The Cat Ba cable car: a record-breaking ride across the bay
The cable car runs from Cat Hai island over to Phu Long on Cat Ba, a route of just under 4 km. It opened in 2020 and is run by Sun Group, the company behind Ba Na Hills near Danang and the Fansipan cable car in Sapa, so this is not their first project of this kind. What makes this one stand out is the height. One of its towers reaches 214.8 metres, which holds the Guinness World Record for the tallest cable car pylon anywhere, and it is the reason the ride feels so high.
The cabins are large and modern, holding up to around 30 people, though on most days you will have far more space than that. The ride takes roughly ten to fifteen minutes, with wide windows on both sides. It is smooth and steady, and because it climbs so high, it gives you a proper aerial view rather than the low, close-up angle you get from a ferry deck.
The views are the main reason to take it. You look out over Lan Ha Bay, the limestone karsts, and the fishing boats below, and on a clear day it is a genuinely good crossing. It is worth being honest, though: the Cat Hai side also takes in the port and the VinFast factory area, so it is not all postcard scenery from end to end. The best of it comes over the water. This first leg is also only part of a longer route Sun Group plans to extend across the island in stages.
How to get to the cable car station
The cable car leaves from the Cat Hai side, from a station called Cat Hai station, and getting there is the same trip as reaching the Dong Bai ferry pier, because the two sit right next to each other. In fact the cable car station is the more visible landmark of the two. Coming across the Tan Vu to Lach Huyen bridge from Hai Phong, you carry on past the VinFast factory and watch for the large “Sun World Cat Ba” sign, then turn off toward the station. If you are telling a driver where to go, “Sun World Cat Ba cable car” is the clearest instruction, and it lands you in the right place.
One thing to fix in your head before you set off: the cable car does not drop you in Cat Ba town. It lands at Phu Long, on the north of the island, which is about 20 km from town. Sorting out that last stretch is the fiddly part, and there is a whole section on it below. First, how to reach the station in the first place.
From Hanoi
Most people come from Hanoi. The simplest way is not to arrange the cable car separately at all, but to take a through bus ticket to Cat Ba, which usually includes the crossing, whether that is by ferry or by cable car, and handles the pickup on the other side too. More on that near the end. If you would rather do it yourself, take a bus or limousine from Hanoi to Hai Phong, around two hours, then continue by taxi or local bus across the bridge to Cat Hai station. Budget roughly two and a half to three hours in total from Hanoi to the station, plus the ride and the transfer once you land.
From Hai Phong
From Hai Phong city, the station is 15 to 20 km away, across the bridge on Cat Hai. A taxi runs around 250,000 to 350,000 VND. Cheaper is local bus 16C, which runs from the Thuong Ly area out toward Cat Hai for around 13,000 to 15,000 VND, though it makes plenty of stops and takes about an hour and a half. If you are flying into Cat Bi airport, a taxi straight to the station costs around 300,000 to 400,000 VND, so unless the cable car specifically appeals to you, the direct hydrofoil from the city centre into Cat Ba town is often the easier way onto the island.
From Cat Ba town (leaving the island)
You can also use the cable car to leave, riding from Phu Long back to Cat Hai and on to the mainland. The catch is the same one in reverse: you have to get from Cat Ba town out to Phu Long station first, about 20 km. Local bus 14 runs from town toward the north of the island and stops near the station, for around 13,000 VND, or a taxi will do it for up to about 300,000 VND. Whichever way you go, leave enough time, because the cable car only runs at set hours, and if you are relying on the shuttle you will want to line it up with a departure rather than turn up and hope.
Cat Ba cable car schedule and prices
This is the part to read carefully, because the cable car does not run continuously through the day. It goes at a handful of set times, with a long break in the middle, and turning up outside those windows means waiting or missing it altogether. It now runs every day, which is a recent change, until 2026 it was closed on Tuesdays, so ignore older guides that still say otherwise.
Schedule
The station is open from around 9:00 am to 3:45 pm, with a lunch break in the middle. Departures run at fixed times, roughly:
- Morning: 9:00, 10:00 and 11:00
- Midday break: no service around 11:30 to 1:30
- Afternoon: 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30
A few things to keep in mind:
- Ticket counters close about 30 minutes before the lunch break and before the final departure, so do not leave it to the last minute
- Times shift a little with the season and demand, and Sun World can change them, so treat the above as a guide
- Check the official Sun World Cat Ba site or confirm at the counter for the day you are travelling
That set timetable is the single biggest thing to plan around. If your ferry-or-cable-car decision is tight on timing, the ferry runs all day and the cable car does not.
Prices
The cable car is cheap, and much cheaper than it used to be. As a guide:
- One way: around 50,000 to 70,000 VND
- Children under 1 metre: free
- Where to buy: at the counter at either station, or online through the official Sun World site
A few notes:
- Prices have come down a lot in recent years, from 150,000 or more down to the current level, and there are sometimes promotions below 70,000
- Pay in cash at the counter if buying on the day, though online booking gives you a QR code and skips the queue
- The fare covers the cable car only. Getting from Phu Long into town is separate, and that is worth sorting before you cross, as the next section explains
Practical things to know about the Cat Ba cable car
Getting from Phu Long to town
This is the part that catches people out, so plan for it before you cross. The cable car lands at Phu Long, about 20 km from Cat Ba town, and getting that last stretch sorted at the Phu Long end is unreliable.
Sun World runs its own shuttle from Phu Long to its Central Bay area near town, and that is the smooth way to do it. The problem is that travellers regularly report they could not buy the shuttle ticket on the Phu Long side, that staff gave contradictory information, sometimes claiming there is no bus in winter and that a taxi is the only option, and that the shuttle sometimes leaves without people who were still stuck in the ticket queue. Predatory taxis fill the gap, so you can end up paying far more than you should.
The fix is simple: buy the cable car and the onward shuttle together, as a combo, before you ride. Then the transfer is already yours and you are not negotiating anything at Phu Long. If you did not, you have two backups. You can walk roughly a kilometre from the station to the road and catch public bus 14 into town for around 13,000 VND, or you can take a taxi and agree the price before you get in. What you should not do is take the first “there is no bus, only taxi” answer at face value, because it is often not true.
Bringing luggage
Officially, Sun World limits you to one small piece of hand luggage per person, with size and weight caps. In practice, plenty of travellers use the cable car as their way onto the island with full backpacks and suitcases and have no trouble, since the cabins are spacious and rarely full. So for normal travel luggage you will most likely be fine. If you are moving a lot of large bags, be prepared that staff can enforce the limit, but for a typical traveller it is not something to worry about.
Weekends, holidays and queues
On a normal weekday, this is one of the calmest ways onto the island. Travellers often describe near-empty terminals and having a whole cabin to themselves, and you can turn up shortly before a departure and walk on. Weekends and Vietnamese public holidays are a different story. At peak times the queue can be long, loud and disorganised, the terminal gets hot and crowded, and the calm ride is bracketed by a stressful wait. If you can, go on a weekday or take an early departure. If you are travelling on a busy holiday, factor in the wait and buy your ticket, and your onward shuttle, ahead of time.
Weather and heights
Like the ferries, the cable car stops in bad weather. Strong winds or storms will pause the service for safety, which mostly matters in storm season from around June to September, so check before you go if the forecast looks rough. And a word on the height: this cable car goes very high, higher than most, and the ride is genuinely exposed with that record-breaking tower. For most people that is the best part. If you are seriously afraid of heights, though, it may be one to skip in favour of the ferry.
Other ways to reach Cat Ba Island
The cable car is a good experience, but it is not the only way across, and for a lot of people it is not the most practical one. It is worth being clear about where it fits.
As pure transport, the cable car has three drawbacks you have now read about: it runs only at set times, it leaves you at Phu Long with a transfer to sort, and its luggage rules can work against you if you are arriving with bags. That is fine if the timing suits you, you have booked the onward shuttle, and you are travelling light, and the views make it worth doing at least one way. But if you just want to get onto the island with the least fuss, the ferry is usually the better call. It runs all day rather than at fixed hours, it is just as cheap, it takes vehicles and luggage as well as foot passengers, and there is no confusion about onward transport built into it. For most travellers, most of the time, the ferry from the Hai Phong side is the simpler choice.
The other thing to know is that you often do not have to choose at all. If you are coming from Hanoi to Cat Ba, the whole trip is usually sold as a single bus ticket, and the operator handles the crossing for you, whether that turns out to be the ferry or the cable car, along with the pickup on the far side. Booked that way, the transfer stops being something you plan and just becomes part of the journey. So the cable car is best thought of as an experience worth having for the ride and the view, rather than the default way onto the island.
For the full picture on crossing by boat, including schedules, prices and which pier to use, read the complete Cat Ba ferry guide.
