Cat Ba archipelago consists of 367 islands of varying sizes to the South of Ha Long bay and offshore Haiphong city and Quang Ninh province, 30 km from Haiphong center and 25 km from Ha Long city, Quang Ninh. The biggest of the archipelago is Cat Ba island (also known as the Jade Island).
Cat Ba archipelago is the best model of dense gathering of typical tropical and subtropical ecosystem in comparison with other areas of Asia such as the biggest typical limestone karsts in Asia, large primitive rain forests, mangrove forests, coral reefs, tidal regions, salt marshes.
In September 2012, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ranked Cat Ba archipelago is the national-level scenic spot.
Earlier, national heritage Council including 27 membership had a meeting with National Committee of UNESCO Vietnam and Haiphong people’s committee to adopt the dossier for its Cat Ba Archipelago seeking UNESCO recognition as a world natural heritage site.