Cat Ba Island overview

Cat Ba Archipelago includes around 400 small and big islands, the main island alone is nearly 200km2 in the north, 30 nautical miles from Hai Phong ( Hai Phong Travel ) Port and joins with renowned Ha Long and Bai Tu Long bay ( Bai Tu Long Bay tour ) .
Cat Ba Island was probably the veer off reading from Cac Ba (women) by the local people. Legend has it that in the alien war resistance, all the men were in the front lines to fight so now known as Cac Ong Island (Mennnns Island) and women stayed behind to deal with the cooking so this island is now called Cac Ba Island (Womennnns Island) Nature here is till wild. Mountain, forest, sea, spring, hill, valley, sandbank, grotto are intertwined creating many practically interesting beauty spots. Some big grottos such as Trung Trạng which can contain hundreds of people. Hung Son Grotto or known as Quân Y (Hospital of army) as there existed a field hospital inside it during the war. Cat Co beach , Cat Tiên, Cat Đa Bong, Cat Dua beaches are small, beautiful with white and pure yellow sand, the front looking to the immense sea, the back and the two sides look like a great wall. To reach the bathing beach , one must climb the mountain or go through a tunnel. The primitive forest here reserving many rare animals and plants which are under the Stateeees protection has been named the National Park. Driving in the clear and blue sea water in Cat Ba you can see clearly the grotto, coral reefs, living creatures in the stone gorge at the seabed. Cat Ba was officially recognized by UNESCO as the International Biosphere Reserve in 2005.

There are two ways to enjoy the beauty of Cat Ba island, which are: walking through the island tunnel, 27 km long starting from the island tip in the west to the end of island in the East and going by boats along the islets, between the mountain gorges. The natural scenery is always changing. You can have sun bathing on the peaceful beaches or take a rest in the pine tree or contemplate twinkling stalactites of different shapes in limestone grotto.

Cat Ba was also known as the home of the ancient people dated back 600years ago (647555205 years). Archeological artifacts preliminarily have shown 72 sites with the vestige of the ancient inhabitants and many items such as stone striking, lance, pyramid stone pestle, stone grinding table, primitive pottery, cooking fire and coal ashes, coal ashes, dust-hole with broken pottery, bone and animal teeth etc... have been excavated under the deep ground. Other items including advanced potteries and stones tools as well as sophisticated jewels also found on the upper land layer. These archaeological sites attached with Phùng Nguyên Culture, under Hung Kings 4000 years ago.

As early spring days, many festivals, games attaching with the sea such as the going down the sea festivallll, dragon regattaaaa (with many people rowing a boat) and coracle festival (or round boat).

Only taking the going down the seaaaa festival in Trần Châu fishing village from 4th to 6th January (Lunar year) as an example . After worshiping Thủy Thần (Water God) and Long Vương (King of sea) and drum-call sounded, hundreds of young men rush to their boat with an oar in hand in a quickest way. A man rows the boat, the other spreads the fishing net and beat with equal rhythm to the boat side. The more rapid and strong the beats are, the more fish are frightened and caught in the net. At noon, a firecracker is settled. All the men come back. Everybody brings his/ her fishes to the Yard of Communal House for examination. The best fish will be grilled on the fire in the Yard of the Communal House and the rests will be equally divided to everybody. There is award to whom catching the biggest fish or with the biggest quantity. As usual, on 1 April (solar calendar), on which Uncle Ho paid a visit to Cat Ba fishing village, the people on the island open a memorial festival as well as start the tourism season which attracts various touristssss attentions to the Archipelago of the windy East sea wind.

In here, tourists would rest in beautiful hotels by the sea, enjoy special seafood surf on the waves in blue and clear water.

Visit Cat Ba island

Visiting Cat Ba Island, tourist can go by across-island road or winding waterway amongst stone mounts. Cat Ba Island boasts itself with nearly 400 islets, real natural atmosphere, concentrating settings of mountain, forest, seas, caves and a great deal of imposing rocky blocks stretched gigantic nature, white sandy beaches with clear crystal water, which formed an exotic natural landscape. shall satisfy visitors.
Here is also the common home of various kinds of birds, reptiles, especially Vooc dau trangggg (white head monkey). Cat Ba Island has been recognized as the world Biosphere Reserve. Taking a hydrofoil boat or a junk boat, you can have a relaxing time of cruising around the Island where you could be the only one....
On the Highway No.10, about 50 km from the South of Haiphong city, tourist shall be overwhelmed with natural landscapes that are stretched amongst mounts, rivers and beaches
Starting from Kien An District with observatory forest, Red River Madam Statue with spectacular embossment, 100 years old observatory station. Next to the trip is An Lao Elephant Mount the city's historical relic site, Vinh Bao a well-known place for its ancient villages, rich and traditional culture, where is the birthplace of famed heroes such as herbal medicine Doctor Dao Cong Chinh, sculptural ancestor Nguyen Cong Hue, a famous writer, poet, teacher and a sage Nguyen Binh Khiem. Here still preserved many kinds of traditional culture such as water puppet, puppet performance, lion dance, soil socket and Dong Minh traditional sculpture villages, Nhan Hoa animal breeding. After lasting the above long trip, tourist shall have a fresh time to relax in Tien Lang hot mineral spring with such services as: hot mineral bath, mud therapy bath, and enjoying entertainment before returning to Haiphong city.

Cat Ba national park

Cat Ba National Park locates on Cat Ba Island covering 15,200 ha of which 9,800 ha of forests and 4, 200 ha of seawater. Its terrain is varied mainly with limestone ranges with marvelous grottoes and white sandy beaches. The average height is of 150m and the Cao Vung Mountain, 322m is the highest above the sea level.
This is the reserve of the large area oftropical virgin forests in Vietnam with various fauna and flora systems. According to initial statistics, there are some 745 species, 495 branches and 149 families of which 350species belong to Chinese herbal ones. There exists various rare wood trees under protection such as Chợ Đôi, Trai Lý, Và Nước, Cọ Bắc Sơn...
Cat Ba National Park is home to different types of rare faunas, including 20 mammal family, 69 bird family, 20 reptiles and amphibians, 11 frogs anf tree-frogs.
Vọoc or whiteV -headed monkeys, the specially rare species which can only be seen in Cat Ba Island these days. They live on the sheer rocks along the island's coast. There also exist mountain goats, deers, wild boars and various kinds of beautiful birds such as kingfishers, hornbills and hawks ect.... It is most interesting to visit the Part through a trail starting from the Park center to Việt Hải Commune, a mountainous residential area and then come back by boats...

The Spectacular Home of the Cat Ba Langur

Cat Ba Island is situated in Ha Long Bay, 50 km to the east of Hai Phong City, in Northern Vietnam. It is the largest of 366 islands in the Cat Ba Archipelago, and has a surface area of about 140 square km. The Cat Ba Archipelago shares the distinctive rugged appearance and scenic beauty of the Ha Long Bay Area that was declared a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, in 1994. The area is one of the best examples in the world of a Karst landscape invaded by the sea. Some 1500-2000 large and small islands and cliffs rise steeply from the shallow marine waters. Many of these islands reach towering heights of 50 to 100m with sheer vertical cliffs on all sides. Spectacular rock relief and bizarre rock formations provide evidence of a long history of erosion and landscape evolution through the sculpturing power of water. The greatest part of the islands’ mountain range like most of the smaller offshore islands of the Archipelago, are covered by tropical moist limestone forest. Cat Ba Island also has coral terraces, sandy beaches, freshwater wetland areas, tidal flats, mangrove forests and willow swamp. Spectacular scenery and a high diversity of landscapes make Cat Ba a special place and it has become a main destination for national and international tourists.

The People

Cat Ba Island is currently inhabited by about 13500 people, living in 6 communes, of which Cat Ba Town is the largest. Archaeological remains suggest that people have inhabited the Cat Ba area for at least 6000 years. Local livelihoods in the villages are built on subsistence agriculture and fishing. Comparatively new sources of employment and income at the local level are shrimp and fish-farming, and tourism.

The National Park and Biodiversity Conservation

Cat Ba National Park was established in 1986. After a re-arrangement of the park boundaries in 2006, the park now comprises of 109 square km of land area and an additional 52 square km of inshore waters and mangrove covered tidal zones. Cat Ba National Park was Vietnam’s first national park to include both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

Cat Ba Island, its national park and the surrounding area are nationally and internationally recognized for their importance to biodiversity conservation, exemplified through the recognition of the Cat Ba Archipelago as a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve, in 2004.This is not only because the area has a high number of different ecosystem and habitat types, but also because it possesses a great variety of plant and animal species, many of which, like the Cat Ba langur, are now rare and endangered.

About 1400 vascular plants, including 23 Endangered and Critically Endangered species (Red Data Book of Vietnam; IUCN Red List) have so far been recorded. Large and partly endangered mammals include the Cat Ba langur, the Southern Serow (Naemorhaedus sumatraensis), Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor), and civet cats (Viverricula indica, Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The cave, land snail and butterfly fauna is rich including the most northerly cave-adapted crab species, plus four species of true cave snails. The region is considered a hotspot for land snail diversity and might also be conserving a considerable number of bat species including rare ones.

Lan Ha bay

Lan Ha bay is in the East of Cat Ba Island, looking to the Van estuary, immediately adjacent to Ha Long Bay. It covers over 700ha of which 5400ha belongs to the Cat Ba National Park.

The landscapes here are not only as beautiful as Ha Long Bay, but also have special features. The density of limestone ranges are quite varied and primitive dividing the sea surface into smaller bays and many of which have not been discovered. There are hundreds of mountains with various shapes and sizes depending on visitorssss vivid imagination, such as: Hon Guoc (like the wooden shoe), Hon Doi like a flying flitter mouse) etc...

Different from Hạ Long Bay, Lan Ha Bay has 139 small sandy beaches. Some spread between the two peaceful limestone ranges and are really magnificient bathing beaches. Under the blue and clear water live the multi - colored coral reefs such as Van Ha, Van Boi ...Diving tourism will be strongly developed in these areas...

Visitors can go through mountain creeks by small boats and and enjoy the sights in the small bays, grottos and have a rest on the bathing beaches such as ang Vem, Tung Gau Grotto, Cat Dua sandy beach. Cat Dua is currently a monkey ranch where holiday -makers will visit spend the night there with rental rooms available. Especially, they will also visit the increasing pearl raising grounds.

Special dishes here include blue mussels, craps, sentinent-craps etc... Some floating houses are both raising fish and a travel places supplying the sea food to visitors as well.

Lan Ha bay joins Ha Long Bay, an international and Vietnamese wonder with thousands of multi shaped Islands among the blue sea. Of which some look like a sail, a fighting cock, a tortoise, a tower etc... Ha Long means the landing dragonnnn. Legend has it that God, to help the inhabitants to suppress the alien aggressors, told a mother dragon and her children to the lower world. She and her children discharged gems and pearls. Those gems and pearls immediately turned into the jade-coloured stone islands preventing the enemies. Upon the war ended, instead of flying to the Heaven, the dragons stayed there. The place where the mother-dragon landed called is called Ha Long Bay, where her children landed is called Bai Tu Long Bay and also where the tail white whisking is called Bạch Long Vi.

From afar, Ha Long Bay seems to be protected by a long and great wall. The peaceful water face is the best place for vessels staying away from storms and also an exploiting ground of rare seafood such as: pearls, lobsters etc...Besides, there are also Bo Cau Island (Pigeon Island), Chim Island (Birth Island), Khi Island (Monkey Island), Cat Island (Sand Island), Cam Island (Orange Island), Truc Moc Nguoc tree (Up-side-down bamboo)...
It takes only forty or forty-five minutes from Hai Phong or Đo Son to Ha Long Bay by hovercrafts.

Cai Beo archaeological site in Hai Phong, Vietnam

Cai Beo archaeological site lies on Cat Ba Archipelag. It is discovered in 30 th decade by the French archaeologist, Mrs. Michel Colane. 
To the Cai Beo archaeological site, tourists can imagine the activity of prehistoric humankind in Cat Ba with  many relics of the Neolithic era such as stone items, potteries, and the animal teeth  which have been found. Stone items shaped like: axe-head, chisel, pointed things, greater, simple table, net, pestle of production instrument. The potteries have different designs such as: hole, engraving, and rope yard. Wooden fork is a relic  also unearthed  here. These artifacts help visitor recall the prehistoric human beings  using nets, fishing lines to catch fish and seafood. The designs on the potteries as knitted with one fiber, two fibers, and basket fibers. It is the vestige for the plaiting bamboo in our country  5000 years ago. The first inhabitants lived in Cai Beo could be the offspring of the ancient Vietnamese who lived in the grottos, namely: ang Giua, Eo Bua, Hang Đục of Cat Ba Island. They left the grottos and lived  here for a long time and had created the unique archaeological site a long the seaside.
Apart from those cultural values, Cai Beo archaeological site is a place of interests with sandy beach next to the slopping limestone mountains, behind the small Bay, and cay adjoining the seaside for sea guard. I In here, you can take a bath in the blue water to dispel the hard working day, go the impressive sightseeing and enjoy the rare seafood which the nature gives  the human kind.