A guide to Cat Co 1 Beach, Cat ba Island, Vietnam

by docdivatraveller - 9/01/2023

The name of the beach may sound pretty weird if you have read it carefully. Actually Cat Co 1 beach is a part of the Cat Co Cove. It's a range of limestone cliffs that has the South China Sea insinuating in it. From the moment we set foot on the Cat Ba island, to the window/balcony views of room, we could constantly gaze at the limestone cliffs and the green sea, but there wasn't any place where we could actually touch the water. For that we had to walk to the beach, even though the sea was right in front of us. Dipping the toes in the salty water is not equivalent to gazing at the sea; although both things have their own therapeutic value.

The nearest beach from our resort was the Cat Co Cove beaches. The weird/unique thing about these beaches were that they are both private and public. The Flamingo group has built towering resorts on all these three beaches. So the good thing is that they clean and maintain the beach, the bad part is that you may never really know when they might ask you to leave; since it's directly connected to their property.

Thankfully we could complete our excursion before anyone could come after us; we had visited early in the morning. The resort reminded me of the Genting Highlands in Malaysia; the First World Hotel. The reception was too big to fathom. We did not take any pictures for obvious reasons, but the staff was really well behaved.

Actually a very funny thing happened on that morning. An island can get rains at any time of the day. So while the sky was clear when we reached the beach, it became overcast all of a sudden and started pouring. I was worried because our younger one was just recovering from fever (in that very trip) and I did not want her to get drenched at any cost. I literally pestered my husband to run for cover with her. So while they waited for the volume of rain to get lighter in the shade of the Flamingo property, I explored a bit. The waterfall, pool and the sea combo turned out to be my favourite spot.

And then while the rain turned into a drizzle, we started walking back to our resort. Since we weren't carrying anything, I made the husband take out his tee to cover our little one. So there he was, walking out of that 5 star property, bare chested and carrying a wrapped toddler and me and Mohi were following behind. Sometimes I just could not control my laughter; especially when the hotel staff passing by were greeting him. I mean that's the fun of being abroad, where no one knows you. You don't need to have any shame or anything! This is literally living like a free bird!