Halong Bay & Lan Ha Bay: Day Cruise, Caves, Kayak & Lunch

4.51

(255 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I still remember the way the air changed as we left Hanoi’s Old Quarter—suddenly quieter, that faint briny smell you get near the sea. Our guide, Minh, was already cracking jokes in the van (his English was better than mine some days), and even though it was early, everyone seemed wide awake. The drive to Tuan Chau Harbor wasn’t short—maybe two and a half hours?—but we stopped for coffee at some roadside place with plastic chairs and a woman selling steamed buns. No pressure to buy anything, just a quick stretch. I liked that.

Once we boarded the boat for our Halong Bay day trip, things got real. The water was this weird milky green—almost unreal—and limestone islands just popped up everywhere like they’d been dropped there by accident. Lunch came out fast: plates of fish with ginger, sticky rice, something with eggplant I kept going back to. Minh showed us how to say “ngon quá” (delicious) but I probably butchered it; he laughed anyway. Then kayaking—honestly, I thought I’d tip over trying to squeeze into that thing—but paddling under those arches into Sung Sot Cave felt like entering another world. Cool air inside, echoes bouncing off rock walls.

Later we stopped at Ti Top Island. Some people hiked up for the view (I tried—got halfway before my legs gave up), others just floated in the shallows or watched local kids skipping stones. There was this moment where everything went quiet except for water lapping against the sand and someone’s ringtone playing a K-pop song in the distance. On the way back, Minh poured tea and pointed out shapes in the rocks—a dragon here, a turtle there—even though honestly they looked more like blobs to me. But maybe that’s part of it.