Lan Ha Bay is blessed by nature with more than 100 small and deserted sandy beaches like “blue straits”. Many sandy beaches stretch between rocky mountains, quiet and without big waves, making them ideal beaches for tourists who love swimming. This place also possesses a diverse and rich ecosystem and landscapes with pristine beauty, which attract a lot of tourist.
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Overview about Lan Ha Bay
The bay is located in the east of Cat Ba Island and is a connecting bridge between Cat Ba Island and Ha Long Bay. From Cat Ba Island’s pier, it takes about 30 minutes to take a boat to Lan Ha Bay. The area of the bay is over 7,000 hectares, but of which more than 5,400 hectares are under the management of the UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve – Cat Ba National Park.
Lan Ha Bay has a curved shape like an arc, surrounded by more than 400 large and small islands. The name “Lan Ha” means an “orchid descended to earth to beautify life”. Although it does not have many surrounding islands like Ha Long Bay, Lan Ha Bay has a highlight of having 139 small sandbanks surrounding it such as Ang Vem, Cat Dua, Cat Co, Ben Beo, Co Tien, Van Boi, Van Ha…
What the best time to visit?
Lan Ha Bay has all four seasons according to the weather in the North. Usually, from May to August is summer, the sea is calm, the sky is clear, there is a lot of sunshine and wind, suitable for swimming and experiencing yachting, exploring the bay. This is also the time when most tourists come.
From about September to November, the bay is peaceful, suitable for those who like to relax in a quiet space. At this time, the weather is cool, you can still swim. The remaining months are suitable for tourists to experience activities in the forest, breathe fresh air.
How to get here?
The means of sightseeing in Lan Ha Bay are boats. Visitors will arrive at Cat Ba Island and then buy boat tickets at Beo Wharf in the center of the island to visit Lan Ha Bay. One-way ticket prices are from 80,000 VND for adults and 40,000 VND for children.
Beo wharf – where visit can rent a boat to explore Lan Ha bay
If traveling in a group, visitors can rent a private boat. Groups of 10 to 20 people, the rental price is from 1.6 million to 5 million VND per boat. Groups of 25 to 50 people, the rental price is from 2.2 million to 7 million VND per boat. The rental price depends on the type of boat and the time of visit.
Famous tourist sports in Lan Ha Bay
Cat Ba National Park
Cat Ba National Park is located in Cat Hai district. This is one of the largest special-use forests in Vietnam. Currently, Cat Ba National Park is conserving many marine ecosystems, terrestrial forests, mangrove forests, and rare species of flora and fauna. In 2004, Cat Ba National Park was recognized by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve.
Visitors can choose to climb the mountain for 4-8 hours, or a short route of about 2 hours. Walking, cycling, motorbike or car in 2-3 hours is also the choice of many people. Visitors can go through Kim Giao forest, go to Ngu Lam peak to see the whole view of the national park, see wild animals at night, explore caves… The trekking route will lead visitors to Viet Hai village.
Entrance fee is 40,000 VND per adult, 20,000 VND per child.
Viet Hai Village
Viet Hai Village is located in Cat Ba National Park, Cat Hai island district, leading to Lan Ha Bay. The village can be reached from the direction of the forest as well as the direction of the bay. Because it is located in the forest, the entrance road is winding, so not many people have come to the village before.
Tourist come to visit the village
Viet Hai is almost completely isolated from the outside world. Currently, Viet Hai has begun to be invested in tourism, attracting many tourists, both domestic and foreign. In particular, this is an ideal place for cycling tours or trekking tours to explore nature.
A group is trekking to Viet Hai village
Monkey Island
Monkey Island is the second largest island in the Cat Ba archipelago. Monkey Island is located in the middle of Lan Ha Bay, formerly known as Cat Dua (Vietnamese: Cát Dứa means wild pineapple trees) on the island. Currently, there are about 20 monkeys living on the island.
They often come down to the beach to bathe, are fed and drink by tourists and are quite friendly. However, sometimes they can take things from tourists or if they are not careful, they can injure tourists.
Luon Cave
Luon Cave is located in the middle of a group of closed islands in the bay, leading to the sea through a cave entrance about 4 m wide, 3 m high, 100 m long. The brackish water lake in the cave is surrounded by four mountains, about 1 km² wide. On the cliffs there are still fossilized freshwater snail shells.
There are not many caves like this in Lan Ha Bay. This is an ideal place for kayaking. Tourists can experience the peaceful natural space after passing through the gate of Luon Cave by rowing boat.
Van Boi Beach
Van Boi Beach is located along the protruding part of a mountain range, where many tourists often come to explore boating, swimming… Van Boi Beach has beautiful natural scenery with long stretches of fine white sand, clear blue sea water, quiet and peaceful space.
Cai Beo Ancient Fishing Village
Cai Beo Fishing Village is located in Cat Ba archipelago, Cat Hai island district. In 2009, Cai Beo was recognized as a national monument, one of the largest ancient fishing villages in Vietnam, currently home to more than 500 households with fishing and cage fish farming on the bay.
To reach Cai Beo fishing village, visitors will depart from Cat Ba Island, travel about 20 km further and will see floating villages bobbing on the water, arranged close together like a miniature city.
Sang (Bright) Cave – Toi (Dark) Cave
Sang Toi Cave (also known as Sang Cave – Toi Cave) is located on the water, 70 m long through the mountain, about 12 km from Beo Wharf.
To visit the cave, visitors often have to row a bamboo boat or kayak. Sang – Toi Cave is a destination not to be missed for tourists visiting and relaxing on Lan Ha Bay, especially for guests staying overnight on a cruise. This is also a popular stop for ships taking visitors to Lan Ha Bay during the day.
Sports activities
Climbing on the sea in Cat Ba is an activity that attracts tourists, especially foreign tourists. There are dozens of climbing spots on the islands of Lan Ha Bay, on the mainland and around Cat Ba area. There are steep cliffs here, challenging those who love this adventurous sport.
A lady is trying to climb up a cliff.
In addition, visitors can swim and kayak. To have a convenient location for rowing, you should rent a boat to see the bay or buy a kayaking tour. Usually, the boats will take you to calm areas, close to the shore to make it easier to row and also to ensure safety.
Kayaking via Dark – Bright cave
Some convenient locations are Dark Cave – Bright Cave, Luon Cave, Secret Cave, Ba Trai Dao Beach…
Cuisine in Lan Ha
The cuisine in Lan Ha Bay is mainly seafood, in which species such as sea cucumber, geoduck, grouper, mantis shrimp, shrimp or snails are the most popular. In addition, seafood can be bought as gifts, with reference prices of about 500,000 to 700,000 VND for a pair of sea cucumbers, 200,000 to 250,000 VND for a kilogram of geoduck.
Previously, Lan Ha Bay had many seafood farms for tourists to eat on the spot. But now, you will have to eat on the shore, on Cat Ba Island or buy seafood yourself and organize BBQ meals on permitted beaches such as Monkey Island or Tu Do Island.
enjoy sea food in Lan Ha
Source: collected by An
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