Our experience exploring Halong and Lan Ha Bay: best things to do

In this article we will talk about best things to do in Halong Bay and why this amazing place must be included in EVERY Vietnam itinerary!

If you have ever, at least a little, been interested in Vietnam, you have heard about one of the country's most impressive natural wonders – Halong Bay.

Well, if the name Halong Bay doesn’t ring a bell then we will say that it is on the list of “New 7 Wonders of Nature” and this title deserves attention.

You should organize a trip to the north of Vietnam in order to see this beautiful national park, listed by UNESCO, and of course, we will share a few photos from our experience in Halong Bay. With so many things to do in Halong Bay and time you will spend for transportation from Hanoi, we recommend you stay at least 3 days.

What makes up the pillars of Halong Bay?
Explore Halong city
Visit Floating Villages and Fish Farms
Take a day tour
Take a cruise
Explore some of the numerous caves
Visit nearby islands
Take in some sun on one of the beaches
Hiking and rock climbing in Halong Bay
Enjoy a fresh and locally caught Seafood dinner
Where to stay in Ha Long

What makes up the pillars of Halong Bay?

Before we dive into all the awesome things to do in Halong Bay, let’s talk about what makes Halong Bay so special?

It’s worth reading a bit more about the geology behind the spectacular karst seascape, as this will only make you greatly enjoy it more. So what makes up the pillars of Halong Bay?

Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes some 1600-2000 islands and islets that create a unique seascape of limestone pillars. The limestone formations have been steadily eroded over millions of years due to the repeated rise and fall of the sea.

Same pillars can be found in Ninh Binh that is known as Halong on land.

Explore Halong city

Halong City (also known as Bai Chay) is more of a starting point for exploring other sights and is definitely not a mandatory place to visit in Halong Bay.

However, while exploring the natural wonders of the Bay, you will be probably staying at Halong City for a couple nights or so. If you have some free time, here is what you can do in the city:

Take a walk Over Bai Chay Bridge

Bai Chay Bridge connects Hon Gai district with Bai Chay district of Halong City. It’s the first cable-stayed bridge in Vietnam and pride of Ha Long city. Locals gave the bridge a lovely nickname – “the guitar”.

The value it has for us travelers being able to take some wonderful landscape photos as you walk over it to enjoy the wonderful view, especially at night.

Relax on Bai Chay beach

When you cross over Bai Chay Bridge, the best place to head to is Bai Chay beach.

This beach is considered to be quite famous in northern Vietnam among the other vacation spots. Bai Chay is an artificial beach that stretches along Ha Long Bay for more than 500m. It was renovated in 2014, so it’s still in good/pristine condition.

Have fun at Sun World Halong Park

Also known under the name “Dragon land”, Sun World Halong is an amusement park quite famous in northern Vietnam. It’s perfect to visit if you are traveling with kids, but even adults will find it fun!

The park occupies a total area of 528 acres and consists of two main parts: Beach amusement complex and Mystic Mountain complex. These two sectors are linked by a mile-long Queen Cable Car line across the water which offers a magnificent skyline panorama.

Sun World features a Zen garden which is built in a Japanese style, Kidoland playground for toddlers and families, the Fame Hall with Wax Figures, and Dragon Park with many adventurous rides.

It also features the Sun Wheel – one of the biggest ferris wheels in the world standing 372ft tall and the Typhoon Water Park – the largest water park in Southeast Asia sitting on 56 acres and featuring more than 12 slides and interactive water games bringing fun for the whole family.

Visit the Night market

UPDATE: the original night market is now permanently closed. However, the is an alternative which is an actual city market. We didn’t see any souvenirs but we found a lot of local food products, some of them being quite unusual.

Pro Tip: If you have a soft stomach for butchered animals or strong scents of fish, we recommend that you sit this one out. Let someone else in the group go and experience it for the both of you!

Location of the Chợ Cái Dăm market: 20.9571139,107.0241694

Visit the Quang Ninh Museum

Normally, we are not such big fans of museums, especially when you have all this natural beauty around you. However, it can be an option for a rainy day, and if you like museums, of course.

The Quang Ninh Museum in Halong Bay features the whale skeleton, models of sailboats and other artifacts. Also gives you a brief insight into Vietnamese culture. It’s about a 15 minute walk from the Vincom shopping mall which is where most taxi’s will drop you, if you don’t mind the walk. The architecture of the building is very modern, made from glass and reflects the coastline…Excellent photos to be taken of the exterior!

Visit Floating Villages and Fish Farms

Top of the list for things to do in Halong Bay. There are four floating villages in Halong:

Cua Van, Ba Hang, Vung Vieng, and Cong Dam.

There are approximately 1600 villagers who are fishing, raising fish in water cages for sale, growing pearls, working with tourists.

One of the interesting Halong Bay facts is the process of artificially creating the pearls. Naturally, pearls are formed by gradually growing layers which can last for years. But in a factory, they speed up the process by placing pressed shells in the middle of the mollusk, so they have a pearl ready in a few months.

Visit floating villages and fishing farms in Vietnam

People still live on the water simply because their family has lived there for generations and they can’t imagine their life in other places. Also, some people can’t afford to buy a house or land to build a new one, while on the water they pay “minimal” taxes.
Another fact about floating villages is that only 10% of young people move away to live on land. Also, a lot of villagers have relatives abroad, like in the US and Australia, and those relatives send them money so that they can open bigger fish farms and advance in business here in Halong and Lan Ha Bays.
Water settlements are usually located near large caves so that there is a place to hide in case the sea becomes unsafe.

When winter comes, the sea becomes stormy so floating structures move closer to each other - thus making easier to resist natural disasters. And in the summer, floating homes spread out among the nearby islets.

Take a day tour

Of all the things to do in Halong Bay, exploring Halong Bay and Lan Ha Bay from the water should be your main focus. Turquoise waters dotted with hundreds of limestone pillars will certainly make for outstanding photos and Instagram posts.

You can see a lot in one day if you go with the right tour company. You can take a full day trip on the boat which will most probably include kayaking, swimming, and viewing some caves. You can also go hiking with a guide or ride a mountain bike and do a loop around the island, or rent a kayak and go explore independently if you want to be on your own schedule.

A full-day boat tour usually includes lunch with seafood and other local delicacies.

This option is perfect for budget travelers as some the tours cost about $20-$25.

Take a cruise

Most of the times, tourists prefer to book organized one or two day tours of Halong Bay. This is just more convenient and faster than getting to each attraction on your own. Besides that, you get a ready-made action plan, and you don’t have to think of where to go and how to get there.

The cruise might be one of the most luxurious things to do in Halong Bay. A boat cruise gives you a chance to see the islands from different angles and enjoy the sea bay. The fact is that prices are different, it all depends on the number of days, people and class of boat, so to find the best Halong Bay cruise you can compare different options on Booking.com.

We think that a boat cruise is something luxurious you can treat yourself to during a well deserved vacation.

That’s an example of how the cabins and the boat look like if you venture into a tour with Blue Swimmer Adventures. Of course, there are different types of boats but this one is called a Vintage Junk boat. We discovered that the magnificent view of more than 1600 limestone pillars rising out the sea is best viewed from the deck of a wooden junk. Traveling on a junk boat just has some romance of the old days.

Cruises include kayaking and caves which is an advantage, however, you can do all of those separately if you are not willing to take a cruise.

Explore some of the numerous caves

Halong Caves are one of the main attractions of this bay that have recently been recognized as one of the 7 New Wonders of Nature. In fact, visiting the caves is one of the most unique things to do in Halong as local caves and grottoes are some of the most beautiful natural formations in Vietnam.

Sung Sot Cave (Surprise Cave)

This is one of the most popular caves in Halong Bay.

Getting there: You will get to Bo Hon Island by boat which you will dismount at the bottom of the mountain. Then you will have to climb up 100 or so steps to the cave entrance. The cave is divided into 2 caverns. The first one is a smaller space connected to a larger cavern next door by a 500-meter long passage. To give you an idea of just how large the second chamber is, it’s big enough to host 1,000 people or more.

A special feature of Sung Sot Cave is a grotto with a large pond that attracts a variety of animals such as monkeys that frequent the area in search of fruit.

Luon Grotto

Also located on Bo Hon Island, Luon Grotto can only be accessed by a bamboo boat or a small kayak. This arc-shaped cave is not very big but still can make a nice experience as a part of the tour.

Me Cung Cave (Maze Cave)

Me Cung Cave is situated on Lom Bo Island. The cave has a complicated structure with many rooms, floors and small passageways often just large enough for one person to go through, so that’s not good news if you are a claustrophobic individual. There is also the Me Cung lake inside the cave which features various animal and plant life.

Dark and Light Cave

Visit nearby islands

Cat Ba Island

Cat Ba is the biggest island of Halong Bay and the most visited one. Besides being an excellent starting point for boat trips around the bay, the island itself is quite attractive as a place to relax. Cat Ba can offer tourists a lot of things: a national park of impressive size, four nice beaches, a couple of caves, several interesting sights, a compact tourist area with a beautiful promenade and many hotels, programs for outdoor activities, colorful scenes from the everyday life of fishermen and locals, impressive landscapes, etc.

All this makes Cat Ba Island a rather attractive tourist destination. And although the infrastructure on Cat Ba is not as developed as on the beach resorts of Vietnam, there is everything you need to stay here from 2-3 days to a week.

Where to stay on Cat Ba Island

Dau Be Island

The island is famous for three lakes, interconnected by a system of caves. There is a variety of plants and animals on the island: orchids, palm trees, monkeys, birds, and flying squirrels. The island has become a popular diving destination because of coral variety, and deep caves.

Quan Lan

This island, unlike others, is predominantly flat, sandy and barely covered with forest. It is less developed and less touristy compared to the more popular island of Cat ba. Several thousand people live in two settlements of the island. There are three beaches on the island, all of them have white sand and are surprisingly clean compared to other Halong beaches.

Take in some sun on one of the beaches

Tuan Chau

The beach stretches for nearly 3 km. There are a lot of hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities. There is also a golf course, a water park, and a dolphinarium. You can water ski, scooter ride, chill on the beach, go for a bike ride or enjoy some fishing. The place is quite noisy due to the traffic headed to and from the ferries.

Bai Chay

This beach stretches for half a kilometer and is also popular among tourists. The beach is sandy and the water is clean for it being a city beach. There are also a hefty amount of restaurants, hotels, shops, and a market.

Monkey Island Beach

This option for a beach holiday is more suitable for those who seek to move away from civilization and people. It is located on the tiny island of the same name, which is 10 minutes away by boat from Cat ba. There is only sand, water, bungalows and the only hotel Monkey Island Resort. The length of the coastline is up to 250 m.

Cat Ba Beaches

Cat Ba has three beaches to choose from, all of them are sandy and nice. Quite crowded during peak season and empty during offseason.

Secluded beaches in Halong and Lan Ha Bay

Available if you take a boat tour, speed boat, or a kayaking tour. But if you’re trying to escape all of the hustle and bustle of the city life and want to surround yourself in a tranquil and serene environment, then this just might be for you!

Hiking and rock climbing in Halong Bay

If you take a tour, hiking will most probably be a part of it, or you can go for a hike independently.

We have hiked to the viewpoint in Cat Ba national park. The entrance fee to the park is 80.000 and the hike up takes about 30-45 minutes. There are two routes: 1) the shortcut which is quite steep and 2) a normal path that takes much time. We took a steep route to the top and a normal route back and realize that a shortcut doesn’t really save you time, just go for a normal way.

Even though Monkey Island has become way too touristy, it is still well worth a mention for things to do in Halong Bay.

Also, we have hiked up the peak on the Monkey Island as a part of a group tour. This can be done independently as well but the hike is not for the faint-hearted so some support from the guide was very helpful. It took us 30 to 40 to climb to the peak and the same to go down.

This experience was more like rock climbing than hiking.

Sharp rocks you have to climb to reach the viewpoint

Viewpoint on the Monkey Island, Halong Bay

Enjoy a fresh and locally caught Seafood dinner

Leaving Halong without trying fish and seafood dishes is just unimaginable. In fact, it’s one of the best things to do in Halong Bay because we all love to eat delicious food, right? There are restaurants on almost every island in the Bay where you can enjoy seafood delicacies that has been freshly fished out. You can even find out more about local fish farming in one of the fishing villages located nearby.

For example, you can check out Nhà Hàng Hoa Sơn restaurant that is located in Bai Chay city center and serves delicious fresh seafood for reasonable prices. Be sure to have your Google translate app readily available as the staff here are locals who don’t speak English.

Where to stay in Ha Long

Hostel - Fancy Hostel - No denying this hotspot stopover centrally located in the city! For $3 a night you’re left with a comfortable surrounding (bed, hot shower, and complimentary breakfast!)

Budget Hotel - Viet Dzung Hotel - After we had made the trek by local buses from Bac Ninh and let off on the side of the main road, it was up to us to find an affordable and comfy location. Viet Dzung didn’t disappoint whatsoever, with it's spacious rooms and comfortable bed and pillows we were given a perfect nights rest for the low price of $9!

Mid-Range Hotel - Halong Boutique Hotel - When you begin to charge western-style prices in Asia, you begin to raise questions…luckily Halong Boutique Hotel has the answers! A newly built hotel in a good location with it’s soundproof walls, comfortable mattresses and pillows, and just about one of the friendliest and welcoming staff in the area. Prices starting at $28 a night.

Luxury Hotel - VinPearl Resort & Spa Halong - We may have only spent 1 night at this luxurious 5-star resort, but they made us feel like royalty without skipping a single beat! From the moment you enter this fortress, you feel as though you’re in heaven. The staff is welcoming, the grounds are immaculate, food is wonderful, and the rooms are something from a dream! They off complimentary speed boat service to the private island with complimentary mini-bar, and jacuzzi service. It’s a bit pricey but it’s totally worth it! Prices start at $178 a night.