Attractions and entertainment of Cat Ba

An overview of the sights on Cat Ba and what you can see here

Cat Ba Island cannot be called the center of entertainment and attractions of Vietnam. There are almost no historical sites, temples, no amusement parks and attractions at all, but there are several natural attractions that attract tourists here, and in general there are enough classes for a week of rest or more.

The most important attractions of Cat Ba, because of which tourists are eager to get here, are Cat Ba National Park, Halong and Lanha Bays. These are must-visit places, and although the bays can be seen with an excursion from Hanoi or Halong, it is much more pleasant to combine a visit to these natural wonders with a beach holiday on the island. In addition, you can see mangroves, several observation decks and caves, an old bridge on stilts and a temple. There are two more historical sites: the cannon fort and the cave hospital.

But the tourist pastime on the island is not limited to viewing these attractions. In fact, the tourist infrastructure for such a small town as Cat Ba Town is very well developed, and you can find a lot of interesting excursions and activities in local travel agencies.

• Hiking enthusiasts can take several hiking trails, the most popular of which is an 8–kilometer trek through the National Park to the village of Viet Hai. You can overcome them yourself or with an excursion.
• You can rent a mountain bike from 100,000 VND (3.8 USD), and go to drive around Cat Ba wherever your eyes look, except, however, the territory of the national park, where you can't go by bike.
• You can explore the perimeter of the island and even visit the islets closest to it by kayak, the rent of which costs from 150,000 (5.7 USD) VND per day for two, available at least near the Ben Beo marina. You can find a secluded wild beach, or moor to the rocky shores and climb a little on the rocks.
• Another popular form of entertainment is rock climbing. The local mountains are just perfect for this and are suitable for both experienced athletes and amateur beginners for climbing without equipment. You can find good places on Cat Ba itself and on the neighboring islets. For this purpose, special tours are offered, including a boat, equipment rental, and instructor support.

Evening rest on Cat Ba is well developed by local standards. Every evening there are several clubs with the most progressive music and pool parties. Beer bars and karaoke are inviting visitors with discounts and even a free beer mug during happy hours, massage parlors, a sauna, a Jacuzzi, and spa treatments are offered. If you get tired of partying, you can sit in silence in a street cafe near the entrance to the fishing port, where fresh draft beer is poured for only 20,000 VND (0.76 USD) per mug.

How to visit attractions on Cat Ba and excursions

Some interesting places on Cat Ba can be visited by yourself on a rented transport, taxi or even a local bus. If you have experience driving a motorcycle and a category "A" license, then from 100,000 VND you can rent a two-wheeled vehicle and ride around the island on it to the most remote points, and you can download the points themselves to the navigator from our map. You can also rent a bike from 50 000, but in this case you will not reach the remote attractions. You can also use taxi rides through apps or hire a car for the whole day. We told you more about transport on Cat Ba and how to move here ...

However, the most important sights of Cat Ba can be visited only with excursions on the water. We are talking about cruises to Halong and Lanha bays, to monkey island, to caves on the islands, and so on. Such excursions are offered in all Cat Ba travel agencies and hotels. Prices are about the same everywhere, but compare the tour programs very carefully, they are different.

You can also come to the Ben Beo marina and hire a private boat with a guide there. You don't even have to look for anyone: as soon as you appear there, you will immediately be offered "help" options.

And, of course, you can book excursions online on trusted sites with reviews. Prices for similar excursions there are about the same as in street travel agencies, we compared:

• 📷 Excursions to Cat Ba on GetYourGuide
• 📷 Excursions to Cat Ba on Trip.com

List of Katb attractions

• Halong Bay

  

  There are more than 3,000 picturesque limestone islands, rocks, cliffs and caves in Halong Bay. In 1994, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and in 2011 received the title of one of the "7 new Wonders of the World" as one of the most iconic landscapes of Vietnam. It is visited on cruise boats with a group excursion for one day or several with an overnight stay on board. During such cruises, disembarkation on the islands for swimming, visiting caves, floating fishing farms, kayaking and other entertainment are provided. You can also rent a private hotel boat entirely, and go on a cruise on your own for a few days at your request. Learn more about Halong Bay and how to visit it here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  Entrance fee / ticket price: The cost of the simplest excursions for one day starts from 280 000 (10.65 USD) dong and comes to several hundred dollars for tours with overnight stays on board and meals

  🚶 How to get there: Halong Bay is located north of Cat Ba (Halong on the map). It is visited only by cruise boats with excursions, which can be purchased at any hotel or travel agency in Cat Ba Town. Usually cruises from Catba include two bays Halong and Lanha, landing on Monkey Island, and a visit to the largest fishing floating farm in Vietnam.

• Lanha Bay (Lan Ha Bay)

  

  Lan Ha Bay or Lanha Bay is lost in the shadow of the more famous Halong Bay, but in fact it is almost as beautiful and spectacular. It has about 300 picturesque limestone islands with sandy beaches, caves, lagoons, floating fishing villages. During the Lanha cruise, tourists, in addition to just admiring the beauties, can kayak through water caves; visit lagoons formed by karst islands; snorkel or dive; land on one of the islands to relax on sandy beaches or climb its rocks; visit the largest floating fishing farm in Vietnam; and there are many more things. Lanha, like Halon, is visited only in the form of excursions on cruise boats, which are easiest to purchase on Cat Ba Island. Learn more about Lanha Bay here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  Entrance fee / ticket price: the cost of simple tours for one day starts from 280,000 VND (10.65 USD), and comes to several hundred dollars for tours with overnight stays on board and meals

  🚶 How to get there: Lanha Bay is located north of Kabta Island (Lanha on the map), it can only be visited on cruise boats with a group excursion, or by renting the whole boat. The cheapest such crises are sold on Catba Island, but you can also buy them in Halong or Hanoi. Tours from Hanoi include delivery to the pier, the cruise itself, and delivery back to Hanoi.

• Cat Ba National Park

  

  This is the main natural attraction of the island. It occupies half of the area of Cat Ba Island, the water area and 365 other small islets. Its territory is covered with tropical forests, mangroves, includes coral reefs and mountains, many caves. 2320 species of plants and animals grow here, of which 80 are listed in the Red Book of Vietnam. Several hiking and water trails are organized for visiting. Trung Trang Cave also belongs to the park. The visit is carried out independently or with a guide at your request. Learn more about the National Park and how to visit it here...

  Practical Information

  🕐Working hours: from 07:00 to 17:00, seven days a week.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: entrance to the routes costs from 80,000 to 160,000 DONG, more about the routes above. Children from 6 years old and up to 1.2 meters tall get a 50% discount, children under 6 years old are free of charge. For more information about the routes, follow the link with the full description.

  🚶 How to get there: the easiest way to visit the park is with a guided tour, which are sold in the city's travel agencies. You will be picked up from the hotel, taken to the entrance and will be accompanied by guides along the route. But when buying, be sure to check whether the guide will speak English, as sometimes there are excursions only in Vietnamese or Chinese. Also, you can easily visit the park yourself by driving to the entrance (headquarters) by taxi or rented transport. The entrance and ticket offices are located 13 kilometers from Cat Ba Town (headquarters on the map).

• Trung Chang Cave

  

  This is the largest of the equipped caves on Cat Ba, it is well lit, and there are guided tours in English. If you are lucky and you get here by the time of the excursion, you will be able to hear a lot of interesting things about its structure, the formation of stalactites and stalagmites, and, of course, local legends about the origin of the island.

  You can visit with the help of excursions that are bought at travel agencies in Cat Ba Town. But usually it is not visited separately, but included in the route through the National Park. Actually, it is part of the Cat Ba National Park, and is visited by the same ticket that you will purchase to enter the park. Also, without any problems, you can visit it yourself by taxi or rented transport. Learn more about the cave here...

  Practical Information

  🕐Working hours: from 07:00 to 17:00, seven days a week.

  Entrance fee / ticket price: 120,000 VND (4.56 USD). A single ticket to enter Cat Ba National Park for a short route, it includes a visit to the cave.

  🚶 How to get there: the entrance to the cave is located 12 kilometers from the center Cat Ba Town on the road to the north towards the National Park, there is a large sign (cave on the map). Although the cave is part of the Cat Ba National Park, the entrance to it is located separately from the ticket offices and the main one 1 kilometer away from them along the main road. The exit from the cave is 400 meters from the entrance, and if you park the vehicle near the entrance, you will need to return from the exit along the main road. Parking costs 5000 VND.

• Viet Hai Village

  

  Until recently, it was a completely unknown attraction for foreign tourists, and indeed a rather isolated place. After all, this fishing village has not been connected to the outside world by road for a long time (and even now only a bad dirt road leads to it), and being surrounded by tropical forests of the Cat Ba National Park, it was communicated only by water. But from a certain point on, the village found itself on a tourist hiking route through the National Park, and then attracted the attention of foreigners. At first glance, Viet Hai is nothing special, and looks almost the same as any other remote village in Vietnam. But in fact, if you take a closer look and spend more time here, you will notice that the villagers still use little modern tools and run a subsistence economy, receiving almost nothing from the outside. Learn more about the village of Viet Hai here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  Entrance fee / ticket price: Visiting the village is free, but when walking to the village via the Cat Ba National Park, you will need to pay 160,000 VND (rate temporary unavailable USD.

  🚶 How to get there: located in the central part on the eastern shore of the island (Viet Hai on the map). The easiest way to get here is with an excursion offered by travel agencies. But without any problems, you can visit the village and independently walk along the trekking route through the national park or take a boat from the Ben Beo/Cai Beo pier. For more information, follow the link with the full description.

• Cannon fort (Cannon fort)

  

  Unfortunately, in 2025 we could not get into the Cannon Fort. The road is blocked by a forbidding sign and a barrier. It is not known whether the passage will be restored.

  The fort was built in 1942 during the Second World War by the Japanese military, but later it was also used in the confrontation between the Vietnamese and the French. Today, tourists can visit this place as one of the local attractions.

  Here you will see well-preserved defensive structures and even guns, some of them of Soviet origin. There is even a mini-museum: the old buildings housed the furnishings and exhibits of wartime. But apart from the fort itself and its cannons, this place is attractive because from two viewing platforms there are excellent views of Lan Ha Bay. Especially beautiful views open at sunrise and sunset, if, of course, you are lucky with the weather. There is also a cafe with excellent views and reasonable prices. Read more about the Cannon Fort here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: From dawn to dusk, the exact time of work by the clock is not set. It is best to visit before sunset, at about 17:00 hours. The passage to the fort is closed!!!

  Entrance fee / ticket price: 40,000 VND (rate temporary unavailable USD, see the currency of Vietnam and its exchange rate).

  🚶 How to get there: The cannon fort is located on a hill 20 minutes walk from the center of catba town (fort on the map). First you will have to climb up to the checkpoint where the ticket is paid, and then climb even higher. A good asphalt road leads to the very top, and you can climb, including by rented transport. At the top, transport can be left in the free parking lot, and then go for a walk around the complex.

• Cave Hospital (Hospital Cave)

  

  This is a military hospital equipped in natural rock caves from 1963 to 1965 to confront the United States. Due to the thick layer of rock, it was considered practically invulnerable to bombing by American aircraft. It functioned until 1975.

  There are 17 different rooms on three levels of the hospital: an operating room, a communication room, wards, a kitchen, a cinema, a room for secret negotiations, etc. But only two levels are available for inspection, the third is closed due to the threat of landslides. The ticket price includes a tour guide in broken Vietnamese-English, but the main points can be understood, and thanks to this, the visit becomes interesting. Read more about the Cave Hospital here...

  Practical Information

  🕐Working hours: from 07:00 to 17:00.

  Entrance fee / ticket price: 50,000 VND (rate temporary unavailable USD, see the currency of Vietnam and its exchange rate).

  🚶 How to get there: The Cave Hospital is located 10 kilometers from Cat Ba Town on the way to Cat Ba National Park (Cave Hospital on the map). You can get here only by taxi or rented transport, there is a large sign on the road. Tickets are sold in a cafe across the street from the entrance to the cave, where you can also park vehicles for 5000 VND.

• Free viewing of Lan Ha Bay

  

  If you are not interested in the historical part of the Cannon Fort, or you simply do not want to spend 40,000 VND to enter, then it is quite possible to get by with visiting free viewing platforms, which offer views of Lan Ha Bay and the island itself no worse than from the fort. Here you can also meet the dawn or sunset.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: to get to these lookouts, you need to move in the direction of the checkpoint in the Cannon Fort. In front of the fort itself, about 30 meters away, there will be a small stone staircase to the left towards a large antenna. The views open from the foot of the antenna, or you can go further along the path to the next site (observation deck on the map).

• Cat Ba Observation Deck and Monument

  

  This is another observation deck, which is geographically located in the center of Cat Ba Town. It is equipped with benches and lanterns, a monument is installed on it, and it also offers beautiful views of the bays surrounding the island and the city.

  Although this observation deck is located in the center of Cat Ba Town, it is not easy to find the entrance to the trail to it, since it is not marked in any way. It is located on Nui Ngoc Street on the eastern side of the hill between dense buildings of cafes and hotels.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: observation deck on the map.

• The Green staircase

  

  A green staircase leads to the top of the hill, where a functioning telecommunications antenna is located at an altitude of about 60 meters, and at its foot there is a small observation deck. More precisely, there is no observation deck as such, but there is a small patch of surface where you can sit down to admire the views opening in all directions, if, of course, you are lucky with the weather (unfortunately, we were unlucky). Climbing up is not difficult, but quite extreme for those who are afraid of heights. The entrance to the staircase is closed with a lattice and a lock, but for a nominal fee of 20,000 DONG (bargaining is appropriate) for tourists, it is opened by the "keepers" of the keys. Read more about the Green Staircase here...

  Practical Information

  🕐Working hours: during daytime.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: The green Staircase is located on the north side of Cat Ba Island near the pier on the island of Tun Chau (Dao Tuan Chau). You can only get here by taxi or rented transport (Green staircase on the map).

• Mangroves

  

  Amazing mangroves grow along the perimeter of the island and on shallow lakes – plants that grow in salty sea water. You may not see anything special in them, but for some peoples these are special plants. Since ancient times, they have been used to produce business wood, fuel, dyes and in the leather industry. It is also a very interesting plant in terms of its biological properties. Read more about Mangroves here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: Mangroves are located around the perimeter of the island, mainly in the north. The most accessible place is the bay on the way to the pier on the island of Tun Chau (Dao Tuan Chau). You can only get there by taxi or rented transport. Here you can stop near the road and go straight down to the water (mangroves on the map). You can ask fishermen for a reasonable fee to take you around the bay on a rowing boat.

• Wooden bridge on stilts and Mau Hai Ha Temple

  

  In the north of the island there is a little–known and little-noticed landmark - an old wooden bridge on stilts (stilt wooden bridge). It leads along a shallow bay to a small Buddhist temple Mau Hai Ha on an islet – one of the most sacred on Cat Ba. You can freely walk across the bridge to the temple, light a stick of incense there, or just sit in silence. If you go around the temple, then behind it you will find a small cave with shrines, the meaning of which, unfortunately, is unknown to us.

  Hurry up to visit this place, as the authentic wooden bridge is gradually being replaced by a concrete one. Learn more about the bridge here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock, it is better to visit during the day.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free of charge, you can leave donations

  🚶 How to get there: The bridge and the temple are located in the north of the island (bridge and temple on the map), accessible only by taxi or rented transport.

• Dong Hoa Cuong Cave

  

  There are many caves on Cat Ba in its many rocky hills, but only a few are equipped for visiting and illuminated. Hoa Cuong is one of them. It does not represent anything special, it is not very spacious and deep. But if you have not been to tourist caves before or simply have nothing to do, then you can look here on the way to the north of the island to the Green Staircase, Mangroves and the Old Bridge on stilts. You should not go here on purpose, because it will take no more than 10 minutes to visit her. Learn more about the cave here...

  Practical Information

  🕐Working hours: from 09:00 to 17:00, but in fact it is not observed

  Entrance fee / ticket price: 30,000 VND (rate temporary unavailable USD)

  🚶 How to get there: the cave is located next to the road on the way to the north of Cat Ba, there is a sign on the road (cave on the map). After the exit in the direction of the sign, you will see a table and a canopy under which a person selling tickets is sitting, he will also take you to the cave and turn on the light there. If there is no one at the table, try to go into the cave yourself, perhaps he will already be there with other tourists.

• Cat Ba Town Promenade

  

  For a long time on the whole island of Cat Ba there was no normal promenade and no walking area at all. Now she has appeared! In the place where the main port used to be, a whole new city with hotels and shops has now grown, and a magnificent promenade and a walking area have appeared. It starts from Cat Ba Square Park from the center of Catba Town. First you will get to the light and music fountain; then to the area of the amphitheater square, where various events such as discos, sweepstakes, performances of artists are held daily; and everything ends with access to the Cac Ba beach, where the Symphony Of The Green Island show takes place. And all along there are cafes, kiosks selling fast food and drinks, ice cream, there are children's entertainment, there is a small supermarket. Learn more about the embankment here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: Around the clock. It is best to walk in the evening during the fountain and various shows.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: starts from Cat Ba Square and stretches for several hundred meters towards Cac Ba Beach and along the beach, this is the very center of the city (embankment on the map). If you are staying in Cat Ba Town, you can easily reach it on foot from any hotel.

• Light and music fountain

  

  A new modern light and music fountain on Cat Ba appeared in 2025 on a new walking area on the way to the beach in the center of Cat Ba Town. Together with this whole walking area, the fountain has become one of the main points of attraction for vacationers and tourists, especially for evening walks, because in all its glory it can be seen only after dark. You can come to him at least every day and admire the compositions from the jets of water to the music. By the way, the music here is very diverse: from classical to modern. Learn more about the fountain here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: open daily all evening after dark from about 17 hours to 23 hours.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located on the square at the beginning of the new walking area, a couple of minutes walk from the main road Duong 1/4 (fountain on the map). If you are staying in Cat Ba Town, you can easily reach it on foot from any hotel.

• Symphony Of The Green Island Show (Symphony Of The Green Island)

  

  Practical Information

  🕐Working hours: The show runs from 20:00 to 20:30 several times a week. At the moment, the show is temporarily suspended, please check on the resumption of work on the spot or in the Sun Paradise amusement park application from Sun Group.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: Tickets for the show cost from 600,000 VND. The price is different on different days for different categories. There are tickets only for the show, as well as a comprehensive show ticket + dinner. The cheapest way is to buy tickets in the Sun Paradise app (but it doesn't accept Russian cards). For cash tickets can be purchased at the ticket offices on the embankment.

  🚶 How to get there: The show takes place on the new main beach of Cac Ba Beach in the center of Catba town (fountain on the map). From any hotel in the area you can walk through the new embankment.

• House Museum 102

  

  This is not exactly a traditional museum, but rather a theme park of unusual sculptures and installations created by a local artist. In general, there are several similar museums in Vietnam, and the most famous of them is the famous Crazy house in Dalat. This house-museum may be inferior to Dalatsky in scope and fame, but we are sure that lovers of unusual places will definitely like it here. Its entire territory, both inside and out, is filled with complex and interesting sculptures. But it's not just decor. Every detail here is part of a big message about environmental protection, which the artist conveys through his art. Learn more about the House Museum 102 here ...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: The opening hours are not exactly observed, it works approximately from 07:00 to 17:00.

  Entrance fee / ticket price: 100 000 VND (3.8 USD.

  🚶 How to get there: located 6 kilometers from the center of Catba Town in the village of Phu Cuong (House Museum 102 on the map). You can get there by taxi, rented transport or local bus number 14.

• Minh Chau cave

  

  This is one of the caves on Cat Ba Island that are accessible and conditionally equipped for tourists to visit. Recall that you can still visit Trung Trang Cave and Dong Hoa Cuong Cave. But still, this Min Tiau cave is very different from them, so even if you visited the other two, this one is also worth a visit. First of all, it is not equipped with lighting, which means you will have to walk in complete darkness with only a flashlight. Even inside this cave there are flying caves, spiders, centipedes and other animals. So the experience of visiting it will be completely different than from equipped caves. Read more about the Min Tiau cave here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: the working time is not exactly observed, it works during the daytime.

  Entrance fee / ticket price: 20,000 VND (rate temporary unavailable USD.

  🚶 How to get there: located 7 kilometers from the center of Catba Town in the village of Phu Cuong (Min Tiau Cave on the map). You can get here by taxi, rented transport or local bus number 14.

• Linh Quang Pagoda Temple

  

  There are very few temples on Cat Ba, at least we know only two: the Mau Hai Ha temple with a bridge on stilts and the Linh Quang Pagoda Temple, which we are talking about now. It is located on the outskirts of Cat Ba Town and can even be visited on foot or by bike. This is a small temple, it is not particularly beautiful and there is nothing to tell about it. It consists of the main temple building in the classical architecture of Buddhist temples in Vietnam, a small courtyard, and next to it on the hillside is a statue of the goddess of mercy Guan Yin. Read more about Lin Kuang Temple here...

  Practical Information

  🕐Working hours: during daytime.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free of charge.

  🚶 How to get there: located 2.5 kilometers from the center of catba town on its outskirts (Lin Kuang Temple on the map).