When visiting northern Vietnam, Ha long Bay cannot be missed. It is one of Vietnam’s natural beautiful wonders. Located 170km (4 hour drive) away from Hanoi, the bay is dotted with 1,600 limestone islands. It’s beauty is something like right out of a movie! The best way to relax and explore the bay is via a boat cruise (1-3 nights). We decided to pick a one night boat cruise and left Hanoi the very next morning for our second adventure!
Finding the right cruise for our trip was a little stressful. I researched for days (reading Trip Advisor and Vietnam blogs) to source out the best boat tours.
Top 5 Ha Long Bay cruises I found:
- Dragon Legend
- IndoChina Junk
- Paradise Luxury
- Aphrodite
- V’spirit
After much deliberated researched, we picked Indochina Junk (Dragon Pearl Junk) for a 2 day, 1 night boat cruise and we were not disappointed. Our cruise was allocated 20 people which was a nice number of people to hang out with over the two days. Our 2 day itinerary can be found here: Two day one night cruise to untouched Bai Tu Long Bay.
Top 10 things to pack:
-
- Swimwear/ swimming goggles
- Hat
- Sandals/ flip flops
- Sunglasses
- Camera
- Light clothing – shorts, t-shirts – cute short jumpsuits
- Anti sickness tablets/ bug spray/ sunscreen
- Cabins are small- take backpacks or small suitcase
- Paper Fan/ mini electric fan
- iPhone water proof case
Our cruise was inclusive of hotel transfers, English-speaking guides, meals, and refreshments and was ideal for us to discover Ha Long Bay’s natural landscape, incredible islands, spectacular limestone islands, fascinating grottos, and natural cave formations.
Every meal on the boat was freshly prepared and was truly delicious! I had informed the cruise that I was a vegetarian and was a little worried with the meals I was going to get. However, no complaints from me as we had several rounds of amazing vegetarian food and were never left hungry.
During the cruise, we visited hidden Thien Canh Son cave and then reached a white sandy beach at Hon Co island where we enjoyed swimming and/or kayaking. Having not kayaked before this was a real treat. It was great to go off on our own and explore some of the little stone formations.
Day two of the cruise comprised off a delicious breakfast on the deck and a visit to the floating Vung Vieng fishing village. It was extremely hot and we had to get off our boat and get onto a smaller rustic rowing boat so we could explore the inner parts of the village. It was really fascinating to see how people still live on the water. My pictures don’t do Ha Long Bay any justice but all I can say is the scenery was just mesmerizing!
We finished the day by visiting a pearl oyster farm (I was tempted to buy some gorgeous pearls, but I didn’t).
After exploring the epic caves, beach, mini islands and fishing village, eating delicious Vietnamese food, soaking in the unimaginable beauty, and meeting people from all around the world on our cruise, it was time to head back to Hanoi. We were dropped off at the port again where we started our 4 hour journey via coach back to Hanoi. Ha Long Bay was my husbands favorite part of Vietnam and rightly so.
We thoroughly enjoyed our Ha Long Bay cruise and would highly recommend staying at least one night in Halong Bay! You won’t regret it! Our adventure continued as our next stop was Hoi An!
DeepsMak blogging with a Cuppa x
4 thoughts on “Vietnam Part II – Halong Bay”