Hanoi Tour Day 4: Cat Ba Island – How to get to Cat Ba Island from Hanoi? I woke up early in the morning, breakfast started at 7 am on the Halong Bay Cruise, and next, Cat Ba Island! If Cat Ba is not in your list of places to visit, please read this article! If you think that $USD 125 is over your budget, you can go for Halong Bay Imperial Junk Cruise which is cheaper but bear in mind there aren’t many good comments about it on the net. There was one local agency who offered us the cheapest price for the cruise name “A Class Travel” located at the backpackers’ street, just opposite Sans Souci IV Hotel. For those who took 3 days 2 nights Halong Bay Tour like us, couple from the U.S. paid $USD 160, a French girl paid $USD 150, and another Australian guy paid $USD 120 which is $USD 5 lesser than us. One word to remember when you go to Vietnam is “BARGAIN”! Don’t get cheated or Vietnamese people called it “cut throat”.

Cat Ba Island, the largest Halong Bay Island

It took about two hours to reach Cat Ba Island. The first place to visit was the Hang Quan Y Hospital Cave. Please go to the washroom if you need to before you disembark at the port because there aren’t any clean washrooms until lunch. It took about 5 minutes to climb up to the cave, at first, I thought there was nothing in the cave but there was actually a small secret door and behind the door was an indoor hospital for the military during the war, their escape route amazed me, it was well planned!

Before lunch, we went cycling for about 5km from a Vietnamese village to a small beach; it’s a fun way for us to explore the island. We have gone through steep mountain slopes and lots of winding streets, the wind was so cool and I felt like I was flying with that super outdated bicycle (with no gears). Next, again traditional Vietnamese lunch in the village, my camera ran out of battery that time so no photos for the lunch, sorry!

Check-in Holiday View Catba Hotel after lunch and you can do whatever you want, you can either go to the traditional Vietnamese market or there is another beach there if you’re a beach lover. For the hotel, even though it’s 3 stars but please don’t expect much from it because the room is not very clean and the bathroom is horrible. One of the best hotels in Cat Ba Island is the Hung Long Harbour Hotel (3 stars), highly recommended by a 70 years old traveler from the United Kingdom. He told us he got a room with beautiful view for about $USD 30 per night after bargained and he stayed there for eight nights.

I found something very delicious on the island, it looked like a snack made from cassava and shredded coconut, and I love it very much. I ate five, lol, try it if you happen to see it on the street!