to Halong bay or not Halong bay?

hi, Im very confused!

we are travelling to Vietnam in april 09 3 adults and 3 children (16, 13, 7) and we have been trying to decide if halong bay is worth the trip

I have heard many negative reports about bed bugs, ear infections from swimming in the water and the rubbish in bay and I am not keen for any of these!

Also we will be traveling through asia for a month and we are trying to make the most of our money

Can anybody tell me if this is worth dragging the 3 kids to, and a cost effective way to do so

thanks

to Halong bay or not Halong bay?

Here%26#39;s a vote for making the effort. The bad things you heard may be true (there is certainly a lot of trash in the water, we did not get ear infections, but there were a lot of jelly fish in the water, we did not experience bed bugs, but we sprung for the Bhaya Junk, a very expensive and clean boat). Still, it is all worth seeing one of the great natural sights on earth. Our 18 and 14 year-olds had a blast, and few experiences in my life compare with having a glass of wine watching the sun set over all the islands.

to Halong bay or not Halong bay?

Hey. I will be in Hanoi in a couple of days and Halong is one of the place, I should be visiting if everything turns out well even though I heard about the rubbish and ear infections from swimming. This is the first time, I heard about the bed bugs though.... =/ ..

oh well

I took my 10 year old to Vietnam for nearly a month and we included Halong Bay after trekking in Sapa for a few days. There is some rubbish in the water, but I did not see any bed bugs nor got ear infections from swimming in the water.

Halong Bay is really magic and the scenery is magnificent and well worth the trip. It was lovely to relax after the hectic pace of Hanoi and then Sapa before we embarked on the remainder of our trip.

I hope your kids will thank you for dragging them to Halong Bay, my son loved it. There were only 16 people on our boat and the first day we sailed through the bay, then went kayaking into caves before heading back to moor for the night. The weather was really hot so really enjoyed sitting up on deck enjoying a glass of wine taking in the scenery.

Next day we headed to some other caves and then cruised back to port early afternoon for the trip back to Hanoi.

Hi, we spent 2 days in Halong Bay on the Pinta Junk @ $97usd each. This post is the first time I have heard of ear infection from swimming in Halong Bay. We were there last October, there wasn%26#39;t any rubbish in the water, the beds were very clean as was the rest of the boat. It was the highlight of our trip and if we return to Vietnam we%26#39;ll be sure to go back.

Enjoy!

C.

pores