Cat Ba National Park, Halong Bay

Cat Ba National Park is centred on Cat Ba Island, the largest island in Halong Bay. The Cat Ba archipelago itself comprises 366 islents and islands. Together they cover an area of 20,000 hectares of limestone islands. When I visited Halong Bay with a group of AsiaExplorers members, we had an opportunity to kayak in Cat Ba National Park. The kayaking session was long and exhausting, but ultimately fulfilling, as we rowed from island to island, and on our return journey, even had to row across the open sea.

Most of the islets dotting Cat Ba National Park is covered with vegetation, although there are sheer limestone cliffs where hardly anything grew. Nonetheless, it is not uncommon to sea tenacious shrubs clinging to those otherwise barren cliffs, and on occasion, we even saw mountain goats and monkeys on the cliffs. The feeling of kayaking through the labyrinthine maze of islands, where the only sound was that of your oar on the water, was simply magnificent.

There is at least one floating village in the national park. They earn a living through shrimp and fish farming, and from the occasional tourist boat that drop by. As soon as our junk arrived, the villagers rowed towards us with their wares, nothing of value and nothing that we need.

Going to Cat Ba National Park

The easiest way to reach Cat Ba National Park is to book a tour of Halong Bay. There is plenty to choose from in Hanoi.

Cat Ba National Park (31 August, 2016)


Cat Ba National Park (31 August, 2016)


Cat Ba National Park (31 August, 2016)


Cat Ba National Park (31 August, 2016)


Cat Ba National Park (31 August, 2016)


Cat Ba National Park (31 August, 2016)


Cat Ba National Park (31 August, 2016)


Cat Ba National Park (31 August, 2016)


Cat Ba National Park (31 August, 2016)

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.