How to get to Cat Ba Island from Noi Bai Airport

Cat Ba Island is regarded as the sleeping beauty on her wakening. It has the pure charm of sky and sea, covered by the jungle green coat.

Thousands of arrivals everyday, both domestic and international to Hanoi, are having Cat Ba in their lists of ideal destinations.

Some of them do not have enough time to stay in the city center, some simply just want to skip it and go directly to the Cat Ba Island.

You are in the right place to learn about the newest information and updates on transportation options from Noi Bai Airport to Cat Ba Island.

Book a bus to Cat Ba

1. Hanoi to Cat Ba
2. Cat Ba to Hanoi

Want to go to Cat Ba Island from Hanoi center? Read here.

To get to the center town in Cat Ba Island you will have to hop-on and hop-off several times due to changes in transportation means:

• Noi Bai Airport - Hai Phong City (bus/car).
• Hai Phong City - Cat Ba Island (ferry/speedboat).
• Cat Ba Island (ferry terminal) - Cat Ba center town (bus/taxi/motorbike).

If you are not familiar with the transportation and the route, the best way is to book pick-up service from the airport to Hanoi center and a travel package from center Hanoi to Cat Ba center town.

That way all the logistics during your trip will be ensured and you can spend your time enjoying the activities in the island.

The travel package from Hanoi center to Cat Ba town costs from 14 USD with three departure time daily at: 7:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 2:00 PM.

Otherwise if you want to challenge yourself and you are strong enough to hop-on and hop-off, consider the route following:

1/ From Noi Bai Airport to Hai Phong City

Go directly to Cat Ba Island by local bus

There's actually no separated bus service from Noi Bai Airport to Hai Phong but there's Ket Doan Bus going to Cat Ba from Sapa that passes Noi Bai Airport at around 1 AM.

You have to be attentive and keep contact constantly with the escort in order not to miss the bus. Contact to book the bus at their hotline:  +84 986 880 880.

Go to bus station to take local bus

You can take Noi Bai taxi or rent a car (15 - 17 USD) or take the public bus number 17 to get to Gia Lam bus stations. From Gia Lam bus station, take bus Hai Au or O Ho to Hai Phong City.

Rent car from Noi Bai airport → click to book

From Gia Lam bus station you can take Bus Hai Au, or O Ho to Hai Phong. The special thing in Vietnam that is worth keeping in mind is that almost every bus conductors name their bus after their name or some fancy words; therefore you will more than often see people's names printed in front of the bus, like Son Thuy, Hai Long, etc.

From Hai Phong city to Cat Ba Island

I suppose you are not familiar with any of the places mentioned here so before we get down to the road of island - port – ferry terminal – flyover – etc., here are 3 parts of the journey with their associated spots:

1. (1) In Hai Phong City (mainland), we have a very important spot: Binh ferry terminal
2. (2) Then we have the transit island called Cat Hai Island. In this island, please remember the Got ferry terminal
3. (3) Finally, our final destination – Cat Ba Island. There’s two spots to remember: Cai Vieng ferry terminal and Phu Long port.

See the map below to have a better visualization.

Now it’s time to choose the route that fits you the best.

Option 1: You can take speedboat from Binh ferry terminal and go directly to Cat Ba Island (~250,000 VND – 45 mins). It’s fast but expensive.

Option 2: You can go to the flyover called Tan Vu – Lach Huyen that connect the mainland to Cat Hai Island.

There’s a parking lot at the Got ferry terminal where you can park your motorbike/car or you can just bring them with you and pay some extra fees.

Then from Got ferry terminal in this island, you take ferry (7,000 VND – every 30 minutes from 4 AM to 11 PM - duration: 30 mins) or speedboat (50,000 VND – duration: 8 mins) to Cat Ba Island.

Depends of what means you choose, you will arrive in different places in Cat Ba Island. When you arrive in Cat Ba Island, take the bus to center town.

Ferry price

Hope you have an unforgetable journey!

Read more →

1. → Cat Ba Island, Vietnam
2. → Things to do in Lan Ha Bay
3. → Lan Ha Bay