Cát Bà Island is átBàthe largest of the 367 islands spanning 260 km2 (100 sq mi) that comprise the Cat Ba Archipelago, which makes up the southeastern edge of Lan Ha Bay in Northern Vietnam. Cat Ba island has a surface area of 285 km2 (110 sq mi) and maintains the dramatic and rugged features of Ha Long Bay.
History of Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba (historically called Cac Ba) Island means "Women’s Island" (Cac meaning 'all' and 'Ba' meaning women). Legend has it that many centuries ago, three women of the Tran Dynasty were killed and their bodies floated all the way to Cat Ba Island. Each body washed up on a different beach and all three were found by local fishermen. The residents of Cat Ba built a temple for each woman, and the island soon became known as Cat Ba.
Archaeological evidence suggests that people have lived on Cat Ba Island for almost 6,000 years, with the earliest settlements being found on the southeastern tip of the Island close to the area where Ben Beo harbour sits today. In 1938, a group of French archaeologists discovered human remains belonging "to the Cai Beo people of the Ha Long culture, which lived between 4,000 and 6,500 years ago… considered to be perhaps the first population group occupying the northeastern territorial waters of Vietnam… [and] the Cai Beo people may be an intermediary link between the population strata at the end of the Neolithic Age, some 4,000 years ago."
In more recent history, Cat Ba Island was inhabited mostly by Viet-Chinese fisherman and was largely influenced by both the French and American wars. The island was a strategic look-out point and bombing during the wars often forced local residents to hide among the Island's many caves. Today, the best reminders of the two wars have been turned into tourist attractions. Hospital Cave, which was a secret, bomb-proof hospital during the American War and as a safe house for VC leaders. This three-storey feat of engineering was in use until 1975 is only 10 km north of Cat Ba town. The second attraction, the newly built Cannon Fort, sits on a peak 177 meters high, offering visitors a chance to see old bunkers and helicopter landing stations as well as views of Cat Ba Island, its coast, and the limestone karsts in Lan Ha Bay offshore.
In 1979, the third Indo-China War broke out between China and Vietnam in response to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia that ended the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Relations between China and Vietnam collapsed, leading to the Vietnamese government evicting around 30,000 ... of the fishermen, and most of the rest of the Chinese community from the greater Ha Long area.
Tourism
The development of infrastructure on Cat Ba in the 1990's greatly improved the island's accessibility. These developments include: the construction of bigger roads; the construction of dams to build harbors and to protect Cat Ba town from flooding; consistent electricity being brought to the island in 1997; and the introduction of daily scheduled large ferries and barges, able to transport trucks and cars from the mainland. These developments lead to a rapid increase in tourism and development in Cat Ba town starting in 2001. Since then, a stop on Cat Ba Island has been included in the itinerary of many Ha Long Bay cruises and a strip of tall, thin, five-storey budget hotels line the seafront. Cat Ba Island receives over 350,000 visitors a year.
Currently, over 150 hotels are listed in Cat Ba Island's tourist directory pamphlet, from cheap budget hotels to flashier upscale resorts, and construction is underway on many more. Right now, construction is under way on the colossal Cat Ba Amatina, an enormous project that will transform the southern coast of the island. The Amatina compound will be "a world-class integrated marina, casino, resort and theme park" spanning 171.57 hectares and (VITC) will be able to host almost 6,000 residents at a time. The Amatina will boast "seven resorts with over 800 villas, three marinas, one international convention palace, six five-star hotels and one four-star hotel" (VITC). The scale of this project is gigantic and will basically create a mini-city on Cat Ba and will attract tourists from around the world.