Halong Bay: review of 3-day cruise with Vietnam Open Tour

I recently enjoyed a three-day, two-night boat tour through *Halong Bay*, and thought I would lend some free advice. Prior to this trip I spent a fair bit of time searching for information online, comparing tour companies etc., and found the depth of most postings to be lacking.

There is an overwhelming number of competitors in Hanoi offering Halong Bay boat tours. The trips on offer seem to be *one-day* (there and back in a hurry, no overnight), *two-day* (one night on a boat), and *three-day* (one night on a boat, one night in a hotel on Cat Ba island). We found the three-day tour to be well worth the time, and would recommend choosing it over the shorter trips. This was a highlight of our three weeks in Vietnam.

Three-day tours seem to range from about *$50USD to $400USD* per person, including transportation from Hanoi to Halong Bay, a guide, the boat, two nights%26#39; accomodation, kayaking, cycling, hiking, a visit to a cave or two, and all meals. ';*Handspan*'; comes up in many of the postings as a reputable tour company, some even say affordable - but Handspan must be capitalizing on previous success as they are now one of the most expensive. They may still be good, and they certainly have the flashiest office, but they seemed too expensive for us.

We went with *Vietnam Open Tour* for several reasons. We could arrange it through the hotel (*Golden Plaza*, three star in the Old Quarter), it was much more affordable, we got a slight discount compared with booking independently, and we couldn%26#39;t see the advantage of going with anyone else. The three-day tour was *$88USD* per person - remarkably cheap, I thought. And in the end, I was pleasantly surprised with our trip, but offer a few cautions.

When you arrive in *Halong City* by minibus (3 hours from Hanoi), you are struck by the vast number of Chinese-style ';junk'; boats in the harbour. These are all for Halong Bay tours. And while there appeared to be some variation in the upkeep of these boats, they were all remarkably similar in size, shape, and obvious amenities (i.e. none have hot tubs or escape helicopters). Typically they are three-story, with a sleeping deck, a dining deck, and a rooftop terrace. It was not obvious which boats might have been offered in the $400USD packages, or which boats might have been relegated to the $50USD trips. Much fancier boats may exist, but I didn%26#39;t see any.

The picture of the ';Imperial'; boat, a particularly nice junk with sails, is on every tour brochure. You will not necessarily get the boat advertised - in fact, it seems very unlikely. I don%26#39;t think it is possible in the average price range to know in advance which particular boat you will be on, whatever promise you receive from the tour agent.

We got lucky and ended up on a nice boat. It was clean and the rooms were relatively spacious, with private bathroom, a little cupboard, and one night table between two twin beds. Rooms with double beds were also available. The dining area suited it%26#39;s purpose and the rooftop terrace had a covered area and was outfitted with tropical plants and lots of loungers.

There were 14 tourists on the boat, all westerners. You get to know each other well, so cross your fingers for a good group. We made great friends with everyone aboard.

The afternoon of day 1 we set sail. We visited a couple of large, impressive caves, a floating fish farm, and then sailed around dozens of beautiful islands before anchoring in a bay for the night. Remarkably, most of the 100 or so tourist boats disappear amongst the islands during the day - only at night do they all reunite at this particular bay.

Day 2 we landed at a small island for the cycling portion of the trip. There were mountain bikes and more relaxed touring bikes on offer. Not surprisingly, they were all in bad shape, and one (particularly snobby, I thought) couple chose to walk in protest. The bikes were good enough for the 5km cruise along the flat road. We passed through an interesting village of relocated Vietnamese, and then hiked for about 3km on an easy trail through some forest.

Later that day we landed on *Monkey Island*, famous for its not-so-friendly monkeys (stay well clear), and spent the afternoon on the beach. Kayaks were available, and were basic plastic doubles with no splash skirts - fine for paddling around to the other side of the island, but serious paddlers might be disappointed. There was also a 15 minute ';hike'; to the top of the island, from where you had a most impressive view of the surrounding bay.

*Cat Ba City*, on the largest island in the bay, is a rather bleak place. It may have some redeeming qualities, but I didn%26#39;t find any. We had a so-called ';three star'; hotel called the *Sunflower*, with shabby rooms, a gaping hole in the bathroom, and not so much as a bottle of water in a minibar. This might be fine, depends what your standards are. We did have a fantastic night of karaoke at the *Blue Note* bar (not the Blue Wave - a massive night club bigger than anything I saw in Vietnam!). Better reports on the accommodation came from members of our group who stayed at the huge *Holiday View Hotel*. Ask for that one. And eat at the *Green Mango* - the best spot in town.

Already at risk of being long-winded, I will conclude by saying that the only real disappointment for me was the food. I found Vietnamese ';tourist-food'; to be invariably bland, bordering on horrible, most places I ate. The meals on the boat trip were no exception. They are certainly tolerable, but nothing to post about. Bring snacks, and even wine or beer, onto the boat with you. And have a great time, and enjoy the view, it%26#39;s spectacular.

Halong Bay: review of 3-day cruise with Vietnam Open Tour

Thanks for your report Takenochance. It provides great advice for people like me who are planning our trips!

Halong Bay: review of 3-day cruise with Vietnam Open Tour

Thank you so much for the great information! It%26#39;s really helpful. Couple more questions for you: Do all of the 3D/2N trips require a stay in a hotel instead of 2 nights on the boat?

Also, do you think there is any risk in not finding any boats available if we wait and book through a hotel when we%26#39;re there? We will be in Vietnam in early March and have about 2.5 weeks with a lot to fit in.

@Travel125: Sorry for the delay in replying to your post. In response to your questions: I don%26#39;t recall a tour company specifically offering a two-night tour that included two nights on the boat - they all seemed to be ';one night on boat, one night Cat Ba.'; With respect to booking ahead - it rally didn%26#39;t seem necessary - there are so many boats, and so many different operators. I think that if you had your heart set on one particular company, for whatever reason, you might want to book ahead. But in my view all the companies are offering more or less the same trip, for a wide range of prices. Hope that helps.

Tks for worthy info. As you mentioned, think we can arrange trip in loco , however, was wondering if it could be done directly at halong or hanoi, otherwise you need go by yourself to halong, since packages includes transfer.

Tks a lot

Thannks for the very informative write up. Its useful for me, as I was trying to arrange my boat trip online before I reached Hanoi. Now I am considering to do it there.

Agreed that Handspan is now rather pricey for the similar tours as I checked their website due to some recommendations I received. Oh well, perhaps they are getting very popoular.

Btw, how was golden plaza hotel? what was the price paid per standard room?

cheers