One of the biggest highlights of any visit to Hanoi is Halong Bay, the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The famous site has thousands of limestone formations and isles, and is easily one of the most popular and unique attractions in Asia.
Our research during the planning phases of our Hanoi trip showed a very large number of cruise operators who work the bay area. Most offered the same range of activities – cruising around the bay area, swimming, kayaking, cave visiting, and a day trip to Cat Ba island – and differentiated only along prices – which would be in turn determined by cruise duration and how luxurious is the boat. Many visitors who’ve seen the bay advised travelers not to opt for the day trip-only cruise, but to try to spend at least one night on the cruise boat. So, during our planning, we decided to opt for the two night cruise. We would be in the area and doubt if we’re ever going to do this again anytime soon, so why not.
The class of cruise many international tourists go for is the luxury class, and the room rates are about SGD500/room/night. Most of these luxury class cruises all get very positive reviews from travelers, so it was initially a little difficult for us to decide which cruise company to go with. We finally decided with Mon Cherie Cruises on account that the accommodations we would be getting are two interconnected rooms – more space for everyone – and the rooms would be situated on the second and not first floor. This bit might be important if you’d like a better view of the bay. In all, we paid SGD2,020 for a 3D2N cruise with this company.
Post-cruise, here are our unvarnished thoughts and takeaways from a cruise around Halong Bay. I’ll pen my thoughts on the boat and the experience with the company and the main boat amenities itself in a separate post later.
The views from within the bay are incredible, but how clear a view you get – as these natural sights go – is subject to the mercies of weather. Of the three days, just the first afternoon was reasonably sunny but still with some overcast. The rest of the three days’ daytime we were either not in the bay – e.g. on land having day trips – badly cloudy, or it was drizzling and even downright pouring on the second late afternoon. There was no clear sunset or sunrise to speak of too with the somewhat hazy conditions and also thick cloud layers. In short, go in with the mental preparation that while you’d still be able to see the bay, it just might not be of the Instagrammable quality that you want.
That fantastic looking luxury boat that you’re on? Well, be aware: you won’t be spending all your time on it. In fact, this is what our 3D2N itinerary looked like:
Basically, most of day 2 you’d be off the main-boat and on two different boats – a Day boat for the cruise around Halong Bay – and a small tender for ferrying to and fro Cat Ba island. This is a point that has been mentioned by numerous travelers, and may or may not be a satisfactory arrangement for you. One especially salient point made by some unhappy travelers is that if you’re paying this much for a luxury quality cruise why you’re not spending as much time as you’d expect on it.
Truth be told, it’s a fair argument. The Day boat that was used for the Day 2 excursion to Cat Ba itself isn’t too bad: it has a comfortable dining room and also a main room – both of which are air-conditioned – and enough deck chairs on the surface decks. However, it’s simply not the main boat, and if you’re thinking of lying down your comfortable bed for forty winks, forget it.
My guess of that the main boat can’t go everywhere isn’t just how deep the water needs to be at least for the main boat, but also one that is territorial for cruise companies. We at least got a sense of it during the outbound tender from the cruise terminal to the main boat: that the company that Mon Cherie is owned by – Big Bay Group – isn’t permitted to operate in selected areas, and vice versa for other companies I assume.
How about the food as served on the Day boat? Well, it wasn’t buffet styled and not the kind of fine-dining you get for dinner on the main boat. Basically, we had a seven course lunch that was served in the Day boat’s dining room. Surprisingly, the food was pretty good, and the portions were plenty. What however was less satisfying was that drinks during the provided lunch – even water – are not complimentary. We thought that was nickel and dime-ing on the part of the cruise operator. I can understand if the operator wants to charge for things like liqour, but c’mon, even water during excursions?
From Google Maps, Cat Ba island is pretty big, and the boat pier is on the easterly side of the island. The Day boat will sail as close as it can to the pier, then you’d hop onto a small tender boat for a 5 minute ride to the pier. From the pier, you can either get a bicycle to cycle the approximately 5 km to Viet Hai village, or you can take the electric mini-coach. The cycling route is manageable and basically on flat pavement, excepting a short stretch with a steep incline. There’s not much in the village itself, aside from the fish massage bit, a couple of small family restaurants and street shops, and also that the village faces a row of hills that is a little scenic. We spent perhaps 1.5 hours in the village, and most of it we were just waiting for the return. If you’re cycling, you might have more to see by cycling beyond the village.
The rest of the Day 2 excursion includes kayaking and swimming in the Three Peach area. Lots of other Day boats will stop by the area for their visitors to also swim and kayak, so there’s plenty of people around and yet plenty of space for swimmers and kayakers so that you don’t bump into each other. I’m assuming that visitors on boats watch out for each other, so we were fine with sending our kids to kayak and also swim on their own.
The missus was also however particularly upset at the amount of litter we saw at one stretch of the bay: there was a sea of floating debris, including styrofoam boxes. It was so bad that she posted on Facebook that she would not recommend Halong Bay to friends to visit until the place does a massive clean-up.
I’m a little more circumspect about the litter than the missus. While there indeed a stretch we sailed past on our way back to the main boat which saw a lot of floating litter scattered around a pretty big area, it was , as far as I could tell, the only stretch where it was this bad. The rest of the bay we sailed around in was OK, and the bay area is pretty big. Water isn’t pristine, no – but it’s not different from elsewhere we’ve seen.
I guess the big question remains: is Halong Bay worth a 3D2N excursion? Well, my honest appraisal is that if money is no object, go for it. But if not, then go with the 2D1N cruise. You’d be saving a tidy pile of money and won’t be missing that much. Cat Ba island isn’t that special – there’s nothing there that you won’t already see in many other South-East Asian countries that you might have visited, and if you’ve also swum and kayaked in the Andaman sea, then the experience you get in Halong Bay would be the same.
Next post: the cruise company!