Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an essential place to visit on any Vietnam travel itinerary. It really is one of my highlights of travelling in Asia!
Getting There
The easiest way to see Ha Long Bay is by booking a tour. You can do this online, or in places like Hanoi. Ha Long City is the starting point to undertake a boat trip through the incredible Ha Long Bay.
The city itself has nothing much to offer, except maybe for the seafood market (but then you must like these markets) and they also have a nice beach.
The town is divided in two by a bay. The western part is called Bai Chay and the eastern part Hong Gai. Both are connected to each other by a ferry-service. Bai Chay is the most touristic developed part. It has two beaches called N°1 and N°2 with some restaurants lining it.
Ha Long Bay Tours
Everyone recommends to book a tour in Hanoi to Ha Long Bay because if you do it on your own it will cost you a lot of money to get there and charter a boat to visit the bay.
The trip starts at 8 am and takes about 4 hours (though they are improving the road, so this will shorten in the future). On the way you’ll stop at a “humanity center” where they sell all kind of handicrafts.
Most travel agents offer more or less similar trips.
- 2 day trip with overnight in Cat Ba: this trip costs about 20 US$ including lunch and accommodation. However, this trip is not really recommended, because you will take a 4 hour boattrip the first day, arrive in Cat Ba at 6 pm (after dark), and leave the next day early in the morning to return. So you will see nothing of Cat Ba.
- 2 day trip with overnight in Halong city: this is what we did. The first day we took the boattrip with visit of a very beautiful cave. Afterwards you make a boattrip and also stop at a place where you can rent a smaller boat (15.000 VND pp) to see some crater lakes (only a small boat can get into these lakes). Apparently the film “Indochine” was shot here. Then you continue your trip and arrive at around 6 pm back in Halong city. The second day you can do a second boattrip and visit a second cave, but most people agree that there’s nothing new to the second day boattrip (same goes for the return boattrip from Cat Ba). So we decided to skip this second trip and instead go to the seafood market in Hong Gai. We liked this very much, but this is because we like photographing people on these markets. Still, we saw huge crabs and of course plenty of fish. Also the market is set in a small bay with nice scenery. To get there, take a motorbike to the ferry (2000 VND pp is the regular fare, although they wanted 2 US$ from us!!), the ferry is 500 VND pp, and then you need another motortaxi for again 2000 to 3000 VND.
- 3 day trip with overnight in Cat Ba: this is already a better option, since at least you get 1 day to explore the nature parks in Cat Ba. We met a Dutch couple who liked this.
- 4 day trip: same as 3 day trip, but you have 1 free day on the beach.
There are now also some companies offering canoe trips around Halong Bay The first to start was sea canoe, but Green Bamboo and Handspan now also offer this. It’s worth noting that these trips are horribly expensive (count on 300 to 500 US$ pp for 3 to 4 days).
You can also rent a speedboat at 1.500.000 VND per hour.
Bai Chay
Where to Stay
I stayed at the Heritage Halong which is a very nice 4 star hotel. All the rooms have great views over the bay, and they have all amenities like AC, safe, TV, good bathroom etc… They have a nice swimming pool, but not much shade. However, I think the hotel overcharges a bit with 120 $ although discounts of 20% are available. The hotel is located very near to the beach and to foodstalls, restaurants and souvenirshops. This is nice at night, but once you go to sleep you get a lot of noise since isolation is not so good.
Restaurants/cafés in Bai Chay
There are plenty of small restaurants along the road lining the beach. A huge crab will cost 100.000 VND, all seafood is caught and cooked before your eyes.
Bank/post
Bank: Vietcombank, Hong Gai district !!!
Postoffice: Along Halong street, Bai Chay
- Canoeing : alternative way to discover the bay.
- Renting service: Hoang Gia boating and canoes, Bai Chay, tel. 846-658.
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba island is one of the largest in Halong Bay. A large part of the island is preserved as a national park with forests, swamps, lakes, caves and coral reefs.
Cat Ba is the main village on the island with a small harbor, a promenade with hotels, restaurants and a lot of karaoke bars. People here earn their living from fishing and the upcoming tourism.
Getting there and away
Booking a trip in Hanoi will save you a lot of money and time. However, you can also do the trip on your own. The journey from Hanoi is easy – a 10am train from Hanoi will land you in Haiphong with enough time to walk the 20 minutes across town to the ferry, for the 1.30pm slow ferry to Cat Ba town. The return journey works out just as well. The ferry (which only takes 3-3.5 hours) costs $5, and there’s a fast boat which costs $8. Getting up on the roof is the best option, but you’re not allowed up there when leaving from or arriving in Haiphong – give it 20 minutes and no one will complain.
You can also book your own boat at about 500.000 Dong for the day (2/2000). Otherwise, local tours can be arranged at 10 to 12 US$ including food.
Ferryboats
to Haiphong or Halong city.
Accommodation
The hotels (no more then 2 stars) are lying along the promenade facing the harbor. New ones are build due to increasing tourism.
Hoang Huong hotel, along promenade. Room with twins, AC, fan, bathroom with shower, toilet, H/C water.
Restaurants
You will find both along or close to the promenade. Don’t expect high-end restaurants at Cat Ba. Duc Juan restaurant, along promenade is recommended for budget meals. Huu Dung restaurant, road perpendicular on the promenade next to hotel Hoang Huong, family run restaurant, service is slow but food is good and honest. Recommended by everyone.
Karaoke bars
Every hotel or restaurant has one, so no escape is possible. Rate : 60.000 VND / 30 min.
What to Do
There are two small beaches separated by a rocky hill (steps).
How to get there ?
Facing the harbor walk left along the promenade. Continue climbing up the hill (road). After the hill is a ticketcounter. For those who don’t like to walk, don’t worry, locals are offering you a ride with a motor-bike to get you there.
National Park:
The entrance of the park lies 20 minutes (bus) away from Cat Ba village. Hiking tours are with a guide but don’t expect to see wild animals along the way. The climbs are sometimes steep and can be very slippery (read : dangerous) after a rainy day. But the nice viewpoint on top of a rocky hill makes it worth the effort. Water, insect repellant and good shoes are recommended.