi, we were whisked away once again. Destination: Halong Bay... more specifically Cat Ba Island. We left early and endured a stuffy three hour trip in another mini-bus. Along the way, we passed by a lot of farmers and water buffalos ...

Monkey Island
Mar 13, 2008 (26 photos)

... and a lovely hotel room.  But before we knew it the time had come for our next adventure.  From the wharf at Cat Ba town we took a smaller boat out to Monkey Island, there to while away two hours doing what we would.  Theoretically there ...

Star Trek
May 19, 2005 (2 photos)

Our second honeymoon
May 12, 2003

... our decision as they could cook it on the boat for us. We vowed to get some seafood on the island instead. When we arrived on Cat Ba Island we were taken by minibus to the main town and our hotel where we had our evening meal. The food was good and ...

Rain drops keep falling on my head...
May 31, 2006 (13 photos)

... . We ventured down to Ha Long Bay with the Janet, Shona and Calle for a farewell cruise. They are off to the north of Vietnam for trekking and we're off to India. The only drawback is the weather. It's raining, it's pouring...you get the picture. We ...

Halong Bay
Dec 5, 2005 (10 photos)

Talk about needing coffee! We left Hue yesterday at 3:45 in the afternoon, arrived in Hanoi via night train at 6:30am (night does not translate to sleep!!), dropped our bags at a hotel, took an overnight bag and boarded a bus for Halong Bay. 4 hours ...

Motorbike Exploration of Cat Ba Island
Mar 23, 2007 (8 photos)

We wanted to explore more of the island so we rented a motorbike for the day.  There are only about three paved roads throughout the island so we spent the afternoon traversing them to their fullest.  One goes through the national park.  ...

Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island/National Park
Mar 25, 2005 (20 photos)

Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island/National Park

Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island
Oct 3, 2006

3.5 hour bus ride to Halong City and then a smooth ferry ride to the island.

Misty islands in the Bay
Dec 11, 2006 (5 photos)

Our three day, two night tour was good, although we wished it were sunnier. The cool misty weather while we were on the bay (with eighteenmillion other tourist boats) was nice, but we were both glad to see the sun when it came out just as we boarded the ...

Touring Halong Bay
May 23, 2009 (40 photos)

... keep the floor filled enough without us.   The next day we were taken to a remote dock on the undeveloped side of Cat Ba island. We were given a pair of rickety bicycles and pedaled our way through the hills (and through another natural tunnel) to ...

The sea at last!
Oct 18, 2006 (4 photos)

Three days chilling on beaches and the boat in, once again, stunning scenery. Thank God Giles managed to narrowly escape a, probably rabid, monkey bite. Jane suggested it thought Giles was a gorilla intruding on its patch...

Halong Bay
Jan 26, 2007 (7 photos)

Peace at last (relatively speaking). We took a high speed hydrofoil to Cat Ba island and after an initial hounding by the ever present touts found it to be a good place to chill out. We did a boat trip to Halong Bay which was the main reason for being in ...

La baie d'Along
Aug 21, 2009 (23 photos)

... d’Along. Après avoir traversé presque tout le nord du Vietnam en train, bus et bateau, nous arrivons sur l’ile de Cat Ba où nous attend Quan & Tan. C’est ainsi que notre capitaine et son second nous font découvrir le splendide bateau qui ...

Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island
Jun 30, 2008

... the Vietnamese and so many families were out and about.  Just imagine any little beach town and put it in Vietnam and that is Cat Ba.  The evening was pretty uneventful and I didn't cause any trouble at dinner!  Today we headed back to ...

Cat Ba Island
Dec 17, 2007 (14 photos)

A long days travel today, eventually catching 2 car ferries to Cat Ba island in Halong Bay. This island looks prehistoric, out of Jurasic Park. Big peaks of  rain forest cover, stretching off into the interior. The Cat Ba township could have been a ...

Ha Long Bay
Apr 13, 2007 (12 photos)

... of the lot), which shoot vertically up out of the sea and into the sky. Pretty darned cool. Add to that, I got a good haircut on Cat Ba island for about US$3 (too much, no doubt), which included the very BEST shampoo and head/face massage I have ever had. ...

ferry scam, fresh seafood, and morning music
Apr 2, 2007

... ;tarnished by the floating plastic bags, garbage, and nasty oil slicks floating everywhere in the water. Our biggest surprise in Cat Ba was that we accidentally timed our visit with the annual celebratory bash in honor of their beloved Uncle Ho's ...

Halong Bay to Cat Ba Island
Feb 27, 2009 (20 photos)

... some drums, a fisherman (he stores the fish in holdings under the platform and a couple of dogs. After lunch we moored on Cat Ba Island which is the largest island in Halong Bay.  We moored at Viet Hai Wharf and did about 5kms of mountainbiking to ...

Cruising in Halong Bay
Mar 8, 2008 (8 photos)

8.3 - 10.3.08       Halong Bay, Vietnam. Kaarmekylasta selviydyttyamme teimme sen minka suurin osa Hanoihin matkustavista turisteista tekee: Varasimme matkan Halong Baylle. Halong Bay(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halong ...

Kayaking in Bai Tu Long Bay & Monkey Island
Dec 11, 2008 (16 photos)

... our kayak in. It's amazing - this place looked like no-one had visited it in years, yet there was rubbish everywhere - Vietnam really is filthy in parts. Makes you think about what the point is in recycling when another culture lets this happen - still, ...

Cat Ba Island
Jan 13, 2009 (5 photos)

... train station to catch the 9:30 train to HaiPhong. HaiPhong is about 3 hours west of Hannoi and was our first hop to get to Cat Ba Island. We jumped straight into a cab at HaiPhong that took us to the docks and we boarded the next boat to Cat Ba Island. ...