Cruising Lan Ha Bay. The less touristy, more adventure and budget alternative to Halong Bay
Por Two World Backpackers
Halong Bay is one of the main places par excellence included in every traveller’s itinerary when organizing their route through Vietnam, and we were not going to be any less! We have been dreaming of seeing these karst formations for a long time. However, travelling on a low budget and not being a big fan of massive places, we started looking for an alternative. After reading several blogs and watching some videos on YouTube, we knew that Lan Ha Bay was the best option.
If you are planning your trip to Vietnam and like us, you travel on a low budget and don’t like hyper-touristy places, keep reading. In this blog, we tell you everything you need to know about Lan Ha Bay and our 2-day, 1-night cruise experience.
Table of Contents
Halong Bay and Lan Ha Bay
Halong Bay is located near Hanoi and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so it is no surprise that it receives millions of visitors every year from all over the world. It is known for its emerald waters and more than 1,600 impressive limestone karsts, so the only way to enjoy this wonderful spectacle is with a cruise.
The only problem is that it is too touristy and its high price is not affordable for many, especially for backpackers like us or those travelling on a more limited budget. But don’t worry, Lan Ha Bay, with its 300 islands and islets, is just as beautiful but less visited, cheaper and cleaner! Since we have read that unfortunately, there is a lot of garbage in Halong Bay.
How to arrive to Lan Ha Bay?
The cruise that tours Lan Ha Bay departs from Cat Ba Island, which we also recommend visiting if you have time.
We decided to arrive in Cat Ba the day before, but many people decided to come from Hanoi. So here we leave you several options:
From Hanoi:
- Transportation included in the cruise reservation: Many cruises offer the option of including transportation to/from the boat in the reservation, so you don’t have to worry about organizing it on your own.
- Bus + ferry: If you want to organize it on your own, you can take a bus to Cat Ba. Many companies already include the price of the ferry to the island, but be sure to check before purchasing the ticket. The journey takes about 3 hours in total and the price starts at €8. Please note that boats depart from Ben Beo Port in Cat Ba.
From Tam Coc, Ninh Binh:
- Transportation included in the cruise reservation: Many cruises offer the option of including transportation to/from the boat in the reservation, so you don’t have to worry about organizing it on your own.
- Bus + ferry: We got the bus with the ferry included in the tickets for 200,000VND (€7.33) per person which also included pick-up at the hotel in Tam Coc, bus + ferry, water, and drop off to the hotel in Cat Ba or the port of Ben Beo, depending on where you go. We hire it in front of the lake at the BOOKING OFFICE TOURIST INFORMATION store, you can also contact them through Whatsapp (+84) 911170707. Always confirm what it includes.
From Cat Ba:
- We chose to arrive from Ninh Binh the day before the excursion and spend one more night on the island after the experience, to visit the island. So we walked from the hotel to Ben Beo port, about 20 minutes. You can also go by taxi or electric car, but be careful, you will have to haggle very well because they are going to ask you about 100,000 VND (€3.66) for a 5-minute ride, which seemed crazy to us.
Now that we know how to get there, let’s get to the important part… What company did we do the tour with and what was our experience like?
Cozy Boutique Cruise Company
If you thought that there would be fewer cruise offers in Lan Ha Bay because it is less visited than Halong Bay, you are wrong. There are many options for all budgets and after checking several reviews, we found the right one: Cozy Boutique Cruise, which invited us to do the 2-day and 1-night tour. But as always, we tell you our sincere opinion.
This company consists of different vessels with 2 (Ocean Cruise 06), 3 (Ocean Cruise 09), 4 (Ocean Cruise 08), 9 (Ocean Cruise 07) and up to 11 (Cozy Boutique) perfectly equipped rooms, so it is perfect for share the experience with friends, family or everyone at the same time.
You can choose between 2 types of tours:
– 2 Days and 1 Night
– 3 Days and 2 Nights
We spent the 2 days and 1 night at the Cozy Boutique, which includes a welcome drink, lunch, snack, dinner, accommodation, breakfast, brunch, and activities such as kayaking, swimming, cooking classes, fishing, karaoke, visiting a fishing village by bike or electric car, fish massage and entrances fee to the bay. However, drinks are not included. There is water in the cabins, but we would have liked water on the tables at meal times.
Regarding the price, this varies depending on the boat chosen, the number of people and the dates selected.
We recommend doing the 2 days and 1 night, but if your budget or time is tighter, don’t worry, many companies offer a full-day excursion.
Our experience
Taking a cruise through Halong Bay, or Lan Ha in this case, was something we were very excited about since we had been dreaming about it for a long time and seeing thousands of photos and videos. And the truth is that it was truly wonderful!
We decided to arrive the day before from Ninh Binh to visit the island of Cat Ba and arrive more relaxed the next morning at the port of Ben Beo. We also found accommodation just 20 minutes’ walk from there. What we didn’t count on is that half of those 20 minutes was going up a hill at 11 am with all the heat… You can imagine how we got to the cruise.
Upon arrival we were greeted by Mr. Long, who very kindly gave us the passes and, along with the rest of the passengers, took us to our guide, Mr. Singh, and to a small boat that would take us to the Cozy Boutique Cruise. So now, let’s start this wonderful adventure!
As soon as we arrived at the boat, they took us to the restaurant where we saw 4 tables already prepared for the 3 families that accompanied us and ourselves. They gave us a delicious welcome watermelon juice while they did a briefing of the tour we were going to take. Once the explanation was over, we checked into our room.
The Cozy Boutique Cruise is absolutely beautiful. It has 11 fully equipped rooms with a very comfortable bed where we slept wonderfully, a wardrobe, and a large clean bathroom with hot water, but the best of all is that the rooms on the first floor have a small balcony where you can enjoy the wonderful views of the bay, and we were lucky enough to be staying in one of them! So imagine being able to enjoy that spectacle of karst formations from a super comfortable bed, or simply sit on the balcony to look at the views with a coffee or, why not, a beer. Simply spectacular. According to Andrés, he would have been just as happy if he had had to stay in the room for the entire tour, haha.
Regarding the rest of the ship, what can I say, it is equally beautiful, on the first floor you can find the restaurant, while on the top floor, you will find the bar and a sundeck area to sunbathe, take millions of photos like we did, or just relax.
Once settled, it was Andrés’ favourite part, the food! Although he started out suffering, since he doesn’t like soups and he was embarrassed to say so, that’s what was for the first course, he ended up enjoying lunch like a little child. They served us mantis shrimp, fried fish, squid with sautéed vegetables with oyster sauce, some broccoli with carrots and if all this were not enough, steamed rice and bacon with potatoes in a delicious sauce, as well as watermelon for dessert. So, we pigged out!
Of course, they ask you if you like everything or if you have any dietary requirements. Don’t do like Andrés and say it. haha
After this delicious meal, we had a little free time before starting the activities. The first one was 2 hours of kayaking, where they also left us a waterproof backpack so we could store our things during the activity. By the way, if I tell you that there are beaches in some of the karst formations, would you believe me? Well yes! And we were able to enjoy one of them for ourselves and thus protect ourselves from the sun for a while before continuing with the kayak.
Upon returning to the boat, we began with the “competition” of jumping into the water from the boat or free time to swim around it. Around 5 pm they served some fruit and snacks on the sundeck next to the bar while we enjoyed the fantastic views around us and the sunset.
Around 6:00 p.m. we did a cooking class where we learned how to prepare fresh Vietnamese rolls, which we had not yet tried in the month we had been in Vietnam, so it was great for us.
At 7:00 p.m. dinner was ready, and if the food was delicious, dinner was not far behind! This time there was a tomato salad with cucumber, French fries, chicken wings with a delicious sweet and sour sauce, barbecue bacon with a honey, soy and lime sauce that was superb, barbecue squid and shrimp, some oysters with grilled vegetables and very delicious sauce, and for dessert, passion fruit yoghurt. Anyway, we haven’t eaten this well in a long time.
After dinner, around 8:00 p.m. there were two more activities, squid fishing and karaoke. In our case, no one dared to sing and we all decided to fish, although it must be said that no one caught anything.
As expected, that night we slept like a baby and although we wanted to get up to see the sunrise, we slept in. Of course, we started the morning at 6.30 am with some Thai Chi classes, which was a real discovery, especially for Andrés.
At 07:00 am we enjoyed a buffet breakfast with toast, yoghurt, pancakes, noodles, and lots of fruit along with a good Vietnamese coffee as we headed to the fishing village of Viet Hai.
Upon arriving at the port of Viet Hai, we could choose between going by bike or electric car to the town, which is 5km away. They advised us to go by electric car since we wanted to take photos and videos, and since we are always so obedient, we did so. Viet Hai is part of a Natural Park, so you can imagine the wonderful landscapes we saw.
Once in the small town, a fish massage awaited us, which was our first experience and was a bit strange since… what a bites!
Back on the boat, we had about 15 minutes of free time for one last dip before heading back to Cat Ba. At 10:00 am we checked out of the rooms with great sadness since we did not want to leave. But first, it was time to enjoy a small brunch. This time there was salad, Vietnamese fried rolls, steamed rice and a beef stew with potatoes and carrots that was delicious.
At 11:45 am we arrived at the port and began to disembark. Some people had booked transportation back to Hanoi but since we decided to spend one more night on the island of Cat Ba, we walked with a full stomach to the hotel.
It was certainly an incredible experience that we recommend to everyone. For low-budget travellers like us, we also recommend doing at least the 2-day, 1-night tour to enjoy more of the views and live the full experience. You won’t regret it. Of course, we recommend doing it with the company Cozy Boutique since the staff is incredible, especially our guide Singh who goes out of his way to ensure that customers are enjoying their experience. The room is great, the bed is very comfortable, and the food… as we have said before, is the best we have eaten in these 10 months of travelling!
If you would like to live this experience, you can book through Booking.com or here we leave you their contact:
Whatsapp & Tel.: (+84)981559268
Email: info@cozyboutiquecruise.com
Instagram: @cozyboutiquecruise
Website: www.cozyboutiquecruise.com
Hanoi Office Address: No 105, Lane 36 Hai Ba Trung Street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, Vietnam
Other useful links to save on your trip:
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