New Vietnam Climbing Guidebook
Ha Long Bay in Vietnam is a paradise for World Class sport climbing and deep water soloing, and it is a great place for adventure climbing. The Bay lies in the Gulf of Tonkin just off Vietnam's northern coastline where there are towering limestone cliffs and islands plunging straight into the sea.
Cat Ba Island is the largest island in the bay and is home to the majority of the sport routes, along with other smaller islands in the bay. There are adventurous trad lines that ascend slender spires, but it is the deep water soloing routes that the bay is famous for. There are many established routes though the potential to develop many more is limitless.
A new revised guidebook for Vietnam has just been published (February 2023) that describes over 500 sport, deep water soloing (DWS), and trad routes found in Vietnam. The majority of the routes covered are in Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island. Here it describes 184 sport routes from F4+ to F8a, and 174 deep water soloing routes from F4+ to F7c+. The guidebook covers:
- Sport climbing at 5 crags on Cat Ba Island.
- Sport and some trad climbing at 13 island crags in Ha Long Bay.
- Deep water soling climbing at 20 island crags in Ha Long Bay.
The guidebook also includes 3 other climbing areas within Vietnam that are inland and dotted around the capital of Hanoi. These are Huu Lung, Vietnam’s second largest climbing area with over 120 routes, plus Quoc Oai, and Mai Chau.
The guidebook provides great travel and accommodation information for Cat Ba Island, and the other climbing areas in Vietnam.
This new Vietnam Climbing Guidebook describes the deep water soloing and sport climbing in Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island, plus 3 crags near Hanoi.