Cruising Through Vietnam’s Magical Bai Tu Long Bay
I have fond memories of my Ha Long Bay cruise. I visited what is now one of Vietnam’s most famous destinations 13 years ago when Aaron and I were baby backpackers. Like every other budget traveler, we booked a super cheap Ha Long Bay cruise on a rickety junk boat and spent three blissful days sailing past towering limestone karsts, jumping off the roof deck into the turquoise water, and drinking Saigon Special beers every night with our newfound friends. Ha Long Bay, as I remember it, was magical.
When I was mapping out my 2-week itinerary for my mom and sister’s big Vietnam trip back in April, I thought back to that trip and just knew that a Ha Long Bay cruise was a must-do for my family.
But a lot has changed in the past decade.
First, I’m not a backpacker anymore. While I’m down to rough it and I’m still Miss Frugal, I’m not sure I want to revisit that fairly-sketchy, rat-infested junk boat we stayed on 13 years ago. Plus, there’s no way I would expect my mom to go into full backpacker mode. (Though that would be pretty amazing and she’d probably be down.)
Second, tourism in Vietnam has boomed in the last decade, which means Ha Long Bay is a lot more crowded and polluted compared to when I visited. When I started reading reviews for Ha Long Bay cruises, I got really dejected. Travelers were talking about vast amounts of garbage floating in the water, hundreds of boats sailing side by side through the clogged bay, and nightmarish tour experiences. It turns out that over-tourism is a serious issue in Ha Long Bay. To put it in perspective, 20 million tourists are expected to visit the bay in 2020.
After reading bad review after bad review of Ha Long Bay, even my mom started to question my thinking, so I started to research alternatives. And that’s when I found out about the Bai Tu Long Bay cruise.
Bai Tu Long Bay is kind of like the new Ha Long Bay. Located to the northeast of Ha Long Bay, it’s a bit further afield but well worth the extra effort to reach. Bai Tu Long Bay is a part of the same UNESCO World Heritage Site as Ha Long Bay. The area consists of roughly 2,000 limestone formations that jut out of the ocean creating an otherworldly landscape. I mean, there’s a reason tourists flock to Ha Long Bay – it’s beautiful.
Bai Tu Long Bay was previously closed to all tour companies, which is why it’s still considered to be a more “off-the-beaten-path” version of Ha Long Bay. However, the government allowed a handful of tour companies to start operating in the area a few years ago. During my visit, I spotted no more than 10 other small cruise ships at any given time.
As someone who has visited both destinations, I can say that Bai Tu Long Bay is equally as stunning as its more famous neighbor but it is far less crowded and much more peaceful and pristine.
But there is a catch.
A Bai Tu Long Bay cruise is generally more expensive than those ubiquitous, budget-friendly junk boats that populate Ha Long Bay. I think Aaron and I paid $45 for our three-day tour back in the day. This time around, my sister and I shared a room for a grand total of $440. Just a tad bit more expensive!
That being said, this was a special occasion and I wanted our experience to be a memorable one for my family. Plus, this tour was way more luxurious than my Ha Long Bay cruise. After a ton of research, we decided to do a 3-day/2-night Bai Tu Long Bay cruise with Halong Paloma Cruises. (Note: This post is not sponsored and I do genuinely recommend this tour.)
The trip started off embarrassingly enough. Our group of 40 shipmates gathered in a small waiting room at the harbor to check in. As they were calling out each group over a microphone, I suddenly heard “Justin Bieber? Is Justin Beiber here?” I sheepishly rose my hand and could feel all eyes on me.
Let me explain. People all over Asia are baffled by the fact that I’m a girl who is named Justine (with an “E” on the end). The “E” just throws everything off. Most just brush off the whole Justeen pronunciation and say, “Justin, like Justin Beiber!” Honestly, that’s what I’m called every place I go in Vietnam. The staff on the cruise didn’t even call my sister by her name. She was referred to as “Justin Beiber’s sister” the entire trip, which only confused every guest on board. We laughed about this a lot.
Aaanyway…Once we got onto the ship we all felt a little less guilty about shelling out so much money for the cruise. The ship was large enough to be comfortable but small enough for us to make friends with almost all of the 37 other passengers. The beds were super comfortable, the rooms and bathrooms were surprisingly spacious and luxurious, and the rooftop deck was the perfect place to lounge about and marvel at the beauty of Bai Tu Long Bay.
After sailing around, eating the first of many amazing meals, hiking to a hidden beach and a stunning cave, we were given the option of kayaking around the limestone karsts right before sunset.
To be honest, I was kinda nervous. I have a knack of making a fool out of myself in public. Like that time I fell into a pool in Hoi An or when I fell off a curb in Phnom Penh, twisted my ankle and stood bloody and desperate on the side of the road. I can be clumsy. I just knew I was going to fall into the water or keep paddling around in circles.
To make things even more awkward, all of the kayaks were tandem which meant my mom and I had to control this thing together. If it’s not obvious by now, neither of us had ever kayaked before. We managed to very ungracefully sit down in the kayak. We came uncomfortably close to tipping over but we didn’t fall into the water. Go us!
It took a bit of adjusting but my mom and I quickly fell into a groove. And guess what? We love kayaking! No, we weren’t as fast as everyone else. But we did it. It was a really magical experience just cruising around the emerald bay with my mom and watching the sun sink into the ocean and turn the limestone karsts pink. It’s honestly one of my all-time favorite travel moments.
I loved my Bai Tu Long Bay cruise experience. My sister and I woke up to watch the sunrise over the misty bay and its countless limestone formations, my mom and I conquered our fear of kayaking (well, maybe it was my fear of making a fool of myself), and we all ate our weight in Vietnamese food at every meal. Man, they really do feed you on those tours. The three of us definitely had the most fun out of everyone on that ship. We drank, we laughed, we swam, we played cards, we gabbed. It was just so nice.
By the end of the trip, we all agreed that opting to visit Bai Tu Long Bay instead of Ha Long Bay was hands down the right choice for us.
Honestly, I feel so lucky that I was able to experience Ha Long Bay before the major tourism boom. And I feel the same about my visit to Bai Tu Long Bay. I think we all got to experience something pretty magical. I’m guessing that in 13 years, Bai Tu Long Bay will be a much different place.
Why I chose Paloma’s Bai Tu Long Bay cruise:
When it came to choosing a Bai Tu Long Bay cruise, I did a lot of research and discussed different options at length with my family. Cruises seem to range from $100-$500 and you can choose from a 1-night or 2-night tour. If you have the time I highly recommend the 2-night tour. Everyone I met who did the 1-night cruise regretted their decision.
My sister and I really wanted a tour that included kayaking, whereas my mom was ambivalent about kayaking. One thing that’s nice about this cruise is that you don’t have to kayak but you can if you want to. So it’s a good choice for those traveling with kids and those who aren’t physically able to kayak. That being said, everyone who had small children took the kayaks out and had a blast!
We booked the most basic room on this boat, which ran us about $420 per room for a 3-day/2-night cruise. We did go during the high season and I booked directly through the website. At the time I didn’t realize you can book this cruise through Agoda, which at the time or writing has it for $220. Oops. The price includes everything from the transfer to and from Hanoi to kayaking sessions on both days to all the very lavish meals. The only thing you need to pay for is your own drinks and booze. We snuck some onboard because we like to keep it classy! Come to think of it, I’m fairly certain Aaron and I did the same thing on our Ha Long Bay cruise 13 years ago. Some things never change!
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Have you been to Ha Long Bay or Bai Tu Long Bay? Which do you prefer?
