Things to Do in Viet Hai Village

Viet Hai is a valley of 87 households with no road in, wrapped on three sides by Cat Ba National Park and open on the fourth to Lan Ha Bay. That geography is the whole point: everything on this page starts within a few minutes of our front door, on foot, on a bicycle or on one of our own boats. Nothing here needs a coach, a queue or a second island. Below is what guests actually do, how long each thing takes, and what is fixed by the state against what we quote per booking.

Six ways to spend a day with us

Everything below leaves from our own pier or our own gate, and the family runs all of it. Pick the one that fits your dates and we will build the rest of the stay around it.

2 days · Hanoi to Hanoi2 Days in Viet HaiOur signature trip: pick-up in the Old Quarter, a full day on Lan Ha Bay, dinner at the long table and a night in the valley.Read more
09:00–15:30Full-day Lan Ha Bay boat tourKayaking into Bright and Dark cave, swimming stops, lunch cooked on board and a family fish farm. The bay ticket is included.Read more
Full day · 7–8 hoursNavy Peak hike & sunset kayakJungle in the morning, the best 360° view on Cat Ba, lunch with the family, then kayak Lan Ha Bay into the sunset. Max 10 people.Read more
3 days · 2 nights3-day cruise and homestayTwo nights on the water and one in the valley, with kayaking, a cooking class on board and time in the village.Read more
2 days · 1 night aboardNight cruise on Lan Ha BaySleep in a cabin on the bay: kayaking, squid fishing after dark, a cooking class and tai chi on the sundeck at sunrise.Read more

Book a tourSee all tours

Everything you can do, side by side

Guests almost always ask the same two questions first: how long does it take, and do I need to book it in advance. This table answers both. Anything marked on the day can be decided at breakfast.

In the valley: cycling, walking and the village itself

The lane through Viet Hai is flat, paved and almost empty — no cars reach it, so the loudest thing you will hear is a bicycle bell. Most guests take a bike out after breakfast and are back before lunch. The circuit passes the rice fields, the school, the communal house and the tunnel cut through the hill towards the pier. Our bicycles are 30,000 VND (≈$1.20) a day and free if you have booked any tour with us; there is more detail in our guide to cycling in Viet Hai village.

On foot, the two short walks worth doing are Frog Pond, where the frogs are genuinely loud at dusk, and the Ancient House, a preserved timber home that shows how the valley lived before tourism arrived. Both are marked on the village map on our getting here page. If you have exactly one day, our post on one day in Viet Hai village sets out the order that works best.

On the water: kayaking, caves and the bay

Our boats leave from the village pier, not from Ben Beo, which is why our days on the water start quietly. The full day covers the same bay that the big cruise fleet visits but from the opposite side: kayaking through Bright cave and Dark cave into a hidden lagoon, swimming stops at beaches with nobody on them, lunch cooked on board and a stop at a family fish farm. Full detail is on the full-day Lan Ha Bay boat tour page, and if you have never held a paddle, read kayaking Lan Ha Bay for beginners first.

The other water day worth planning around is the dark of the moon. On nights with no moon the plankton in the bay light up under the paddle — our night-time paddle is paused for now, though this guide explains when the glow works and when it does not. The paddle we do run in the evening is the sunset kayak — out from the village as the light goes red behind the karsts. Whatever you paddle, our boat safety guide covers life jackets, weather calls and what happens when a trip is cancelled.

In the forest: Navy Peak, the park trek and the langur

Two walks climb out of the valley. Navy Peak is the short one — 259 metres, about three hours there and back, up to an old lookout with a 360-degree view over the karst and the bay. It is steep in places and worth doing early, before the heat. The Navy Peak hike page has the timings.

The long one is the trek in from the national park gate: 9 to 12 kilometres through Cat Ba National Park, four to five hours, ending in the village. Many guests walk in on the first day and leave by boat on the second, which is the most satisfying way to arrive anywhere in Vietnam. We arrange the transfer to the gate and carry your luggage round by boat. See trekking from the national park to Viet Hai and our Cat Ba National Park hiking guide.

The forest above the valley is also home to the Cat Ba langur, one of the rarest primates on earth, with fewer than a hundred left and all of them on this island. Sightings are luck, not schedule — where and when people actually see them is an honest account rather than a promise.

Which activity suits you

If you would rather not read the whole page, find your row.

In the evening: the long table, the kitchen and the sky

Dinner at Lan Homestay is served at one long table, family style, and it is where the day gets told back. Much of what arrives comes from the valley itself or from the fish farm the boat passed that afternoon — our dining page explains how meals work, and what to eat in Viet Hai village covers the dishes worth asking for. If you want to learn rather than watch, ask at check-in and someone will put you to work in the kitchen for the afternoon.

After dinner there is one more thing the valley gives you for nothing. There is no street lighting in Viet Hai and no town within sight, so on a clear night the sky over the karst is genuinely dark. Guests sit out with a beer and stay longer than they meant to.

Watch: life at Lan Homestay