If you have ever watched the film, Kong: Skull Island, did you wonder how the VFX team were able to create such beautiful locations just out of imagination? Well, I can guarantee that our Gorilla buddy was a VFX product, but the background location is 100% real. Yes! It actually exists and is one of the most visited places in Vietnam. This natural wonder which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site is located in the north eastern side of Vietnam in the Quảng Ninh Province. Doesn’t this jaw dropping scenery convince you to take a trip to this wonderland? Let’s see how you could also experience the best Halong Bay Cruise in the most budget friendly way and without burning a hole in your pocket.
How to book the Halong Bay Cruise
Due to the huge popularity among tourists and locals alike, Tour Operators have curated multiple travel Itineraries. Based on your budget, it can vary from a 1 day tour on an economical ship to 3D/2N tour on a Luxury Cruise. I have visited Halong Bay on two different occasions, one in Summer and another in Winter. Will definitely pen down my experience of visiting Halong Bay during the winter season, but let’s save that for another day.
Booking online
I had booked my first tour in advance via. Klook, even before arriving in Vietnam. It was quite economical (only 37$ per person) considering the amount of activities they offered. Here’s the link if you wish to book it online.
Booking offline
Things were slowly coming back to normal in Vietnam after they eased out Border restrictions in April, 2022. It was our first day in Hanoi. Casually strolling around the retro lanes of the Old Quarter, we found a Currency exchange shop which provided a good exchange rate (way better than the Airport). A pleasant Chechi sitting at the counter counted the money for us while carrying a drooling round-faced baby on her lap.
One of us casually inquired her about the 1 day Halong Bay Cruise package. She gave us a great deal of discount, better than the price written in her brochure. It was 80$ on the paper, but we were able to negotiate it down to 45$. Mind you though, Klook’s offer was still lesser than what she had offered. Only one thing sets them both apart. The ship they showed was way better than what I had experienced in my previous tour. For us, both the cruise options were within our budget. We decided to go forward with Chechi’s offer, since she was sweet to us and brownie points just because she offered a better currency exchange rate. Here’s the link if you wish to visit the Shop directly.
Boarding Point
Considering the amount of time we get in a 1 day tour, the activities surrounding it are also jam packed. The tour usually begins from the Old Quarter. The 20-25 seater bus could pick you up from anywhere inside the OQ or else you may have to board it from to their Office present in OQ. Because we had other plans in the morning, we decided to board the bus from the Opera House. At the start of the journey, they provide each passenger with 2 bottles of water.
The journey from Hanoi to Halong City would roughly take about 2-2.5 hours. We mostly dozed off during this time. On the way, the Bus took a small halt at a Pearl Harvesting Unit. This place shows how pearls are harvested manually along with a pearl showroom nearby.
Once the Bus entered Halong city, the distant horizon started showing the glimpse of tall limestone peaks. The Bus dropped us at a port called Tuan Chau Port which looked like a mini shopping mall. Majority of the Tour operator’s Ships are stationed at this Harbour. There are many newly constructed Hotels and Apartments nearby the Harbour. Their numbers would only increase in the future, given the sheer number of footfalls this one of a kind destination receives every year.
Halong Bay Cruise Ship Overview
As soon as we boarded our Ship, Lunch was already served on the Table. When you book your tour, you will be provided with the option to choose either Veg or Non-Veg. The beverage is not included in this tour package, but you can still purchase it from the ship. Non-veg options generally include Fried rolls, Shrimp, Chicken noodles, Seafood salad and Fruits. Veg options include Fried Tofu, Veg noodles, French Fries, Peanuts and Fruits. The options might vary among different tour operators, but these are some of the common dishes you’ll find everywhere. To be honest, the food wasn’t that great, but staying on an empty stomach throughout the course wouldn’t have been wise either.
The Ship was definitely an upgrade and pretty economical too. It had a pretty cool Upper deck with Sun shade. I mean, who would want to sit the entire time inside the Cabin when the outside was offering such a soothing view. Only 15 minutes had passed and the guide with his steady voice pointed to a limestone rock whose art is printed on the back of the 200K Vietnamese dong note. I quickly grabbed my phone as well as the note and tried several ways of taking some creative pictures with it.
Post that, we sat and relaxed on the upper deck and enjoyed the view around. Wherever you see, there are only limestone islands and islets. They are in all shapes and sizes and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a rock with a Human or a Dragon shape amidst the 2000 islets that covers this vast area.
Selecting your route for the tour
Our tour was limited to circumnavigate Route 1. There are 5 designated routes in Halong Bay accessible to the public. Each one of them is located in the different parts of the bay. We were given the choice to choose either route 1 or route 2. I was more inclined to route 2 as I had covered Route 1 in the past, but Chechi suggested we select route 1. Few of the reasons being route 2 is not as popular and there is not much to see in that part. I didn’t see any options for the rest of the routes. I guess they are mostly reserved for more than 1 day tours because they seemed to be quite far from the Harbour. They were also beyond our budget.
Some exciting activities in a One day tour
Visit to the Titop Island
The first stop of the Halong Bay cruise tour was the Titop Island. This island was named after a Russian cosmonaut, Gherman Stepanovich Titov. He toured the Bay during his first ever visit to North Vietnam along with the then North Vietnam’s leader Ho Chi Minh. Here, you could either swim near the crescent shaped beach or you could ascend to the top. I never wanted to wet my clothes and the area for swimming was shallow and limited. Guess that made my choice easier.
To be honest, the hike to the top was steep and never easy. With every 10 steps, the view was getting clearer. From the inside, I couldn’t contain my excitement of wondering what the view from the top would look like. Upon reaching the top, I felt like a monk who had conquered a tall mountain. Phew, that was some hike. I took some time to catch hold of my breath and could see other tourists who were also in somewhat similar condition. The summit has a pagoda-like shelter supported by pillars. Much needed space to calm your BPM and with seats to enjoy the cool breeze along with the view.
I went to the edge of the railing and to my eyes, this place was nothing short of a perfect landscape. Blue sky with white cotton clouds and the entire area covered with emerald colored water, random limestone mountains, cruise ships and boats anchored around this mesmerizing landscape. It was the perfect example of what tranquillity would mean in literal terms.
The maximum time the tour operator gives you to explore this Island is 45 minutes. In fact, we were the last ones to board the ship, haha.
Kayak at Luon Caves
Next activity on our list included Kayaking. Personally, nobody should skip this one activity from the Halong Bay cruise tour. Heck yeah! I really like kayaking and ironically, I did my last kayak during my prior visit to Halong Bay. The ship anchored nearby Luon Caves. We made our way towards the Kayak station where you are provided a life jacket, an Oar and a Kayak boat. You must be in a group of 2 in order to ride the Kayak boat. Otherwise, there’s a bigger boat which consists of a boatman who carries around 8-10 people and shows around the Luon Caves.
I along with Abhishek hopped onto one of the Kayak. It took us a few minutes to find the right coordination and once the tone was set, there was no looking back. We carefully crossed the cave opening which got congested because of the boats passing from both the sides. The opening was so petite that you could literally touch the roof of the cave. Amusingly, we even bumped into other Kayaks.
Once we passed that cave, there was a totally different world on the other side. We saw majestic limestone rock formations covered with lush green patches surrounding the entire plane as if it had been hiding something precious all along. We decided to paddle around its corner. I noticed how calm the water was, people were enjoying each other’s company, sometimes kayaks crashing into each other and so on. We even did a mental race with other tourists to see who could reach the end line the fastest. Even with our rough coordination, we somehow made it first to our imaginary Finish Line “Woohoo!”
Explore Hang Sung Sot Cave
We made it back to the Ship on time and within 15 minutes, we reached our final destination of the Halong Bay cruise tour, Hang Sung Sot Cave.
According to our guide, among all the caves in the Halong Bay region, this one is the largest. Thankfully, the queue lined up to visit the cave was not stationary and progressed at a normal pace. The entrance to the cave is narrow, so it became a little crowded at that point. Nevertheless, we made it inside and boy oh boy, I have been to many caves before, but this was definitely in a class of its own. The amount of stalactite and stalagmite formations of rocks is beyond reckoning. Wherever you look, there was no end to it.
A Natural piece of art
Even harder to believe was that these were all formed millions of years ago. The river flowing inside it used to weather these rocks and eventually turned them into beautiful rock formations. The roof at one end of the cave had impressions which felt like a giant might have used that space for punching spar. At some places, it felt like a cool breeze was constantly slapping your face and somewhere, it was totally wet and humid. At some spots, water dripping from the stalactite rocks was getting deposited into a pond-like base. The reflection it gave was so crystal clear that nobody dared to go near it and mentally gauge how deep it could be.
While following the trail, my attention shifted towards the light coming from the far end. It exactly matched the phrase, “there’s always light at the end of the tunnel!” It felt unreal for a moment, even my camera couldn’t do much justice to such a phenomenon. But we figured that was actually the light coming from the exit. Once we reached there, we realized that it was because the sun had started to set down. You could see 2 shades of the river at the same time. Dang, I thought to myself, how good it would’ve been to spend some more time here.
End of the Halong Bay Cruise tour
With all the activities getting over by 5, our guide confirmed the end of the tour and the ship now commenced its way back to the Harbour. I sat at one end of the lower deck and reminisced about how the entire day panned out. I thought Kayaking across the cave was the best part of the entire tour.
Watching the setting sun turn the emerald green water to gold added cherry to the top. During the tour, I heard the guide say multiple times that you should at least spend a night in the Halong bay to witness 4 different seasons in a single day here. For me, that’s for another day.
6:30pm was when we began our journey back to Hanoi from the Harbour. In between, the bus stopped for 15 min for the passengers to refresh themselves. We reached the Old Quarter at around 8:45 pm thus marking the end of our Halong Bay Cruise tour.
General Tips
- It is advisable to have a local SIM(preferably Viettel) with you as the tour operator guide will call on the number you gave during the booking of the tour.
- Carry some snacks or protein bars just in case if you don’t like the food served on the boat.
- Wear light clothes as Halong Bay experiences an extremely humid climate during the Summer.
- Carry an extra pair of clothes if you wish to replace them after any activity.
Conclusion
Overall, the experience was really worth the price and time I invested. This is why I feel it to be the best budget friendly way to experience the Halong Bay. Some might even argue that they could witness the same limestone islands in the southern region of Thailand too. But the vast quantity of these mountains and the calm water coupled with numerous caves makes it a unique place on Earth. In fact, watching Halong Bay during Sunset from afar on a cliff top will be on my to-do list whenever I visit next time.
