Thac Ba Lake is a very large mannade lake due to the hydroelectric dam build in the 1960s. It has over 1,000 small and large islands as well as some caves in the surrounding limestone mountains.
At 160km from Hanoi it is a short motorbike trip away and can easily be done in a weekend. The lake has many homestays situated right on the bank of the lake offering a great view and easy access to the lake.
Thac Ba Lake Weather
There is great weather from April til September, all 30C +. January and December drop to 20C but the other months are still mid 20s. The rainy months are the summer with May to September having 15 to 20 days of rain.
Motorbike Route
From Hanoi to Thac Ba on motorbike it takes about 3.30 hours following the QL2C. From Thac Ba it is 220km to Sapa or just 150km to Ha Giang making an ideal stop off if you are heading north on a longer motorbike trip.
You can check about other routes on the link below.
Thac Ba Lake Activies
Around the lake there is temples such as Đền Mẫu Thác Bà, which is higher up compared with the lake providing a nice view.
The biggest cave of Thac Ba Lake is Động Thủy Tiên, it is about 100m long and filled with stalactites.
The largest mountain around the lake is Cao Bien mountain and is right next to lake so at reaching the top you have a nice view of much of the lake and islands.
The best part of Thac Ba lake is to explore the actual lake. You can swim in the clean water, go fishing, rent a kayak and take boat trips to any of the islands so that you have an island to yourself for the day.
Homestays
There is countless homestays in the surrounding area run by local people. As well as accomodation they will offer home cooked meals, locally made rice wine and a unique experience.
The local people of the area are from numerous ethic groups including Tay, Nung, Dao, Phu La and Cao Lan. This means at different times of the year they hold special festivals and if you can time you motorbike trip to Thac Ba lake with one of these then you will have an even better experience.