Prior to the arrival of the tourists Cat Ba Island was a hard place to live. Many of the Vietnamese "boat people" came from this island. Those who made it to distant shores are now sending money back to invest in tourist facilities. Lorraine visited Cat Ba Island some years ago when it was a fairly sleep place with lots of charm. When she went to the beach there were only a few people around. As you can see from the photos below the beaches are now packed and new high rise tourist infrastructure is changing the character of Cat Ba. We encountered large beach crowds because of the weekend. If you visit during the week it is not so busy. The walkway around the cliff is quite safe and the views are marvellous. Unfortunately the sea has a lot of rubbish including floating plastic bags. Maybe someone will launch a "Clean Up Cat Ba" day in the near future.

REGION: South East Asia > Vietnam > Halong Bay > Cat Ba Island