The archipelago, recognised as one of the world's biosphere reserves by UNESCO, is an important national tourist site boasting a variety of leisure activities such as eco-tourism, cave exploration, and scuba diving.

According to experts, the biosphere reserve possesses an ecosystem of forest and sea, including tropical forests, mangrove forests, coral reefs, seaweeds and a wide range of marine creatures, making it also a place of interest for scientific research.

Cat Ba is home to more than 2,300 species of fauna and flora, including 60 rare and precious species listed in the Vietnamese Red Book such as the white-headed langur, tortoise-sells, yellow pangolins, and red-stomach squirrels.

Besides its diverse ecosystem, Cat Ba is also proud of its ancient culture. Archaeologists have discovered a number of sites dating back to the New Stone Age, as well as relics of the Ha Long culture dating back 4,000 years. Traces of ancient Vietnamese people dating back hundreds of years ago were also found at 72 archaeological sites in the fishing village of Viet Hai.

Visiting Cat Ba, holidaymakers can explore the archipelago by travelling through inter-island roads or by hydrofoil, tasting delicious seafood such as lobster, cuttle-fish, garrupa, and red snapper along the way. Tourists are also offered a chance to join tours to Ha Long Bay to see a few more groups of islands.

In order to develop Cat Ba into a national and international eco-tourism centre, local authorities plan to call on investors to build 3-5 star hotels and entertainment facilities in the archipelago, and upgrade inter-island roads.