Cát Bà, Hải Phòng · Attraction
Viet Hai Village
Picture the light switch on your wall, the one you flick every evening without thinking. In Việt Hải, the national power grid only reached the village in 2015.
Việt Hải sits in the middle of Cát Bà National Park, in a fairly wide, flat basin. Old-growth forest and limestone mountains surround it on all sides, which is why the press calls it "an island within an island". Inside the basin are many fertile thung áng (small enclosed valleys) and streams that run all year. According to the village's own telling, more than a century ago fishermen caught by storms on Lan Hạ Bay came in here for shelter, and the village grew from that. The easiest thing from that time to spot today is the houses: thick stone walls and low roofs, built to stand up to the coastal storm winds.
Viet Hai: the valley that once sheltered fishermen from storms
There is one thing to know before you pick a season: the same basin that sheltered boats from storms also collects water. Summer brings the most domestic visitors, but it is also storm season on the Hải Phòng coast, usually from June to September. When a storm comes, the city bans boats from going to sea and halts the ferries and cable car that carry passengers to Cát Bà. The village can only be reached by boat or on foot through the forest, so at those times the boat route is cut off. During long spells of heavy rain, water from the forest streams pours down and floods the village deeply: in July 2015 the whole village went under, and in August 2026 storm rains flooded Việt Hải hamlet again. Older villagers still talk about rainy, stormy seasons when the village was completely cut off from the outside world.
So what have the villagers done with this place? In 2025 the old fishing village of Việt Hải was recognised by Hải Phòng city as a community-based tourism site, meaning visits are hosted by local households. Inside the village people get around by bicycle and electric vehicle. In September 2026, 84 households in Việt Hải hamlet received electric motorbikes and pledged not to use petrol ones. Visitors can cycle, stroll, drop in on local homes, row a boat, try catching fish, or sit with their feet in a stream inside the village while a shoal of small fish nibbles at them.
How would you choose to get in? The first way is by boat or speedboat from Bèo pier across Lan Hạ Bay to the Việt Hải jetty. The village centre is still some way from the jetty, so visitors rent a bicycle or an electric vehicle right there. The second way is on foot through the national park, passing Ao Ếch. It is a long trail with many steep passes. According to guides and park rangers, hiking in Cát Bà is at its best from autumn to spring, when the weather is cool and dry. In summer the trail is hotter, with occasional sudden rain. Expect steep slopes, tree roots and rough stone steps. Some stretches have many forks and poor signage, and the sharp limestone can cause injuries. Hike in a group, with a local guide or a park ranger. People with heart conditions or blood-pressure problems should think carefully before going. Inside the park, stay on the marked routes and do not break branches, pick flowers, hunt animals or leave litter. Autumn to spring is also the village's quiet season, when international visitors come to cycle and stroll around the village.
Photographs
15 of 15 on fileJakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
shawnodonnell (Shawn O'Donnell)· CC BY · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
shawnodonnell (Shawn O'Donnell)· CC BY · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
shawnodonnell (Shawn O'Donnell)· CC BY · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
Jakub Hałun· CC BY 4.0 · source
shawnodonnell (Shawn O'Donnell)· CC BY · source
Enough to decide whether to go
- What it is
- An old fishing village in a basin in the middle of Cát Bà National Park, recognised as a community-based tourism site in 2025
- Where
- Việt Hải hamlet, Cát Hải special administrative zone (đặc khu), Hải Phòng; about 10 km from Cát Bà town centre. Reached by boat across Lan Hạ Bay or on foot through the forest
- When to go
- Autumn to spring is cool and dry, good for forest hiking, and the whole Hải Phòng region is then in its cold, dry northeast-monsoon season. Summer is busiest but falls in storm season
- What to do
- Cycling, strolling, home visits, rowing, fishing, a fish foot-nibble in the stream, forest hiking
- Is there a fee
- Yes, there are sightseeing fees, plus boat, bicycle or electric-vehicle rental; overall cost is moderate
- Know before you go
- In the rainy, stormy season the village can flood and be cut off, the sea may be closed and the boat route suspended. On the forest trail, go in a group with a guide
From someone who has been
Most visitors come for the day, many of them stopping off from cruise boats, and there are few places to stay overnight in the village. So treat it as a day trip unless you have a bed confirmed. If you go in summer, keep a backup plan: one storm is enough to close the sea and cut the boat route into the village. Go in the quiet season and you can cycle past the stone-walled houses the villagers built to ride out storms. The only question left is whether to arrive by boat or through the forest.
Vibe
Tags
Source
The village's location and identity were cross-checked against OpenStreetMap: Việt Hải is recorded as a village with its own polygon, its centre about 0.15 km from the pin (checked 3 Oct 2026). The basin terrain, how to get into the village, visitor activities and the rhythm of the tourist seasons come from an article in Đại biểu Nhân dân (Feb 2024). The village's history, as told by villagers, and the stone-walled houses come from Người Lao Động (Feb 2026). The thung áng (karst valleys) and the stream come from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Sep 2025). The location within the National Park and the height of the mountain come from Vietnamese Wikipedia. The forest trail via Ao Ếch comes from the Hải Phòng Portal. The electric carts at the pier come from VnBusiness (30 May 2025). The 2025 recognition as a community tourism site, the pledge not to use petrol motorbikes and the address of Việt Hải hamlet come from Tiền Phong (1 Oct 2026). The season for walking the forest trail, safety on the forest trail and the park's rules come from Báo Hải Phòng (Sep 2025). The climate and storm season come from the Gulf of Tonkin hydrometeorological page of the VMRCC. The sea bans during storms come from aFamily (22 Aug 2026), Báo Hải Phòng (20 Jul 2025) and Zing (6 Sep 2024). The flooding in Aug 2026 comes from Tiền Phong (24 Aug 2026). The swimming advisory comes from VnExpress (Aug 2023). The entrance fee comes from VnEconomy (26 Jul 2024). Rejected: information on renting motorbikes from the pier into the village (VNA Feb 2024, outdated compared with Tiền Phong Oct 2026); kayaking, because it has been halted on the bays around Cát Bà since 15 Nov 2024 (Tuổi Trẻ, VnExpress) and no source says it has resumed; the fee figure of 80,000 VND (commercial site, 2023, outdated); 'white-headed' langurs in the village (wrong species, and no source places a langur herd at Việt Hải); 'Hải Quân hill 700 m high' (exceeds the height of the whole park); the name 'Cát Bà special zone' (the correct name is Cát Hải special zone); the sentence 'the fish live only in limestone water here' (no biological documentation); the ripe-rice season and the fog season (found only on commercial sites, and the sources contradict one another); and all figures for travel time. Not verified: whether the village lies in the core zone or the buffer zone of the National Park; the state of the road in 2026; and the safety of sea swimming specifically at Việt Hải.
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