Graded cycling, kayaking and cave trips in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
Destinations · Northern Vietnam
Lan Ha Bay and Cat Ba, by kayak and by bike
The southern side of the limestone sea that stretches from Ha Long Bay: sheltered channels and tidal lagoons for paddling, and a hilly island with a national park for riding and walking.
At a glance
What Lan Ha Bay actually is
Lan Ha Bay is the stretch of limestone islands off the south-east side of Cat Ba Island, in Hai Phong. It is the same kind of landscape as Ha Long Bay to the north, towers of karst rising straight out of the sea, and since 2023 it sits inside the same World Heritage property, renamed Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago.
For a paddler the appeal is shelter. The islands break the swell, and many enclose lagoons that you enter through low arches at the right tide. For a rider the appeal is Cat Ba itself: a hilly island with a national park in its centre and roads that climb and fall in short, steep pieces.
It is not empty. Day boats come out from Cat Ba and from the mainland, floating fish farms line some channels, and Cat Ba town is a dense block of hotels around the harbour. The quiet comes from timing: early and late on the water, and the interior roads away from town.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago · checked .
Wildlife, honestly
Cat Ba is home to the Cat Ba langur, an endangered primate found nowhere else. It is rarely seen by visitors. We mention it because the langur is one reason the island is protected, not because you will tick it off.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago · checked .
How many nights
Three nights gives two full days: one on the water and one on the bike, plus a morning that can absorb a cancelled boat. Two nights works only in the dry season and leaves no room for a storm ban. More than four nights suits paddlers who want a different lagoon every day.
When to go
| Months | For paddling and riding |
|---|---|
| October – November | Drier (88 and 45 mm at Hai Phong), still warm. Our first choice. |
| December – March | Mild, about 20 – 23 °C at the warmest, often grey; 19 rain days in March, mostly drizzle. Good riding, cool paddling. |
| April – May | Warming up; May rain rises to about 200 mm. April is a good month. |
| June – September | Wettest and stormiest: 218 – 361 mm a month, peaking in August. Boats stop during storm bans. |
Typhoon season on Vietnam's eastern coast runs from May to November.
Sources: WMO World Weather Information Service — Hai Phong; UK FCDO — Vietnam travel advice, safety and security · checked .
Getting there
- From Hanoi: road and speedboat take about 3 to 3.5 hours door to door. A scheduled bus-and-boat service leaves Hanoi four times a day, at 06:00, 07:30, 10:45 and 14:00.
- The crossing: an 8-minute speedboat from Got pier, or a 30-minute ferry from Dong Bai on Cat Hai Island.
- Onwards: back to Hanoi the same way, then the overnight train or a flight south.
Sources: Cat Ba bus-and-boat operator — how to get to Cat Ba · checked .
What it costs here
| Item | Published price |
|---|---|
| Scheduled bus and boat, Hanoi – Cat Ba | USD 11 – 15 |
| Speedboat from Got pier | VND 80,000 |
| Ferry from Dong Bai | VND 14,000 |
Check before you travel. On our tours the transfer is private and included. We do not publish hotel or boat-hire ranges because we have no checked source; your quote names the hotel and shows the boat as its own line.
Sources: Cat Ba bus-and-boat operator — how to get to Cat Ba · checked .
When to skip Lan Ha Bay
- If you can only come in July or August and the kayak day is the main reason: storm bans are common.
- If you want a night on a cruise boat: the kayaking we describe is from Cat Ba town, not from a cruise.
- If you cannot swim and do not want to wear a buoyancy aid.
- If you want long, flat rides: Cat Ba's roads are short and hilly.
Pictures
Tours that go here
The Lan Ha Bay Kayak & Cat Ba Cycling tour spends three nights on Cat Ba at Grade 2. The Vietnam & Cambodia Multi-Sport tour opens with the same island and bay before heading south. See the pricing page for how quotes are built.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Is Lan Ha Bay different from Ha Long Bay?
It is the southern part of the same limestone archipelago, off Cat Ba Island rather than the mainland at Ha Long. Since 2023 both sit inside one World Heritage property.
Can we kayak without a guide?
Not on our trips. Tides decide which lagoons are open, and a guide who knows them is the difference between a good day and an hour stuck outside an arch.
Is the water clean enough to swim?
Usually in the open channels away from the fish farms. Your guide picks the swim stop on the day.
How hilly is Cat Ba?
Short climbs of a few minutes each, repeated. A 40 km ride across the island gathers around 400 m of climbing.
Related
Read next
Example journey
Lan Ha Bay & Cat Ba, 4 days
Four days of sea kayaking and island cycling from Hanoi, Grade 2.
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Example journey
Vietnam & Cambodia Multi-Sport, 14 days
Fourteen days from Hanoi to Siem Reap: kayak, caves, delta cycling and Angkor, Grade 2.
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Destinations
Destinations
Guides to the four regions our tours ride and paddle through.
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Plan · Seasons
When to go
A 12-month riding and paddling chart for each region, built from WMO climate data.
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Plan · Safety
Safety
The rules we run every tour by: van, helmets, buoyancy aids, heat, weather and insurance.
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Plan · Grades
Difficulty grades
The four-step grade scale behind every tour, with a self-check you can do at home.
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Start planning
Tell us about the trip you have in mind
Dates, party size and the grade you are comfortable with are enough to start. You get a draft route with daily distances and a quote for that route, not a brochure.