Cat Ba National Park

Cat Ba Island is one the popular attraction for traveler when they join Halong Bay tours. Usually tourist spend one night overnight on cruise and one night overnight in Cat Ba Hotel. Cat Ba island is one of the largest island, belong to Hai Phong city with an area of 280 km2, included Cat Ba National park, complex of beautiful bay, Cat Ba center town.
Cat Ba Island view from the peak of National Park

Cat Ba island has a variety of natural ecosystems with limestone, forest, beach, cave… Original Cat Ba is the place of fisherman. They live in Cat Ba town and floating villages around the island. Today Cat Ba become one of famous attraction for tourist.  Tourist arrive here and join many activities on the island: Trekking through Cat Ba National Park, Biking through village with mountain landscape, kayaking to explore the bay, swimming in natural beach… Vietnam travel
There three beaches in Cat Ba island: Cat Co beach I, Cat Co beach II, Cat Co beach III

Cat Ba National Park founded in 1986, covered an area of 98 km2 with 109 km2 of land area and 52 km2 of sea.  There are 1,561 species of flora from 186 families, 406 species of trees. There are 279 species of fauna, included 53 manual species. 160 bird species, 274 species of insect. There are 178 coral, 900 fish, especially Cat Ba island is a home land of langurs, it going to disappear in the world. Today there are only 68 langur in the National Park.

There are 68 langurs left in Cat Ba National park

Cat Ba National Park

Tourist is easy to get to Cat Ba island when they join Halong Bay tours. Halong Bay cruise will drop you in Gia Luan or Beo tourist wharf then take the shuttle bus to Cat Ba town. Optional from Hanoi ( 160 km to Cat Ba ) tourist will take bus and drive to Hai Phong (50 km to Cat Ba island )city then transferred by ferry to Cat Ba town ( not recommended for tourist, It take long time to get to Cat Ba island. Drive to Halong City then join boat trip to Cat Ba island. You will be enjoyable with Halong Bay view) Huong Hai Sealife Halong bay
Cat Ba National Park has various types of animals, trees, insect, fishes...

Cat Ba island welcome 350,000 tourists every year. There various type of services in Cat Ba island: hotel form 3 star hotel to 5 star hotel or resort in Cat Ba island, driving motor or biking to explore Cat Ba island, kayaking to explore the bay, drinking some beer in the bar, joining massage services. Food in Cat Ba is perfect with various of seafood.

Tips for safe dining of seafood in Halong

Halong, known as the world heritage city with thousands of caves and grottos, is also famous for its abundance of nutritious and delicious varieties of seafood like crab, prawn, fish, or sea-snail. Gourmets who come to Halong can hardy resist the taste of fresh seafood without the worry of gaining weight. However, there is always risk of food poisoning hidden in seafood. Below are some safety tips to avoid trouble with dining in Halong bay tours.

1. Avoid eating raw seafood in general

Raw seafood or unprocessed seafood may contain the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria which is harmful for the digestive system. Moreover, the bacteria can live under high temperature (more than 80oC). Although sushi and sashimi is very tempting, try not to eat too much, esepecially from the dubious dining places. Fresh seafood in Halong Bay

2. Never eat raw crab

Tips for safe dining of seafood in Halong

Inside unprocessed Ha Long’s crab is a very dangerous parasitic bacteria named lung fluke that may mess up your respiratory system with symptoms like lead to severe cough, coughing up blood, or even cerebral paralysis. It is highly recommended that crabs have to be fully cooked for at least 20-30 minutes. Travel to Halong with Vietnam tours

3. Seafood shopping tips

Buying your own seafood in a market to bring back to your hotel and ask the chefs to cook for you is a very enjoyable experience. However, remember to choose ones which are still alive and fresh, because dead sea-animals, especially one that has shells, contain much higher level of bacteria or poisons.

4. Avoid drinking excessive beer while eating seafood

Scientists say drinking beer while eating seafood increases the probability of having gout or arthritis disease. Therefore, it is recommended that you limit your alcohol consumption when being served seafood.

5. Avoid having fruits/tea after having seafood

The reason is that the acid inside sour fruits may negatively affect the process of absorbing protein from seafood into your body. Besides, tannin from fruits may react with calcium and protein from seafood to stimulate your digestive system that leads to stomach-ache and vomiting. Same thing happens if you drink tea after a seafood meal.