Cai Beo is the oldest and most-visited of several floating fishing villages in the waters around Cat Ba, a cluster of brightly painted wooden houses on rafts in a sheltered bay just east of Cat Ba Town. Around 300 people live here permanently, raising grouper, snapper, and oysters in nets suspended under their houses, and visitors are welcome to come through by boat.
Many Lan Ha Bay day-trips stop at Cai Beo for half an hour, with the chance to step onto a floating platform and see how the fish farms work. For a less hurried experience, the small boats from Beo Wharf will run you out for an hour or two; some of the houses serve simple lunches of just-caught seafood. Tip generously — the income from visitors helps these communities stay on the water.