Shop Bãi biển — Attraction in Vung Tau City

Company: Cat Ba Ocean Cruises Tour: 2 days & 1 night (Private Cruise) Date: 09th July 2025 Boat: Dai Duong 6

Overview:

Booking & Payment Process: Contact: Huyen Communication was very easy. Huyen’s responses to my questions were very professional, helpful & prompt. Rating: 5/5

Transportation: Service: The driver was on time The limousine was comfortable The seats were fully adjustable. They even had a massage function It also has charging ports & WI-FI onboard 1 x bottle of complimentary water was provided Pick-up time (Hanoi): 07:30 After driving for 1 hour the driver stopped & asked us to visit a restaurant/souvenir shop. We said we wanted to stay in the van. He left the door open with no A/C for 20 mins & the temperature outside was 33C. Not the best start to our cruise This happened again on the way back On the way back to Hanoi the chargers & massage function didn’t work The driver came across quite rude Rating: 2/5

Bedroom: Comfortable Bed & Pillows Air Conditioning & Fan Good shower Rating: 5/5

Drink Prices: 1 x Can of Local Beer: 64K 1 x Bottle of Chilean wine: 700K 1 x Bottle of Dalat wine: 400K 1 x 0.5 Bottle of water: 25K 1 x 1.5 Bottle of water: 50K Note: If you bring your own drinks on board you will be asked to pay a surcharge: See below. Soft Drinks and Beer: 20K Wine: 200K Rating: 2/5 (Expensive price for local Beer)

Service: The whole crew were extremely Welcoming, Friendly & Helpful. They speak little English, but Google Translator is great Rating: 5/5

Food:

Lunch - Time: 12:40 Portion Size: Very Generous French Fries: Good Stir Fried Beef: Good Fried Chicken: Good Stir Fry Squid: Good Mushroom Stir Fry: Good Rice: Good Prawns: Okay Rating: 4/5

Dinner - Time: 20:00 (Original time: 17:00) Portion Size: Very Generous Fish: It was far too fishy, unable to eat Tofu: Not for me, not a lot of taste Taro Cake: Not for me, again, not a lot of taste Chicken Wings: Good Spring Rolls: Good Oysters: Good Rice: Good Passion fruit: Good Rating: 3/5

Breakfast - Time: 07:00 Portion Size: Very Generous Pancakes: Not for me, a bit rubbery Toast: Okay (Not really toasted) Eggs: Okay (Overcooked for me) Mango, Passionfruit, Bananas: Good Tea & Coffee: Good Jam, Butter & Honey: Good No Juice or water Rating: 3/5

Lunch - Time: 10:00 Since we had breakfast at 07:00, I asked the chef to cancel lunch as my family and I wouldn’t be hungry only 3 hours after we had breakfast.

Private ‘Cruise’ (2 Days & 1 Night)

Day 1 Feedback: We cruised for only 3 hours We swam & did some Kayaking for 2 hours The rest of the time we were anchored Lunch & Dinner: Feedback above

Cooking Class: Good Fun Kayak to see plankton at night: Not possible Rating: 3/5

Day 2 Feedback: Breakfast, Time: 07am Lunch, Time: 10am We cruised for only 1 hour We stopped at Viet Hai ancient village & had a tour in an electric buggy

We spent 10 mins admiring the Beautiful nature & since there was nothing more to do, we asked the buggy driver to take us back to the boat. We then visited a floating fish farm, where we spent 10 mins looking at the fish. I then asked if we could do some cruising as I wanted my family to enjoy the beautiful Lan Ha Bay. The crew kept asking if we wanted to Swim & or Kayak. I booked a private cruise to cruise, not just Swim and Kayak. It seemed they wanted to do anything else accept cruise. Taking this into consideration, I asked the captain to take us back to Cat Ba, so we could head back to Hanoi. We docked & Disembarked at 10:30 The Transportation picked us up at 11:40 and we got back to Hanoi at 15:20. Rating: 2/5

Notes:

There is no Wi-Fi on board

Summary: Great Crew, Beautiful nature, just not enough cruising For the price you pay, I think the food could definitely be improved. The boat could also do with a bit of a...

We were fortunate to have beautiful clear skies and an enthusiastic Jack as our guide. After several less than satisfying experiences on Cat Ba Island, I’m glad we saved the tour for last as this became the highlight of the trip to Cat Ba.

A well thought out route where soon-after leaving the hustle of the mainland you’re given the opportunity to swim to a sheltered shore. Later we kayaked through some caves, although hustled back to shelter and shade when we could as the heat was getting intense. The kayaks get a lot of use, I cut myself on mine in my paddling back so be careful. Some reviews have mentioned the life jackets smelling and given the heat and how often they’re used I didn’t expect anything less. Didn’t sour the experience though.

The lunch provided was quite easily the best meal we had in Cat Ba. The little crumbed fish bites (please can I have the recipe), the local oysters (best we’ve had in Vietnam), the deep fried spring rolls and the potatoes were amazing. Our on board barista and bartender provided drinks to us all day. His ca phe muoi’s got progressively lazier over the course of the day but his enthusiasm never faltered.

The scenery never ends. And the grandeur scale of each limestone island is more beautiful than the last. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows however: the bays’ horizon is peppered with large fishing and container ships, often alongside local fisherman’s much smaller vessels. The pools of rubbish that circle in the ocean currents is heartbreaking, and in the conversation with Jack I realised the sad reality of Vietnams romance with plastic.

Often myself and my partner would question if the lifeless shape beneath the surface was a bag or jellyfish—more often it was a bag. Also in our last swimming spot, on one side of the boat the surface was clear—on the other it was littered with bags, bottles, wood, baskets, polystyrene and a rotting fish carcass.

The venture through the fishing village with Jacks commentary was insightful and joyful. I didn’t think I’d be walking the plank between pools of large tuna and large grouper. Returning during sunset through the local, larger fishing village, it was fascinating seeing people go about their day-to-day lives. One I’ll consider many a time in the future.

My personal highlights were listening and watching the White-bellied Sea-Eagles and Black Kites around the islands. Large, majestic birds of prey with massive wing spans, soaring above the islands and nesting in the cliff sides. Get one...

Had a really great experience on our terrific tour, which was led by the excellent Ben.

The boat was very comfortable, with very clean en-suite bedrooms and a more than decent shower. Because tour groups are limited to no more than eighteen people, the boat never felt crowded and it also meant that people tended to mingle more. We were lucky to have a group of various ages and nationalities, all of whom were very friendly and interesting. Some of the other boats that we saw were huge.

What we especially liked was that the cruise is timed to avoid the other tour groups, meaning that it was rare to come across the traffic that we had read about. The main bonus is the visit to Lan Ha Bay, which is just as beautiful as Ha Long Bay but is much quieter and cleaner. I was happy to swim in Lan Ha Bay but would have been reluctant to do so, within Ha Long Bay.

The meals are simple but decent, with good meat. fish and vegetarian options. Water is free but other drinks must be paid for, although the prices are very reasonable.

I thought that the cruise was very reasonably priced at $136 USD, per person and we also used Venture to schedule our arriving and onward journeys, from/to Ninh Binh/Hanoi, which were also very good.

Special mention for Ben, our tour guide, who was a really lovely guy, with a very interesting back story and who was always willing to respond to any questions that we had, whatever these were... His English was excellent and although I thought that I already had a reasonable knowledge of Vietnamese history and politics, I learned a lot from him. To be fair, it sounds like all the guides are very good, based upon the other reviews, so I don't think that you can go wrong with Cat Ba Ventures. I can certainly...