You’ve undoubtedly seen jaw-dropping photos of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam on social media. This UNESCO World Heritage Site features stunning limestone islands, dripping with greenery and jutting majestically out of the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. It’s one of the most visited tourist attractions in all of Vietnam and rightfully so—it’s unbelievably gorgeous.
However, Ha Long Bay is unfortunately known for being crowded, overpriced, and incredibly dirty. But, lucky for you, Lan Ha Bay, its neighbor to the southwest, is equally as gorgeous, with 400 limestone islands spread across its 30 square miles, and is more reasonably priced, cleaner and WAY less busy than its more popular sister.
So if you want to experience those spectacular limestone karsts and spectacularly colored waters, without all the crowds, here’s everything you need to know about visiting Lan Ha Bay.
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Where is Lan Ha Bay?
Lan Ha Bay is located here, off the eastern coastline of Cat Ba Island in Northern Vietnam, just 19.5 kilometers southwest of Ha Long Bay. Its landscape is virtually identical to Ha Long Bay and is actually part of the Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lan Ha is also located about 153 kilometers east of the capital city of Hanoi (which is an absolute must to include on your Vietnam itinerary!). However, you can’t just simply drive there, which brings me to…
How to get to Lan Ha Bay
Most travelers reach Lan Ha Bay from Hanoi. The port city of Hai Phong are also becoming popular gateways to reach this area as well.
No matter where you’re coming from, though, you’ll first need to get to Cat Ba town on Cat Ba Island, where all Lan Ha Bay cruises and tours depart from.
How to get from Hanoi to Cat Ba
Joining a cruise or tour from Hanoi to Lan Ha Bay
If you book a guided excursion to Lan Ha Bay, like this option or this option, your tour operator almost always arranges transport to Lan Ha Bay. You’ll usually get picked up from your accommodations, get on a two hour(ish) shuttle to the town of Tuan Chau, take a speed boat over to the island, and a final shuttle to Cat Ba town, where you’ll officially start your tour.
That’s exactly what Justin and I did and we didn’t have to think about a thing!
If you’re going a more DIY route and have to figure out a way to get from Hanoi to Cat Ba, you have a couple of different options.
Taking the train and ferry from Hanoi to Cat Ba
If you’re on a budget, the cheapest option is taking the train from Hanoi to Hai Phong, which departs a couple of times a day and costs as little as $4 USD.
From here, you’ll need to take a Grab (the Vietnamese version of Uber) to Got Pier in Hai Phong for the ferry to Cai Vieng on Cat Ba island, which departs every half hour and costs around $3 USD. Finally, you’ll need to transfer via bus to Cat Ba town.
In total, this will usually take you a little over four hours to get from Hanoi to Cat Ba.
Taking a private shuttle from Hanoi to Cat Ba
If you don’t mind spending a little bit more, a private shuttle is a great option, costing around $13 USD. They’ll pick you up from your accommodations and you’ll get to ride on a nice, air-conditioned bus directly to the ferry terminal, where you’ll get on a speedboat to Cat Ba.
Taking a taxi from Hanoi to Cat Ba
For a more luxurious experience, you can book a private car transport, which will typically start around $110 for one person (one-way).
How to get from Hai Phong to Cat Ba
Joining a cruise or tour from Hai Phong to Lan Ha Bay
Given the growing popularity of travelers that are interested in visiting Lan Ha from Hai Phong, there’s a limited number of tours, like this day trip, that will pick you up in the city, take care of all the transportation logistics for you, and take you around the bay.
Taking a bus and ferry from Hai Phong to Cat Ba
From Hai Phong, you can catch a bus or get a Grab to Got Pier, where you can either take a ferry or speed boat to Cai Vieng on Cat Ba Island.
From there, you’ll need to transfer via bus to Cat Ba town. In total, this will cost around $8 USD and take up to two hours.
Taking a car and cable car from Hai Phong to Cat Ba
If you like unique transportation options, consider taking the world’s longest sea cable car (3,955 meters!), which costs about $15 USD per person and departs from the Binh Bridge to Cai Vieng. Here, you’ll need to transfer via bus to Cat Ba town.
Just make sure to check the website ahead of time—in our experience, the cable car frequently has long periods where it shuts down, especially from October through April.
How to explore Lan Ha Bay
Once you get to Cat Ba town, you basically have two options to explore Lan Ha Bay—a cruise or going on excursions during the day and staying in Cat Ba.
Going on a Lan Ha Bay Cruise
The most popular option to explore Lan Ha Bay is on a cruise. This can range from a simple day trip from Hanoi to a two night cruise around the bay.
It probably goes without saying the longer of a cruise you go on, the more activities you’ll get to do around Lan Ha. For example, some of the most popular activities on these cruises include hiking, kayaking, or visiting one of the floating villages in the bay, where groups of fishermen and their families have made their homes literally in the middle of the ocean since the early 19th century.
On the other end of the spectrum, daytrips from Hanoi will have about four or so hours of time to cruise around the bay, meaning you’ll typically have a pretty short period of time to do basically anything else.
Given our limited time in Vietnam, I strongly considered just doing a day trip to Lan Ha from Hanoi. However, after doing a TON of research, I eventually settled on a one night, two day tour and I’m SO glad I didn’t pick anything shorter.
Getting to Cat Ba from Hanoi takes around four hours total (one-way), so, if you do a day trip from Hanoi, you’ll likely spend considerably more time on shuttles and speedboats than you will actually experiencing the bay itself. But if you only have enough time in Vietnam to do a day trip here, it’s still better, in my opinion, to see the amazing limestone islands and the turquoise waters than not!
Lan Ha Cruise Options
Here are some of our favorite cruise options around Lan Ha Bay:
Day trip
- Day tour of Lan Ha Bay from Hanoi: This tour, which lasts between 12 and 13 hours, includes a cruise along Lan Ha Bay on an awesome boat, including a rooftop bar and water slide. Plus, for a day tour, you get to try out a lot of activities, like kayaking, biking around Cat Ba, and diving into Lan Ha Bay.
Two days and one night cruise
- Cat Ba Cruise: If you’re looking for a more affordable cruise, this is an excellent option and packs a LOT in just one night, including a cooking class, kayaking next to the limestone islands, bicycling through the jungles of the Viet Hai village, and a spring-roll making class—in addition to cruising through the jaw-dropping scenery of Lan Ha Bay.
Because of its lower pricepoint, it tends to have a slightly more rowdy, backpacker feel than some of the more luxurious offerings—but if you like karaoke and cheap beer, you’ll have a blast!
- Lan Ha Cruise with Sena Cruises: For something a bit more on the upscale side, consider joining this option, where you’ll cruise with a small group (just 16 rooms in total!) and enjoy an upscale cabin with your very own balcony.
You can also enjoy a variety of activities, including kayaking, swimming, Tai Chi, and a cooking class, all while surrounded by the jaw dropping scenery of Lan Ha Bay.
Three days and two nights cruise
- Lan Ha Bay 5 Star Cruise: If you’re going to spend two nights aboard a boat, it might as well be a nice one! On this cruise option, you’ll get a spacious room with your very own balcony, plus get to enjoy a wider variety of activities than shorter cruises, including a stop at Bai Trai Dao Beach, a gorgeous stretch of sand at the base of a limestone island; and exploring Dark & Bright Cave, a hidden lagoon you can boat through.
Pssst… make sure you book the right cruise option for Lan Ha Bay—this operator has quite a few!
Things to know about Lan Ha Bay cruises
After spending a TON of time researching and selecting a cruise myself, there’s a few things that I wish I had known when picking a Lan Ha Bay tour.
You get what you pay for
There are some SUPER cheap cruises around Lan Ha Bay, but I would recommend choosing a cruise that’s at least a bit more middle of the road than the absolute cheapest thing you can find.
Super cheap cruises tend to be on old boats, have crappy food (I have DEFINITELY heard of some folks getting food poisoniong on cheap cruises, which sounds decidedly unfun), and have crew members that do not speak fluent English.
Be sure to double check the activity offerings if you have a wishlist
While most boats have similar activity offerings, like kayaking and swimming, many of them offer slightly unique excursions, like stopping at a floating village or hiking around Cat Ba National Park. If you really want to do a particular activity—or, conversely, do not want to do something, be sure to shop around for different cruises that align with your interest.
Booze is expensive
Vietnam is famously affordable and, all things considered, most Lan Ha Bay cruises are pretty low cost as well.
However, do not expect this to extend to the alcohol onboard, which is rarely included with your cruise—it’s not uncommon to find alcohol that’s just as expensive, if not more so, than in many Western countries, like $30 bottles of wine and $9 beer. We only purchased a handful of drinks during our cruise and somehow, wracked up about a $50 USD bill during our limited time on the boat—whoops!
Some cruises are BYOB, so if you’re looking to party, you might want to seek out these kinds of experiences and stock up on liquor before heading to Cat Ba!
Don’t expect relaxation
Even if you go on an overnight cruise, your time aboard feels a bit rushed, given the fact that you usually *only* spend from around 3 PM to around 10 AM on the boat.
We enjoyed our overnight cruise, but felt like we chaotically rushed from kayaking to swimming to visiting the Viet Ha village, without a lot of downtown time to enjoy our rooms or even just look at the limestone islands. We were absolutely exhausted by the time we got back to Hanoi on our second day.
Accordingly, if you’re looking for a more relaxing experience, I’d suggest going on a two night, three day cruise or, alternatively, combining a cruise with some time spent on Cat Ba island, so you can explore more at your leisure.
Exploring Lan Ha Bay while staying in Cat Ba town
If you’re on a tighter budget or prefer a bit more flexibility in your planning, you can also explore Lan Ha Bay while staying on land in Cat Ba.
There are a number of kayak rentals or day tours that leave directly from Cat Ba, like this one or this one. Because you don’t have to spend the majority of these tours getting to and from Cat Ba island as you would on the tours that leave from Hanoi, you can instead have a much more relaxed experience than what you’d experience being on an overnight cruise ship, plus the groups tend to be on the smaller side. Additionally, you’d also have the opportunity to explore other things around island that most cruises skip, like hiking in Cat Ba National Park or enjoy the beaches around the island.
Finally, you’ll get to skip my least favorite part of our cruise experience here—the overpriced booze and forgettable food prepared for the masses. While Cat Ba certainly doesn’t have as stellar food offerings as, say, Hanoi, you can still enjoy a handful of affordable bars and restaurants in Cat Ba, like Yummy Restaurant and the Sky Bar at the Cat Ba Paradise hotel.
If I could go back in time, I think I might have done a two day, one night cruise in Lan Ha Bay and then spent a night on Cat Ba to explore a bit more at my own pace—this definitely seems like the best of both worlds approach!
Where to stay while you’re in Cat Ba
- Secret Garden Hostel: For a budget option, this hostel offers dorm and private rooms (each of which has air conditioning!) and has nice perks, like a pool, killer onsite food, and lots of fun events, like live music and cooking classes. Just be aware that it has a bit more of a party atmosphere than some other options around Cat Ba, so if you’re more of an early bird, this might not be the best option.
- Cat Ba View Hotel: This mid-range hotel has comfortable rooms and incredible service—for example, the staff is happy to make you breakfast early if you need to leave for a tour or flight early. Additionally, the location can’t be beat, with tons of restaurants and bars surrounding it and less than a 20 minute walk to some of the best beaches on Cat Ba.
- Hôtel Perle d’Orient Cat Ba: This resort is inarguably one of the most luxurious properties in Cat Ba, with many of the rooms offering a balcony with views of Lan Ha Bay, a pool with a swim-up bar AND a rooftop pool, and its very own beach.
When to visit Lan Ha Bay
Given that Lan Ha Bay is found along the South China Sea, the weather can be a bit moody, with rain, clouds, and fog much of the year.
If you’re trying to enjoy the bay and all of its water-based activities, I’d consider visiting between April and May or October, when the skies are typically clear and the weather is pleasantly warm. We visited in March and, while our cruise didn’t face rain or fog, I was surprised by how cold it was—way too frickin’ cold to go swimming!
If you’re on a budget, you can usually score a deal by visiting from June through September, which is Vietnam’s low season. However, you’ll have a higher chance of facing all-day rain, storms, and even typhoons—-so the frequent cancellations or delays of cruises may not be worth the amount of money you may save. If you’re a backpacker who has a flexible schedule and is going to be in Vietnam for a long period, this might be an ideal time to save some cash, but, if you’re short on time, I wouldn’t recommend visiting during this timeframe.
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