The first hurdle to spending time on Cat Ba island is actually finding a way to reach the island. Most people head out to Cat Ba from Hanoi. We however were making the trip all the way from Sapa. Irrespective from which direction you are heading out from, the ferry point that you need to reach is the same: Haiphone. In order for my Cat Ba travel guide to be truly complete, I decided to start my narration from the main land.

The ferry is a 15 minute drive from the Haiphone train station. We found a couple that was heading towards the ferry point and together we shared a cab. While we had booked the ferry seats prior, the other couple had not. There was quite a bit of confusion at the ferry point as we tried to search for an agent to get their tickets. In the end, they booked their tickets from the agent who was manning the ferry after it came in. I can’t remember how much they paid for their tickets but we paid was 90,000 VND per person.