Ha Long Bay Travel Guide

Ha Long Bay: Quite possibly the cover image of your Vietnam travel book (and for a reason). Imagine: thousands of limestone karsts and isles jutting out of a moody mist. To cruise through these emerald waters is a true gift.

THINGS TO NOTE

Overnight vs. Day Cruise

Everyone I talked to who did a day cruise described Ha Long Bay as “touristy” and “overrated.” Everyone I talked to who did an overnight cruise (myself included) had a sort of meditative experience. From what I’ve read, this is because many of the day cruises are on the same schedule, so you’re landing at the same excursions at the same time as all the other cruises, and not getting an isolated-in-nature feel. As for the overnight cruise, I wouldn’t give up the experience of a night docked in the bay, stargazing from the top deck, and gently rocking to sleep. There are also some multi-day cruises, but I felt the overnight was the perfect amount of time.

Motion Sickness

This was my first overnight cruise experience, and boy did I feel it! I’ve taken day-long boat rides before, so I didn’t think to take Dramamine or Scopolamine patches in advance. Day one, I felt totally fine. By day two I was getting a bit queasy. Fortunately, that was just in time to disembark. The night after the cruise, I had trouble sleeping, because I still felt like I was on a boat, but a dose of Dramamine helped me quickly recover. Note: even the non-drowsy Dramamine has quite a bit of drowsy built in.

Travel to and from Ha Long Bay

Most cruises include a pick up and drop off from any hotel in the Old or French quarter of Hanoi. The trip is about two hours, though on the way back there was an accident on the highway, so we had to take a more local route that took closer to three hours (serves us right for booking a trip while Mercury was in retrograde).

We opted to have a private drop off to the Hanoi airport after our cruise, so we could fly directly to Hoi An. We later learned there is a closer airport to Ha Long Bay (VDO). While it does not fly direct to Hoi An, it does to Ho Chi Minh City, so depending on your itinerary it may be a good option for getting to your next destination without having to trek all the way back to Hanoi.

WHERE TO STAY

Bhaya Soul Cruise

I’m no expert, because I’ve only cruised Ha Long Bay once, but we chose to travel with Bhaya Soul Cruise, and I would not go any other way. This was the most expensive accommodation of our trip (approximately $325 USD per person, for the one night), but it included transportation to and from Hanoi, three meals, a kayak excursion, 40 minute foot massage, and more. To us, it was well worth every penny. The boat is quite new, but the Bhaya cruise line is well-established. The decor across the ship was stunning with a very clear aesthetic. All three meals on the ship were smartly curated, the pool was heated to the perfect temperature, and the staff went above and beyond in every facet. We felt as if we were being taken care of by family. Also this boat isn’t as big as a lot of the other luxury overnight cruise ships, so there was plenty of personal space, and it almost felt like our own boat.

ITINERARY AND EXCURSIONS

Itinerary Intro

My one complaint with the cruise itinerary is that it wasn’t provided in advance, but only upon arriving on the ship. I think this may be because the itinerary changes from day to day depending on weather and water conditions. That said, I believe the itinerary was well-executed, and there was a lot of flexibility in what to see and do. Below is an approximate schedule based on our experience:

Day 1

8:00am - Pickup from Hanoi Airport

10:30am - Arrive at Ha Long Bay Boat Terminal

11:30am - Take small boat to cruise ship

12:00am - Arrive on cruise ship / check into room

12:30am - Lunch

2:00pm and 3:30pm - Two time options for kayak excursion

5:00pm - Happy Hour

7:00pm - Dinner

9:00pm - Meditation and/or Squid Fishing

* Each guest was also allotted a 40 minute foot massage, at the time of their choosing. We scheduled ours for the end of the night.

Day 2

6:00am - Cave hike + meditation

7:00am - Small boat to fishing village

8:00am - Breakfast

9:30am - Check out of room

10:30am - Disembark cruise for smaller boat back to Ha Long Bay Boat Terminal

11:30am – Depart Ha Long Bay for Hanoi

Final Thoughts on Itinerary

I did feel a little rushed to lunch the first day. Some of the most beautiful karsts and isles are right at the beginning of your journey, so I would’ve rather used that time for photography. Especially because that was the only sun we got the entire trip. That said, the dining room does have floor to ceiling windows, so we did get a pretty incredible view while we dined. Perhaps sometimes you must simply experience and not document. Le sigh.

We’re famously not morning people, so we skipped the cave hike and fishing village. Personally, I don’t think we missed too much. Our host, Toni, even brought us back some candy to try from the village. Like I said, the staff went above and beyond in every facet.

PACKING

What To Bring

At the end of February, temps didn’t go below the 60s. I didn’t need a jacket or sweater the entire cruise, but I have heard it can get quite cold if temperatures drop lower. For the cruise, I would pack no more than: one outfit for both days (sundresses for me), one dinner outfit (though if your day outfit is nice enough that would suffice), clothes you don’t mind getting wet for the kayak excursion (yoga pants and a tee for me), something to leisurely hike in, a bathing suit for the pool, and a jacket in case temps drop. Robes are provided.

What You Don’t Necessarily Need to Bring

The Bhaya website has a blog post titled “20 Essential Items To Pack For A Halong Bay Cruise” but we found the Soul Cruise already included a lot of the items on this list. A few things we didn’t need to pack include:

Water Bottle

We always pack our own reusable water bottles, but if you don’t normally, don’t sweat it! Each room is equipped with two bamboo reusable bottles. We really appreciated the water fill up stations across the boat.

Hiking Shoes

We skipped the early morning hike, so didn’t need these. I also get the feeling it’s not the world’s most strenuous hike and really any supportive-enough shoe would do.

Binoculars

We didn’t bring these but also never felt like we needed them.

Umbrella

They had plenty, but also I wouldn’t travel to Vietnam without a small collapsible umbrella.

Board-game

Hard to imagine getting bored among such natural beauty.

High Heels

I wore flip flops the entire cruise.

Waterproof Phone Case

They provided these for the kayak excursion. No need to bring your own. Could easily have gone without, as they make it harder to use your phone and add a certain haziness to photos.

*Note the above is specific to the Bhaya Soul Cruise, other cruises may not have the listed items.

There were a lot of activities onboard the Bhaya Soul Cruise, but we still found a good amount of time for photography, relaxing, and sunset pool-ing. The cruise team made having a great time effortless, and we are very grateful for the memories of this gorgeous part of the world. Sail on!