When we planned this trip we decided to go to Cat Ba island rather than take a cruise around Halong bay. In Hanoi we talked to others who had taken cruises, and they told us they had a great time. Eventually we decided that the cruises we saw online were too expensive, but if we could find a cheap one from Cat Ba we would take it. Our hotel was offering one day cruises for an insanely low price, so we decided to extend our stay and take it, not knowing whether the cruise would be terrible or not. The phrase “you get what you pay for” generally applies to all situations, but in our case it didn’t. For about what I pay for lunch in the Bay Area we ended up on a beautiful boat that took us all around the bay, serving us delicious food, and letting us relax on its shaded deck’s large comfortable chairs.
We began early at 8 from the hotel, and a taxi picked us up. It drove us to a port on the eastern (bay facing) side of the island, and we were led onto a boat. As we left port a few of us on the boat walked up to the top deck, and sat down in some large comfortable chairs overlooking the water, over a large sun shade. We cruised through the bay, amazed by its beauty. The bay is huge, and there are thousands of islands. The photos that can be found online give a good idea of what to expect, but the scale can’t be seen unless you go there.
After a couple hours of cruising the bay we pulled off to a dock to go kayaking. Bryden and I shared a tandem kayak, and we were given an hour to paddle around. Kayaking was a great way to see the bay. We were able to explore caves, kayak around the karsts, and jump into the water. Following the kayaking we ate an amazing meal on the boat full of seafood, super tasty spring rolls, tofu, rice, vegetables, and much more. One of the most interesting parts of the meal was sitting with a Taiwanese man who had retired in California who was currently traveling through southeast Asia, consulting with hotels and hostels. His goal was to teach “local cooling”, which showed the hotel and hostel owners how to reduce heat in their building efficiently and effectively. It was a very worthy cause to fight, and he was a very energetic and interesting person.
Following lunch we stopped off at a small beach in the bay to jump off the boat and swim for a minute, and then we traveled to Monkey Island. On the surface us tourists appeared to be the monkeys on the island, but as we hiked up to one of the jagged, difficult to access peaks we were able to look down and ignore the swarms of people and see a truly staggering tropical bay. The island was stunning from the macro point of view, so we stayed on the peak as long as we could, and when it was time to leave we hiked down and joined the tour.
After returning to the bay I ended up falling asleep quite quickly, as the long days and heat and sun had worn me out, and the relaxing day was over.
Halong Bay was definitely worth a visit. The cruise was relaxing, very well organized, full of other great people, and a lot of fun. Even though our intent on this trip was to try and avoid most touristy areas so we could get a more realistic picture of what Vietnam is like, some areas are touristy for a reason, and we would have regretted not visiting the bay if we had chosen not to. Although not a lot happened today outside of our cruise, it was a very beautiful and relaxing day, and we would recommend taking at least a half day cruise of the bay if the opportunity presents itself.