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Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, located in Quang Ninh Province, in the northeast of Vietnam, and far from Ha Noi around 165 km. The name Ha Long means “descending dragon”. It is famous with thousands of wonderful island and islets. Most of them are limestone which has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. Another specific feature of Hạ Long Bay is the abundance of lakes inside the limestone islands.
(Halong Bay Cruises)
1. How to get to Halong Bay?
We have five ways to get to Ha Long Bay
By bus: It takes 2.5 hours from the central of Hanoi to the port of Ha Long Bay by the expressway system. And the price is also good for everyone
By train: If you want to travel like a local and you have time, please catch the train. It’s very cheap but it takes long time around 7 hours.
By motorbike: This is not the selection for most of guest but it is for young people. They like freedom, and active their time. Although it is rather tired and dangerous because it takes 5-6 hours to get Ha Long port
By private car: If you use private transportation, it only takes 3 hours from Ha Noi to Ha Long
By seaplane: It’s very quick to get to Ha Long Bay, just 45 minutes and you can see the beautiful view from plane but it is very expensive.
2. When to visit ? The best time to travel to Ha Long ?
In Vietnam, we have four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. So which seasons or which months we should travel to Ha Long? In order to choose the best time is not easy for many tourists. Because it depends on their time, work and financial budget…But when you have spare time to go, that is the best time.
(Halong Bay Cruises Tour)
Spring: It is the wettest season of the year, with drizzle and fog. Despite the weather is so cold, it is sunny. There are many things in Ha Long in Spring that make visitors be fascinated. You will have a chance to explore Vietnamese culture such as how people prepare for Tet Holiday either at Ha Long market or shopping center in the city, receive lucky money and try to taste lots of the difference traditional dishes.
Summer: People usually think to go to Ha Long in the summer for relaxing and away from the heat of the city. Often, the most crowded time is from April to July. If you choose to go Ha Long at this time, especially if you go on the weekend, you need to choose and book early. Otherwise, you won’t get a good place to stay!
Autumn: It is also a reasonable time to travel to Ha Long because the weather is now cool no longer too hot and harsh like summer, but not too cold, very suitable for those who do not want to visit Ha Long Bay. Like the crowd, want to enjoy the beauty of the sky, the fresh air.
Winter: Even though winter is not the best time to travel to Ha Long Bay, there are many things to do for you to experience here.There is no rain, no storm, the air is drier. However, the temperature is very cold to enjoy some outdoor activities like swimming, fishing and rowing kayak . But if you want a quiet place, not crowded, this may be the best time to go to Ha Long, because this is not the peak travel season for domestic tourists.
3. What can you see in Halong?
There are many attractive places and activities which you can visit and join in Ha Long Bay. Below are many among the best attractive places you can’t miss:
3.1 Sung Sot Cave
It should be on top must-visit destination when you are in Halong Bay. It located in Bo Hon Island, the center of Halong Bay. This cave is around 1000 square meters consisting of thousands of stalagmites and stalactites. It is the largest and also the most renowned, the most visited cave of all.
(Halong Bay Tour – Sung Sot Cave)
3.2. Cat Ba Island
is the largest island in Halong Bay. It is located off the coast of Hai Phong Cit It has clean beaches (named Cat Co 1 and Cat Co 2) which you can sunbath and swim during the summer.
(Ha Long Bay Cruises – Cat Ba Island)
3.3 Thien Cung Grottos:
It is situated on the south-west side the bay, 4 km from the wharf outside of Ha Long City. This grotto is recently discovered, one of the most beautiful grottoes in Ha Long Bay. It is nearly 10 000m² for wide. In this cave, we can see countless blocks of stalactites and stalagmites with strange shapes everywhere.
(Halong Bay – Thien Cung Grottos)
3.4 Me Cung Cave
It is located at a height of 25m on Lom Island. It is as fanciful and appealing as its name, is one of many famous attractions in Halong Bay. The entrance looks like a house roof which carves deep into the slopes of the island. You may get the feelings inside as if you are entering in a great palace of a Persian King.
(Halong Bay tour – Me Cung Cave)
3.5 Monkey Island
It is a famous popular tourist attraction is an ideal destination for swimming in the blue water. And here, the existence of many monkeys is of course the highlight of Monkey Island. The visitors will have chances to take photos or frisk with monkeys on boughs comfortably.
(Best cruise in Halong Bay – Monkey Island)
3.6 Cua Van Floating Village
It is the largest fishing village in Ha Long bay which is situated at Hung Thang commune. The village lies in a calm bay surrounded by islets and limestone mountains. At Cua Van fishing village, visitors can not only immerse themselves in a quiet and peaceful space, but also learn about the cultural life of fishermen, learn how to row boats, spread fishing nets, drop fishing rods to catch fish and shrimp…
(Halong Bay 1 day – Cua Van Floating Village)
3.7 Ti Top Island
It is located about 14 kilometers from Bai Chay tourist harbor. This is an island having a steep bank, an inclined bank with white flat sand and famous for a crescent moon shaped beach which has beautiful still blue waters and tranquility. Tourists can swim or climb to enjoy all views of island.
(Halong Bay two days – Titop Island)
3.8 Dau Go Cave
It is located on Dau Go Island or Wooden Head Island. This cave, from a far, looks like a jellyfish with a 90 step staircase. Discovering the inside, the beauty of the cave is a wonderful thing to do because it is extremely mysterious and surprising which you are lost in a fairy-tale place.
(Halong Tour – Dau Go Cave)
3.9 Tuan Chau Island
It is covered by pine forests and has many sloping hills and two man-made beaches with white and fine sand. The island has many attractions like animal circus club, the performing-seal club, cultural-sports center, rural market, villas, and ornamental fish lake,… It also offers plenty of activities for tourists such as sea fishing, canoes and parachute,…
(Best Halong Bay Tour – Tuan Chau Island)
3.10 Lan Ha Bay
It is located to the south of Halong Bay. Its area spreads over 7000 ha. There are many small and beautiful beaches lying at the bottom of mountains. So it is very easy for the guest to find a good place for camping overnight or organizing a private beach BBQ.
(Halong best cruise – Lan Ha Bay)
3.11 Bai Tu Long Bay
It is located in Ha Long bay’s Northeastern and has 158 km2 of total area with the population of 320,000 inhabitants who are residing on Van Don district, Quan Lan island and Ngoc Vung Island. There, you cansee Vung Vieng Fishing Village and Thien Canh Son Cave which you can get by walking through the jungle
(Halong Bay Tour – Bai Tu Long Bay)
3.12 Luon Cave
It is situated on Bo Hon Island, around 14 km south of Bai Chay Beach. You can see stalactites buds created for millions of years in many different shapes and sizes. It is like a tunnel which is long 100 meters, wide 4 meters and high 3 meters.
(Halong Cruise – Luon Cave)
4. What can you do in Ha Long Bay ?
When you visit Ha Long Bay, there have many activities for you to experience. Below are the interesting experiences you can’t miss.
(Ha Long Bay Tour)
Kayaking in Halong Bay:
It is vey regret if you travel to Ha Long but you don’t explore the bay by Kayak boat. It is an exciting activity to sit on a tiny kayak, row the paddle in the blue water and enjoy the natural scenery. You can go kayaking to visit fishing villages for both learn how to catch the fish of fishermen on the sea and admire the limestone islands.
Try to climb:
If you are the fans of sports and have a good health, you can conquer the thorny cliffs, the majestic corners of the mountains, cliffs, caves in Ha Long Bay. Or you can find some amazing hiking trails including 18 km trail climbing to the summit of the main peak.
Jump a Seaplane:
If you want to see how Halong Bay looks on above, you can join a seaplane tour around 25 minutes. With this experience, you will see many islands and islets which are scattered across the Gulf of Tonkin, along with beaches and towering sea cliffs.
Attending a Cooking Class:
This is an interesting activity for people who are keen on cooking and cuisine. The chef will teach you how to cook the Vietnamese traditional food and how to carve different types of vegetables and fruits. Joining in this class, you can enjoy the local delicious food and also know how to decorate on the dishes.
Swim and sunbath at Ha Long Bay beaches:
Ha Long Bay beaches are included Bai Chay Beach, Ti Top Beach, Tuan Chau Beach, Ngoc Vet Beac. You can swim in the clean and cool water or sunbath on these beaches on the summer and you will see how is wonderful. These help you to ease all of your tiredness, stress after working
Scuba-diving and snorkeling:
Halong Bay has hundreds of marine animals including shrimp, fish, starfish, holothurian, and numerous of stunning coral reefs and other Visitors come here, they can use the services like a scuba diving or snorkeling tour to observe the stunning coral reefs at the ocean’s bottom and learn about underwater life.
Enjoy the beauty of the sunset
After a long day full of physical activities on the beach like swimming and surfing, it’s time to sit quietly on the deck and see the sunset. This is really perfect for those who want to take professional photos in an extremely wonderful landscape. Observing the beautiful sunset on the beach gives visitors an unforgettable memory.
5. What can you eat in Ha Long Bay?
Halong Bay not only has beautiful natural landscapes but also many famous dishes from the sea. Below is the list of special dishes which you can’t miss when you have chance to visit Ha long City.
Grilled chopped squid: This is one of the famous dishes and considered as a brand food in Ha Long province. You can enjoy it with sticky rice for breakfast or lunch. Everyone is attracted by is its fresh and
Grilled oyster: There have the fresh oysters available in the small pond. You can choose the grilled oysters over the charcoal with onion and it is always hot when you enjoy. This is very taste dish here.
Sipunculus: Sipunculus is one of a kind of seafood which has only in Ha Long. It is a kind of sand worm which you can make a delicious dish with garlic. Sipunculus are very expensive, around 4 million / one kg because it is rare.
Horseshoe crab (Món sam biển): You can enjoy this dish in Gieng Don or Cao Xanh area. Horseshoe crab is an arthropod crustacean, also a special dish of Halong Bay. It can be processed some delicious and strange dishes such as: sweet and sour fried legs, blood pudding, sauteed with lemon grass, salad, fried horseshoe crab’s eggs, steamed, fried with vermicelli and so on..
Fried Snail with soya sauce: There have many kinds of snails with many ways to process. But you shouldn’t miss the fried snail with soya sauce when you visit Ha Long Bay.
Hoanh Bo soaked wine rice: This kind of wine is made from the local glutinous rice which is cooked and incubated. People enter the ferment leaves when glutinous rice fermented and soaked to the point. After a long time, it turns into alcohol and they put it into the jars to drink step by step. This wine has the taste like a little sour and sweet. It is very good for your digestion.
6. What itinerary can you choose?
We have many itineraries for you to choose. It depends on your time and your budget to choose the suitable itinerary for you and your family. Below are some itineraries and you can see the detail:
One day trip on Ha Long Cruise
Two days one night Trip
Three days two nights Trip