When coming to Vietnam, doing a cruise on Ha Long Bay, a natural wonder of the world, is a star attraction. However, choosing the right boat will definitely make the difference.
We had the chance to have the best experience possible for our two days cruise on Ha Long and Lan Ha Bays and I’ll share everything with you in this article, from how to book to what to avoid.
First of, there are two main possibilities if you want to cruise on Ha Long Bay : you can do a full day boat tour from Cat Island, or an overnight cruise.
First option will definitely be cheaper, but you will have to stay the night before in Cat Ba island, as the departures are around 9am. You will cruise on Ha Long and/or Lan Ha Bay, plus you will get to do some activities such as kayaking and visiting a fishermen village but you’ll be back on the island around 5 or 6pm. Plus, Cat Ba island is very touristy and can definitely be skipped if you are not coming to Vietnam for a long period. You are also usually on more crowded boats. Another con : you will have to pay for all the means of transportation : bus to Bet Harbor, Ferry to Cat Ba Island, bus to get to the Cat Ba harbor.
Second option is doing an overnight cruise. This will of course be more expensive as you have at least four meals included, a night on board and of course, many activities. You also have less people on the boat, which makes the experience more enjoyable. And last argument but definitely not least, nothing beats watching a sunset and a sunrise on Ha Long Bay. Even watching the view from you bathroom window when showering is a magical feeling.
Of course the price will impact this decision heavily, but we managed to find an amazing cruise, going to both Ha Long and Lan Ha bays, for a decent price, and a truly great service on board : Sunlight Cruise.
You can contact them on WhatsApp, they reply fast and provide you with a lot of information :
You can also check their website here, on which you will find the detailed itinerary for all the tours they offer. We chose the Premium Cruise because it sailed through both Ha Long and Lan Ha bay. Lan Ha bay is less touristy, so you get to enjoy a swim a the end of the day with no one around. Ha Long Bay has some of the most impressive landscapes and so mixing a bit of both was a perfect itinerary for us.
Price : 145$ for 2 days, 1 night, all included, even transportation from and to your hotel. We were in Hanoi so it was quite the drive to get there, and for the way back, as we had an early flight back, they booked us a private car to go directly to Cat Bi airport.
Everything that’s included : lunch and dinner on day one, breakfast and lunch on day two. Kayaking and the different activities I’ll detail below. Transportation from and to your hotel. You will have to pay for drinks if you want any, but that’s it.
You will get picked up from your hotel, and after a fair drive, you will arrive at Beo Harbour, where you will hop on a boat to get to Cat Ba island.
Here another bus will wait for you to get your to the other side of the island, where the Sunlight boat will be waiting for you.
You will be welcomed on board with a drink and a briefing by the crew. After that you’ll get to check in to your cabin, and I have to mention how amazing the cabins were :
The boat started sailing on Ha Long Bay, we passed in front many floating villages, where you can observe the local fishermen getting busy :
On the last picture below you can see the 5 cabin boat from Sunlight Cruise, a beautiful wooden junk boat :
We even got to shower while looking at the stunning landscapes of Ha Long Bay !
After a delicious meal where we got to try so many dishes, we had plenty of time to admire the bay while we were sailing towards Cua Van area.
We did a kayaking tour on the bay and explored the Dark and Bright caves.
By now, the sky was really clear and there was no fog anymore, perfect timing for our afternoon swim ! The water was really clean and clear, we had a little beach for ourselves, a true paradise.
After this nice stop, we had some free time to rest, enjoy the breathtaking sunset and get a cocktail on the upper deck.
Around 7pm we had the chance to get a cooking class, where we learned to make Vietnamese spring rolls (and even eat them at the end !).
We ended the day with a dinner outside on the upper deck, an initiation to squid fishing and karaoke for the ones feeling like singing.
The second day started with a wonderful sunrise with only some fishermen tidying their nets on the very calm Lan Ha bay.
We loved seeing the local life, we almost didn’t see any tourists except during the kayaking tour honestly, which makes the whole cruise on the bay more authentic.
After a nice breakfast, we went on a bicycle a tour in Viet Hai village. We first passed in front of some oysters farming racks in the sea :
We cycled through meadows and mountains (on an easy flat road though !) all around the island and then went back after one hour and a half.
We enjoyed our last landscapes of the bay and had a delightful lunch as we sailed back to Cat Ba island.
And just like that, our two days cruise on Ha Long and Lan Ha Bays came to end.
A private car took us back to the airport directly and really respected our timing so we managed to hop on our flight back on time and without stress !
We were hesitant at first to do an overnight cruise because of we didn’t have that many days planned for visiting the North of Vietnam, but booking it was our best decision ! We were even more satisfied with the company we chose, Sunlight Cruise, which exceeded our expectations.
I 100% recommend booking with Sunlight Cruise, it made the entire experience unforgettable and really enjoyable. It was well organised, the itinerary was very well thought of as we got to sail on Ha Long and Lan Ha bays, plus the activities were all very fun and timed perfectly. Food and service on board were impeccable, and a special mention goes to the cabins, which were spacious, beautiful and with an incredible view.
In addition to spending two days marvelling at the incredible scenery, we learned how to make spring rolls, to fish squids, we biked and also did kayaking !
That’s it for my Two days cruise on Ha Long and Lan Ha Bays !
If you want more tips and information about Vietnam destinations, you can check out my Three days Ha Giang loop in North Vietnam or my Day trip to Hue from Hoi An in motorbikes. I also made an article about everything to know before going to Vietnam and a Two weeks itinerary in Vietnam.
If you need a custom itinerary, you can fill this form and I’ll make your own personalised itinerary.
