Cat Ba island is located in northern Vietnam about 3 hours from Hanoi. It’s the largest island in this area and has stunning scenery which is a must see.
Getting to Cat Ba Island
We travelled to Cat Ba from Hanoi. This consisted of a short bus ride, a speed boat, and then another short bus ride. It total it took around 3 hours. We booked this through 12GoAsia and it cost around £20 for two of us.
Where to stay
There are lots of hotels on the island ranging from cheap budget hotels and 5 star resorts with private beaches. We opted for something on the budget side but it did the job.
We stayed in the Cat Ba Rose Nhung Hotel. It cost us £65 for 4 nights and included breakfast. The room was comfortable and breakfast was decent. The hotel had the added bonus of being one of the only hotels on the island with heating. It was pretty cold when we visited so this was needed!
The hotel was about a ten minute walk from the seafront so all in all a great place to stay.
What to do on Cat Ba Island
Explore the beaches– there are several different beaches on Cat Ba Island. Some are privately owned by resort hotels but others are free for the public to visit. Despite it being cold we did have a dip in the sea!
Go for a run– I enjoy running and Cat Ba was the first place I was able to run outside without it being too hot. Obviously this depends on what time of year you visit but if you’re able to then go for a run along the promenade. The views are lovely.
Hike in the national park– drive to the national park and go for an explore. We did a hike which ended with great views of the national park. It’s a huge place so if hiking is your thing then pay it a visit.
Hire a motorbike and explore the island– the best way to explore in South East Asia is by getting on a motorbike and having a drive around. We rented the bike from our hotel for just under £5 a day.
Go clothes shopping at the local market– as I mentioned it was pretty chilly when we visited and we definitely didn’t have the right clothes. We got a (definitely real…) North Face and Patagonia coat to keep us warm.
Try a coconut coffee– this turned out to be one of my favourite drinks I tried whilst travelling South East Asia. All I’m going to say is you have to try it.
Take advantage of happy hour– lots of bars on the promenade do a happy hour in the evening where you can get a beer for 30p. Need I say more.
Have a Banh Mi- we had some of the best Banh Mi’s of our whole trip on Cat Ba Island at Banh Mi Hoi An 1991. We ended up going there for lunch every day!
What I wouldn’t recommend
Trung Trang cave- we visited here as you get free entry if you already have purchased a ticket for the national park. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to visit these caves as we weren’t overly impressed.
The BigMan bar- this was recommended to us by our hotel and we went in as they had a happy hour sign. It said 10,000 Dong (around 30p) for a beer. We ended up being charged 70,000 Dong as we hadn’t been told it was only one type of beer for 10,000, and the waiter tried to get me to give him more money when Jacob wasn’t there. The whole place just gave bad vibes so avoid here and visit one of the nicer bars.
The best time to visit
The best time in terms of weather to visit Cat Ba is September to November, and March to May. We visited in January and it was pretty cold. We still enjoyed our time there but had to buy some warm clothes because we weren’t prepared for the weather.
If you visit when the weather is warmer then you might want to do one of the boat trips on offer. We considered this but the cold weather put us off. There are several different tour agent offices near the promenade where you can look at what boat trips are available.
Down to Earth Travel 
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