Two Days Exploring Ha Long Bay

A must-see on many tourists’ lists, Ha Long Bay (or Halong Bay) was one of the most incredible places I saw on my trip to Vietnam. Located about 2 hours 45 minutes from Hanoi, the bay is famous for its emerald green waters and the thousands of limestone islands dotted within it.

About Halong Bay

A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Wonders of the World, it attracts a lot of visitors each year who flock to the bay for photo opportunities, swimming, hiking, exploring caves, and watersports.

The bay has a long history and its unique formations have been the subject of legends for many years. Halong Bay means “descending dragon” and the commonly told legend is that it was formed when a mother dragon and her children descended on the bay in ancient times to defend the Vietnamese people from invaders. Rather than return to the sky, the dragons remained in the bay, becoming its many islands. In reality, the islands formed over thousands of years as the limestone built up and shaped by rising and falling seas.

Once the home of floating villages, the government placed the bay under protection to preserve its natural beauty. Many of the village communities are relocating to Ha Long City.

We choose an overnight cruise to explore the bay with Stella A-line cruises. There’s a lot of options available, usually for either one or two nights. Although I’ve seen up to four nights and day trips are also available, but across lines itineraries are similar.

I should add that I hate the idea of cruises despite loving being near the water.  I’m not someone who enjoys following itineraries, exploring places overcrowded with other cruise ship guests, eating set menus, etc. But after two weeks of figuring everything out ourselves, I needed to kick back, relax and enjoy our holiday. It was the easiest option for exploring Ha Long Bay, and I ended up enjoying myself.

So what kind of activities can you get up to while enjoying the scenery? Here’s the things I enjoyed most about our visit:

Kayaking Ha Long Bay

My favourite part of our cruise itinerary was going kayaking around one of the island’s lagoon. We paddled through a cave into a secluded area and explored around, paddling up to watch a family of monkeys playing in the trees.

If you are able and given the choice between exploring by being rowed on a bamboo boat or kayaking, definitely go kayaking. Those on our group that choose the bamboo boat got to the entrance of the cave and didn’t go any further, while we had about 45 minutes to explore where we wanted.

Hiking around Halong Bay

I couldn’t wait to find a high vantage point to capture the beauty of Ha Long Bay.  Ti Top Island, a common stop of for cruise ships, has steps to the top of the island for a fantastic view out over the bay. But the downside is you’ll have to fight the other boatloads of tourists to get to the top. Around Ha Long City, several places offer vantage points over the bay if you decide to explore without a tour.

Swimming

The calm, emerald waters are great for swimming. They were the perfect temperature when we visited in October. Some islands, such as Ti Top, allow swimming from the beaches.

Exploring Halong Bay’s Caves

Expansive caves dot the limestone islands, begging to be explored. Surprise Cave (Sung Sot) inside Bo Hon Island is one of the most well-known and a stop off on most tours. The caverns are incredible; vast caves with columns of stalagmites and stalactites.

Don’t forget to rub the turtle’s head for good luck on your way out.

Relaxing

One thing I would definitely recommend and something I wish we would have had more time for is simply sitting back and enjoying the gorgeous scenery of this captivating place. Some of my favourite moments were just relaxing on the bed in the room while the boat drifted by the islands.

Cruises such as the one we were on keep a packed schedule. Therefore, we skipped the morning Ta Chi to take few moments. Well, until hawkers on bamboo boats started tapping at the window (couldn’t even escape people wanting to sell us something in the middle of the water).

About cruising Halong Bay

Don’t miss

Kayaking, hiking up to the vantage points, and enjoying the view from the room. Our boat featured two decks of cabins and we were originally booked into a deluxe room on the bottom. Luckily, we got an upgrade as our cruise was quiet to a premium room with a balcony. I was delighted, the upgrade allowed us to better enjoy the view.

Other activities

Some cruises, usually ones for two nights, also include a variety of activities we didn’t do. These include a visit to an oyster pearl farm, visit to the floating villages (although this is becoming much rarer), and biking around Cat Ba Island (the largest island).

Feel free to skip

Sunrise Tai Chi and squid fishing (I do wonder if anyone ever catches anything with this but I’m sure it was entertaining for the crew to watch us all trying). Feel free to skip the cooking lesson if you’ve had one of these with any other day trips. We were spring roll and banh xeo experts by this point.

The downsides

I’m not a fan of being on a schedule and herded around. And hordes of other tourists filled most sights we visited. The food on our cruise was hit or miss (great buffets for some meals/mediocre set menu for others). Also drinks aren’t included and are overpriced on most cruises.

Which cruise to book

Make sure you read the recent reviews of the specific tour/boat you are going on, they can vary in quality. Our cruise wasn’t the height of luxury, but it was clean and comfortable, and the boat was kept in good order/looked fairly new or refurbished.

This isn’t always the case. Also be aware that some travel agencies may tell you that your first option is sold out to try to sell you something more expensive. Shop around and do your research. For example, two girls on our boat booked the honeymoon suite after their agency told them premium cabins had sold out. In reality, half the cabins were empty.