Overnight Cruise in Ha Long Bay
If you’re ever in Vietnam, a must see place is Ha Long Bay, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This body of water is dotted with thousands of limestone karsts, a rugged formation created by erosion. The bright green water combined with these lush, limestone islands makes for an epic landscape.
One of the best ways to see Ha Long Bay is by taking an overnight cruise. This will allow you to get to see several various points throughout the bay, as well as debark the ship to do some exploring on foot, or even in a kayak. The sunsets are breathtaking, backlighting the limestone formations with brilliant shades of orange and purple.
We chose to visit Ha Long Bay with Secret Ha Long Cruises and really enjoyed our trip.
The company was able to provide us with a transfer from our hotel in Hanoi. We were picked up in a comfortable van along with two other groups of two, and driven the 2 hour and 15 ride to Ha Long Bay.
The Secret Ha Long Cruiseship could accommodate 22 passengers. We preferred the smaller ship as that meant a smaller group size for the excursions. Every room had a large window, so you were never far away from the gorgeous views.
A dinghy took us from the port to the Secret Ha Long ship, where we were greeted with a fruit juice. After getting settled in our rooms, we were promptly served a multi-course meal of seafood, chicken, vegetables and fruit. The food was a variety of both Vietnamese and Western dishes.
Chuyen was our cruise director. He was so pleasant and happy, telling us that being a cruise director in Ha Long Bay has been his lifelong dream. He told us that he grew up with very little money, and he saw a commercial about Ha Long Bay. He knew he wanted to work there when he grew up, so he worked hard to learn English and has been living his dream for 6 years! His enthusiasm was contagious and he made the trip even more enjoyable.
We took the dinghy over to a cave that formed in the side of one of the karsts. With the help of flashlights, we ducked and climbed through to get to a hidden lagoon. The cave itself was amazing too, filled with stalagmites and stalactites that sparkled when the light from the flashlight hit them.
The next activity was kayaking, so we paired up and paddled around for about an hour. This gave us a different perspective of the bay, as we could get up close to the oyster farm and the rugged edges of the karsts.
The kayaking ended just in time for us to be able to return to the ship and catch a dramatic sunset. The reds, oranges and purples were intense, adding another element to an already beautiful landscape.
There was never a dull moment during the trip. Chuyen taught a cooking class on how to make fresh Vietnamese spring rolls. These were delicious, and it was really fun to practice making them ourselves. Some of us were better at it than others. I’ll be the first to admit that I definitely was notorious for filling my roll with too many vegetables, making it difficult to roll. Guess I won’t be opening my own Vietnamese restaurant any time soon. Mike, on the other hand, may have found a new calling.
I guess the cooking class was an appetizer, because not long after, they served another multi-course dinner. The chefs were very creative in making flowers, birds and other creations out of vegetables to decorate our plates.
The ship had a small collection of card and board games, including Uno and Jenga for anyone who would have liked to partake during their downtime.
Just after sunrise the following morning, a thai chi class was held on the top deck. Having never done thai chi before, this was definitely a learning experience for me, but luckily I don’t think I was alone.
Surrounding us, 100 (maybe more!) other boats seemed to have the same idea. Some doing thai chi as well, but all gunning for the same island.
After breakfast, we headed to Ti Top Island. There, you could choose to either enjoy the sandy beach or climb up a lot of stairs to the top of the hill for a viewpoint. The unfortunate part was that there was so many other people there, there was a major backlog of traffic just to even climb up the stairs. Good luck trying to get a photo without other hands holding phones or cameras peeking into your shot. The effects of tourism could really be felt here.
When we returned to the ship, we had about an hour before we had to be packed up and out of our staterooms. We were able to leave our bags in a designated area and relax on the roof deck, enjoying the scenery. Not much longer, they served an early lunch, and we were back at the dock by noon.
For a small fee, the cruise line offered a shuttle van back to Hanoi for anyone who needed it. Some people headed back to Hanoi to stay there a bit longer, but we had a flight to catch that evening. The bus drove us to a pickup point close to the airport where we were able to get a cab the remainder of the way.
We really enjoyed taking the overnight cruise through Ha Long Bay. It provided us with both sunset and sunrise views, plus the ability to get to explore further into the bay with more activities than we would have had wish a day trip. We are so glad we made the short trip over to Ha Long Bay while we were visiting Hanoi.
