Ha Long, Bai Tu Long or Lan Ha? An honest comparison
Almost everyone arrives in Hanoi wanting to see Ha Long Bay, and almost nobody arrives knowing that Ha Long, Bai Tu Long and Lan Ha are three named parts of one continuous seascape with wildly different boat traffic. Choosing between Ha Long, Bai Tu Long or Lan Ha is the single decision that determi
The limestone is the same geology in all three. The karst towers, the sea caves, the water the colour of weak tea in the morning: identical. What changes is how many other vessels are looking at it with you, and that changes everything.
The three bays, plainly
Ha Long Bay proper. The famous one, the UNESCO listing, the name on the poster. Boats leave from the Tuan Chau and Ha Long international ports and follow a set cruising route through the central bay. Several hundred licensed vessels work this water. At the main anchorages and at the popular caves you will be one boat in a raft of twenty, tied up alongside strangers, and the tender queue for Sung Sot cave can run to half an hour.
Bai Tu Long Bay. North east of the main bay, reached from the Hon Gai side. Fewer operators are licensed here, the routes are less concentrated, and the overnight anchorages are quiet. The scenery is arguably slightly more open, with bigger channels and fewer of the tight clusters that make the central bay photogenic. Some travellers find it a fraction less dramatic. Most find the space more than compensates.
Lan Ha Bay. South, off Cat Ba island, reached via Haiphong. This is our default recommendation. The karst is dense and close, there are small sand beaches you can actually swim from, the kayaking is the best of the three, and the traffic is a fraction of the central bay. The transfer is slightly longer and slightly more complicated, which is precisely why it stays quieter.
| Ha Long | Bai Tu Long | Lan Ha | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer from Hanoi | 2.5 hours | 3 hours | 3 to 3.5 hours via Haiphong |
| Boats on the route | several hundred | moderate | low to moderate |
| Beaches you can swim from | few, crowded | some | yes, several |
| Kayaking | poor at anchorages | good | best of the three |
| Caves | the big famous ones | fewer, quieter | fewer, quieter |
| What we book | rarely | often | most often |
One night or two
A one-night cruise is not a night and a day. It is roughly this: leave Hanoi at eight, board around noon, lunch while the boat moves out, one activity in the afternoon, sunset, dinner, sleep, an early activity, brunch, and back on the pier by eleven the next morning. You get one afternoon and one hour of the following morning on the water, and most of the first day is a coach.
A two-night cruise gives you the entire middle day. That is when the boat reaches the parts of the bay the day boats never get to, when the kayaking happens somewhere that is not the anchorage, and when the water empties out because everyone else has gone home. On a two-night itinerary you also transfer to a smaller day boat for that middle day on most operators, which reaches channels the mother ship cannot.
Our position, stated as plainly as we can: if the bay matters to you at all, do two nights. If you only have one night, do it in Lan Ha or Bai Tu Long, because a single night on the central Ha Long route is the version of this trip people come back disappointed by.
Three nights is available and is rarely worth it. By the third morning most people have had enough of eating every meal at the same table.
Private charter or a shared boat
Shared cabins on a good small vessel are what we book most. A well-run boat with eight to twelve cabins carries perhaps twenty passengers, and the difference between an excellent one and a poor one is the crew, the food and whether the anchorage is chosen for scenery or for convenience. On a boat of that size you will meet the other passengers at dinner, which some people enjoy and some do not.
A six-cabin vessel is the sweet spot for travellers who want quiet without chartering. Smaller boats reach anchorages the larger ones cannot enter, and the guide-to-guest ratio is completely different.
A private charter means the whole boat, usually a two or four cabin wooden junk, with your own route. It is the right answer for a family of five or six, for a group of friends, and for the romantic route where the point is that nobody else is on board. It is not four times the price of a cabin, but it is a real step up, and on a small junk the cabins are genuinely small.
There is one more category worth knowing about: the very large modern cruise ship with fifty or more cabins and a swimming pool on deck. They are comfortable and they are also the reason the anchorages look the way they do. We do not book them.
What the sales photographs do not show
Every operator uses the same handful of drone shots. Here is what sits outside the frame.
The rafting up. At the overnight anchorage boats tie alongside each other in rows. On the central bay route your cabin window may face another boat’s cabin window four feet away. In Lan Ha and Bai Tu Long this happens far less and with far fewer neighbours.
The cabin windows. Photographs are taken from the top deck. Lower-deck cabins on many vessels have small windows at waterline height, and on some older boats they do not open. Deck level is worth paying for and we specify it.
The weather. From November to March the north can be grey and misty for days. Mist over karst is atmospheric and it is not the blue-sky photograph. From July to October typhoons cross the Gulf of Tonkin and the port authority closes the bay, sometimes at a few hours’ notice, for anything from one to three days. Every boat stays in. That is why we never put a bay night immediately before an international departure, and why our Hanoi office holds a land alternative for those dates.
The itinerary inclusions. Cave visits, kayaking, a cooking demonstration, a squid-fishing hour off the back deck. These are real and they are also brief. The kayaking is typically forty-five minutes in a designated area, not an afternoon of exploring.
The floating village. Several are visited daily by dozens of boats. Some are working communities, some are largely a stop. We tell you which one your boat uses.
The tender. Getting off the mother ship onto a small boat involves a step across moving water. If anyone in your party has mobility limitations, say so before we book, because it determines the vessel.
What it costs
Approximate, per person, two sharing, for the bay portion only. Rates move with season and we confirm the current figure when we quote.
| One night | Two nights | |
|---|---|---|
| Good shared cabin, mid-size boat | $150 to $220 | $290 to $420 |
| Deck-level cabin, six-cabin vessel | $260 to $340 | $480 to $650 |
| Private charter, small wooden junk | from $900 total | from $1,700 total |
The bay is one of the three line items that most changes a Vietnam budget, along with hotels and guiding. It is also, in our experience, the one where spending more makes the most visible difference.
Bai Tu Long or Lan Ha: which we book
For most first visits: Lan Ha, two nights, a deck cabin on a small vessel. For travellers who want maximum quiet and do not mind a slightly longer transfer: Bai Tu Long, two nights. For a family or a group of six: a private charter in Lan Ha.
We book central Ha Long when a client specifically wants the named bay and understands the traffic, or when a schedule leaves only one night and the Haiphong transfer will not fit. We say so in writing either way.
Plan this trip
Tell us your dates and how many nights you can give the water, and a Vietnam specialist will send you a first outline with the actual boats named. Free, no obligation.
Keep reading
- Vietnam, the complete guide to planning your trip
- Classic Vietnam in 16 days
- Romantic Vietnam in 11 days
- Northern Vietnam: motorbike, or a car with a driver?
- What does a trip to Vietnam cost?
Frequently asked questions
Is Ha Long Bay overrated?
Can we visit as a day trip from Hanoi?
What happens if the bay closes for weather?
Is Cat Ba island worth a night on land?
Are the cabins air conditioned?
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