If you booked Cat Ba on the strength of photographs taken three years ago, there is something you should know before you arrive. The town centre is in the middle of a large waterfront development, and the promenade in 2026 is not the promenade in those pictures. This is not a reason to cancel — the island itself is untouched — but it should change where you sleep.
What is actually happening
The Cat Ba Central Bay project is a major development along the town’s harbour front, involving land reclamation, new buildings and reworked waterfront infrastructure. In practice that means trucks, dust, fencing, machinery noise during the day, and stretches of the promenade closed or altered. It has been running through 2026 and is not finished.
Cat Ba is also aiming at more than 4.75 million visitors in 2026, with arrivals reported at two to two and a half times the previous year. So: a busier island, and a town centre that is simultaneously a building site.
What is not affected at all
Almost everything people come here for:
- Lan Ha Bay — the karsts, lagoons, caves and beaches reached by boat
- Cat Ba National Park — trails, viewpoints, wildlife
- The bay beaches away from the town
- The villages inland, including Viet Hai, which sits inside the national park with no road access from town
- Kayaking, boat tours, trekking, cycling — all running normally
The construction is a town-centre issue. Once you are on the water or under the trees, you would never know it existed.
How to plan around it
1. Don’t book a “sea view” on the harbour front
Several hotels along the promenade now look at hoardings and cranes rather than the bay. If you are booking in town, read recent reviews — recent meaning this year — and check what the window actually faces.
2. Expect daytime noise, not night noise
Work runs in daylight hours. If you are out on a boat from 8am to 4pm, you may barely notice. If you planned lazy mornings on a balcony, you will.
3. Consider staying outside the centre
The obvious options are the Cat Co beach area, the quieter edges of town, or — the route we would take — inland, in one of the villages inside the national park.
Why the village side has become the better base in 2026
We would say this anyway — we live here — so weigh it accordingly. But the arithmetic has genuinely changed this year.
Viet Hai sits in a valley inside Cat Ba National Park, reached by boat and then a short ride. No road connects the village to the rest of the island, so there is no through traffic and nothing gets delivered by road. The loudest thing at 9pm is frogs, and the loudest thing at 6am is a rooster who has no sense of timing.
The trade-offs are real and worth stating plainly: getting here takes a scheduled boat, there are no shops, no ATM, and no nightlife. If you want a bar at midnight, stay in town. If you were coming to Cat Ba for quiet, the town is not currently where you will find it.
Is 2026 still a good year to come?
Yes — with one caveat about timing. The new licensed inter-bay cruise routes connecting Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay mean more boats are reaching this side of the archipelago than ever before. Lan Ha Bay is still noticeably quieter than Ha Long, but that gap is closing. If the appeal for you is emptiness, come sooner rather than later.
A practical booking checklist for 2026
- Check the date of the reviews you are reading, not just the score
- Ask the property directly what the room faces and whether there is construction nearby
- Book boat tours and kayaking on the island, not in Hanoi
- Build in a spare day between July and September for storm cancellations
- If you want quiet, book inland or on a bay beach, not the harbour front
Staying with us in Viet Hai
Lan Homestay is a family-run guesthouse in Viet Hai village, inside Cat Ba National Park. We have thatched-roof garden bungalows and mountain-view rooms, all with private bathrooms, at a fair village rate — message us for the current one.
Bicycle hire is 30,000 VND per bike for the whole day (a little over one US dollar). No road links our valley to the rest of the island, so there is no through traffic — most guests only understand what that means once they are riding it.
Evenings here are a family dinner: one long table, everyone staying that night eating together — garden vegetables, island seafood, our own herbs. If you would rather eat on your own schedule, our quick-food menu is available all day with 20 minutes’ notice. For something special — seafood hotpot or a seafood BBQ — tell us one day in advance so we can buy fresh from the boats that morning.
We also arrange what is awkward to organise from abroad: boat transfers from Cat Ba town or Ben Beo pier, full-day Lan Ha Bay boat tours, kayaking, night kayaking to see bioluminescent plankton in the warm months, and guided treks in the national park.
Book or ask us anything:
Website: lanhomestay.com
WhatsApp: +84 363 934 325
Email: info@lanhomestay.com
Find us: Thon 2, Viet Hai Village, Cat Ba Island, Hai Phong, Vietnam
Keep reading
- Where to Stay in Cat Ba Island: Why Viet Hai Village Beats Cat Ba Town
- Best Time to Visit Cat Ba Island: A Month-by-Month Guide
