Cat Ba Island is a stepping off point to beautiful Lan Ha Bay Vietnam. Karst islands litter Lan Ha Bay, like stepping stones in a giant playground meant for outdoor pursuits like climbing and kayaking.
The quieter, more pristine waters of Lan Ha Bay Vietnam, rival and many say surpass, those of the descending dragon or Halong Bay, on it’s northern border.
You can read about Lan Ha Bay Tours here.
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What You Will Find in This Post
Where is Lan Ha Bay?
This map below shows the border line between Halong Bay and Lan Ha Bay. Halong Bay is accessed from the town of the same name, whilst Lan Ha Bay is accessed from Haiphong.
Whereas mini buses with limited luggage capacity ply the Hanoi to Halong stretch (with enforced stops at tourist shops en-route) as part of a Lan Ha bay boat trip, a full-sized air-conditioned Hoang Long bus makes the Hanoi to Haiphong trip.
Being a regular inter city bus-service, there are no tourist stops. If you want to know more about the whole trip Hanoi to Cat Ba town, I’ve already done the homework for you.
How to get from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island
We did so ourselves in 2011 and it worked exactly how the Asia Outdoors site said it would. Asia Outdoors has changed name to Langur Adventures. Scroll down on the link until you reach the Transportation section. When we did this route it was fairly new to budget travellers but it has been operating consistently since then so is definitely well established way of getting to Cat Ba Island from Hanoi.
You can read the account of our experience in my most popular blog post here.
With such an interest in Lan Ha By, it’s time to share some of our previously unpublished photos.
Lan Ha Bay Vietnam Photos and Cat Ba Island Photos
You can see in the above map that Lan Ha bay has more islands than Halong. Two of the passengers on our climbing and kayaking boat were dropped off at the Sandy Beach Resort on Nam Cat Island, on our return trip to Cat Ba Island for what they hoped would be a romantic island rendezvous.
Sandy Beach Resort, Nam Cat Island Vietnam.
Fishing villages in Lan Ha Bay Vietnam.
Unfortunately we were not allowed access to the houses, which was a little disappointing, but we could kayak up close.
Mussel colony corgi guard dog?
We dropped anchor off a karst island with a small shrine for our second kayaking opportunity. Ours was one of three kayaks that ventured over for a look. Entry is permitted.
We paddled through the opening into a circular rock enclosure which was open to the sky.
The mussels grow in sand in the submerged pots.
The hazy photos were taken in the morning, but the air cleared as the day progressed and was beautifully clear after lunch.
I’m a big squid eater and ordered a plate of stir fried squid and vegetables at a waterfront restaurant on Cat Ba Island. It was THE best squid I’ve eaten – fresh, small, tender, juicy, tasty – tossed in the fiery wok and on my plate within minutes. I will not forget you Cat Ba Island Squid.
Squid Fishing boats with glass lights, Lan Ha Bay.
Another hazy morning shot. Rock islands as far as the eye can see.
Tarring the outside of a traditional Vietnamese fishing boat.
In April the water was too cold for us to swim, but we did enjoy the walk and some others braved the water for us.
Swimming from Cat Ba island in Lan Ha Bay.
There are rental scooters available to ride around the island, and explore caves and those same karst hills on land. Cat Ba Island National Park has trekking tours and other activities. If you follow the links above to the Asia Outdoor site you can see what is available.
Seafood Tank in Cat Ba Restaurant. I’d not seen crabs like this before.
Walk around the both sides of the harbour before sunset and you will find Bia Hoi sold by the jug harbour-side.
On shore more fishing boats await their turn to be tarred.
Our hotel overlooked the jetty right in the middle of Cat Ba town.
Sunset over Cat Ba Town Vietnam.
Thanks for reading and commenting – we really appreciate it. If you have a blog we would love you to add your travel post to the link below for Nancie’s Travel Photo Thursday which we co-host with Ruth from Tanama Tales and Rachel from Rachel’s Ruminations.
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I actually think this place looks better than Ha Long Bay. We found Ha Long Bay to be way to congested with boats and a lot of rubbish and pollution in the waters. Although we still enjoyed our cruise. We are going to Vietnam again towards the end of this year so we might have to check this place out.
I’m glad you like the look of it Kathy. We visited in 2011 but I hope it hasn’t changed much and that Halong still gets most of the traffic. We loved our low key day trip into Lan Ha.
What a gorgeous part of the world. Now that is one place I really want to visit. I’m a big squid eater too.
It really is such a stunning location. That it’s a little less busy and you can explore up close by kayak are big attractions for me.
Jan, your photos are breathtaking! I have never hear of this bay. Do you think tourist are taken here and told they are in Ha Long Bay? I have heard about the many pollution problems in Ha Long Bay. However, this area looks very pristine. I like it a lot. #TPThursday
Hi Ruth, Some three day Halong Bay boat trips do venture into Lan Ha Bay and visit Cat Ba Island. This is listed on their itinerary. Lan Ha was fairly pristine when we were there in 2011.
This is a bucket list place for me. Great post ending with a perfect sunset. The world is so beautiful. I can’t wait to explore this area someday.
I must confess Vietnam has never been on my list of must visit places – but if somebody were to send me on an all expenses paid trip I wouldn’t say no, especially after seeing your stunning photos!
Ha ha Janet, I feel like that about most places. Pay for me to go and I’ll be there in a flash.
Love the emerald green water. Looks like a magical area. Don’t even know why I haven’t been yet…
I wish i had known about Lan Ha Bay. I went to Halong and it was nice, but too touristy. That was back in 2007, so I can imagine how overrun it is now. You photos are beautiful. Next time I’m in Vietnam it will be Lan Ha Bay for me. Thanks for co-hosting. #TPThursday
I hope it is still great when you visit Nancie. 🙂
Each time you post about Vietnam, it just increases my wanderlust and desire to visit this country. This is such a beautiful area. I haven’t heard of Lan Ha Bay before and wow, it’s just stunning.What a great place to kayak.
Lan Ha was a good experience for us – we thought it would be better than Halong Bay and weren’t sorry with our choice.