Exploring Halong Bay by Cruise | Vietnam

Halong Bay is one of the most famous travel spots in Vietnam — and once you see it, you’ll understand why. Imagine sailing between towering limestone cliffs, scattered across emerald green waters like something out of a dream. These rock formations are over 500 million years old and were once part of a massive coral reef. Today, they rise dramatically from the sea as thousands of islands, some reaching hundreds of meters into the sky. In this post, I’ll share everything you need to know for planning your trip — what to do, how to avoid the crowds.

P.S. You can see more photos on my Instagram!

The best way to experience it? Hop on a boat cruise, sit back, and let the surreal scenery unfold around you. From secret caves and floating villages to unforgettable sunsets, Halong Bay has moments that will stick with you long after you’ve left.

How to get to Halong Bay from Hanoi?

By bus: This journey takes approximately 3.5 hours. Check the current departure times and book a seat on the bus. Our tour included pick-up from Hanoi.

Halong Bay Cruise: 1 day or more?

You can opt for a day cruise, but we opted for a two-day cruise and spent the night on the boat.

Which Cruise to choose?

A cruise is the best way to discover the beautiful landscape of Halong Bay. There are many different tour companies that offer cruises through Halong Bay and often these boats all go to the same places meaning BUSY CROWDS.

You have 3 different boats to book:

Ha Long Bay Cruise – The most famous part
Lan Ha Bay Cruise – the hidden gem
Bai Tu Long Bay Cruise – the quite part

We booked the Classic boutique oriental boat for 2 days and 1 night for Halong Bay.

DAY 1

You board the cruise around noon, do your check-in and have lunch while cruising.

Kayaking

You’re visiting the Sun Sot Cave (UNESCO): the largest cave in Halong Bay! First climb up the mountain to enter 3 caves with surprise cave as last that is over 1km deep! You’ll kayak to Hang Luon Lake (or by bamboo boat is also an option). We really wanted to put our feet and legs in the water to cool down so we took the kayak!

Fact: May, June, July are the school holidays in Vietnam so many Vietnamese families are travelling within Vietnam.

Cooking class

Your Chef will demonstrate the preparation of a particular Vietnamese cuisine and then it’s your turn to make it yourself! Dinner is of course served after this 😉

Squid fishing

Join the squid fishing on the cruise and enjoy the squid – cooked with assistance from the chef of course. Our boat didn’t catch any squids unfortunately. We had one escape our fishing line including 3 fish!

Spend the night

Sleep a night in Halong bay!

DAY 2

Early Tai Chi class

We start our day by having Tai Chi class on the Sun-Deck and watch a beautiful sunrise in the ocean followed by breakfast. Or skip this and go to Titop island instead. Have a 20 minute hike to the top to have this amazing view of Halong Bay. Cool down after with a swim in the sea!