An aerial view of Cat Ba archipelago. (Photo: VNA) The dramatic landscapes are characterised by limestone cliffs,coral reefs, lagoons, beaches, and mangrove forests. In 2004 UNESCO recognisedthe archipelago as a World Biosphere Reserve.
Cat Ba has been included in the bucket list of many nature-loverswho wish to explore its variety of natural ecosystems. Particularly, Cat BaNational Park has 4,500 hectares of primeval forest, providing habitat for manyrare flora and fauna as well as animals that have been listed in the Red Bookof Vietnam such as langurs, black squirrels or Chittagong wood.
To those keen on exploring bays, islands and caves, they couldtake one of the many cruise ships sailing along Lan Ha Bay and you may even bewelcomed by the monkeys, 'hospitable' residents of Ca Dua island that is dubbedas 'Monkey island'.
They could also kayak to explore Sang (Light) Cave and Toi (Dark)Cave or scuba dive to get immersed in the colourful world of corals.
One of the most popular tourism activities in Lan Ha Bay is rockclimbing, a thrilling experience that is popular abroad but still quite rare inVietnam.
Endowed with diverse and rich ecologicalresources, trekking has also thrived and attracted many tourists, especiallyyoung ones, to Cat Ba. The routes that they favour are mainly those passing lowmountain terrain or valleys with beautiful, unspoiled natural landscapes andcultural-historical heritage sites like Quan Y Cave or Trung Trang Cave.
In order to protect and properly exploit thenatural resources of the archipelago, the Hai Phong authority is making adossier seeking UNESCO’s recognition of Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba archipelago as aWorld Heritage site./.
VNA
