Ngu Lam peak
A view over green hills.
Christophe95 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Christophe95 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Christophe95 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jakub Hałun — CC BY 4.0
Cat Ba National Park covers most of Cat Ba Island, the largest island of the archipelago at the southern edge of Ha Long Bay, and the waters around it. It was created on 31 March 1986 as Vietnam's first protected area with a marine part, it is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and since 2023 the Cat Ba archipelago has been part of the World Heritage Site Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago. The island is limestone hills under thick forest, cut by narrow valleys, with lakes and mangrove swamps on the coast. It is the only home of the golden-headed Cat Ba langur, one of the rarest primates in the world, with only about seventy left in the wild, so sightings are rare; walkers mostly meet butterflies, birds and squirrels on the trails. The classic walk climbs Ngu Lam peak through a forest of kim giao trees, about an hour and a half there and back from the park headquarters at Trung Trang, with the nearby Trung Trang cave, and the top looks out over a sea of green hills. The long trek across the island to Viet Hai village is a full day with a guide. The path is rocky and slippery after rain, so wear proper shoes and carry water.
A view over green hills.
Along the climb.
Near the park headquarters.
Trung Trang, about 16 km from Cat Ba town
Very rarely: only about seventy remain in the wild, in protected areas away from the trails. On the usual paths you are more likely to see birds, butterflies and squirrels.