Halong Bay is considered one of the must-see destinations in Northern Vietnam. But there are various articles on the internet suggesting that this is a 'tourist-trap' that is best avoided, and that tourism is actually contributing to the ruin of this ecological gem! It is a complex issue and no one blog or article is going to uncover all the answers. This is just a few observations from our time visiting Halong Bay.
But first, for those that are asking, 'what is Halong Bay?'
Halong Bay is a World Heritage Site situated on the Northern Vietnamese coast about 150km from the Chinese border. The main attraction here is the limestone pinnacles and islands that fill the bay. Depending on who you ask, the number of pinnacles and islands varies from about 1,500 to about 4,000. I don't think it matters which number is correct, there are a lot of them!
A trip to Halong Bay, for most tourists, starts in Hanoi, and consists of a four hour drive before embarking on a tour of the bay by boat. Some people will do this trip in a day, which I think means 4 hours on the road, 4 hours on the water, and then another 4 hours on the road. This does not sound like a relaxing day out, and I would recommend avoiding this option if you can.
The next option, which seems to be the most popular, is to spend a night on-board the boat. This means that you have a half day either side to enjoy some time in Halong Bay.
The option that we went for, and which I think gives a better overview of Halong Bay, is to spend two nights on the boat, and to have the extra day to explore some of the quieter parts of Halong Bay.
After boarding the boat and being shown to our rooms, it took about two hours to get from the harbour to the location where we would be anchored for the night. We were told that there are three locations within Halong Bay where boats can drop anchor for the night, and that each boat needs to reserve its spot ahead of time. Whilst this means that you can forget about your boat heading off to some secluded spot, it does have a few other benefits:
And so we headed out through the limestone pinnacles towards the spot where we would be spending the night along with a flotilla of other tourist boats. After arriving at our destination, the afternoon's activities included kayaking and a visit to Ti Top Island. This kayaking / Ti Top island combo seems to be the popular choice for a lot of the boats.
For the kayaking we were taken to Luon Cave. After paddling through a short cave you arrive in a small bay completely surrounded by high limestone rock. The only way in and out of this bay is through the cave, and because of the high surrounding rock, it is completely protected from any wind. This makes it the ideal spot for kayaking, even if it is your first time. But if this isn't enough to entice you on to the water, another option is to take a ride on a bamboo boat which is rowed by a local.
After the kayaking it was off to Ti Top Island. Ti Top Island is named after the Russian Cosmonaut Gherman Titop, who visited this island in 1962. But the reason for visiting Ti Top Island is the view from the top. There is also a small beach at Ti Top Island for those looking to have a swim. Unfortunately though Ti Top Island is right next to one of the anchorage areas, and the water is not clean. So it's not a great spot for swimming, but if the tide is low enough it is a great spot to just sit on the beach and enjoy an ice-cream.
The next day we said goodbye to our fellow passengers, as we were the only ones staying a second night, and headed to Ti Top Island to meet up with our tour group for the day. Our tour group for the day consisted of several other travellers from various boats that had also signed up for 2 or more nights. After our group had assembled we were taken out by boat to explore some of the quieter parts of Halong Bay. Our day out exploring included more kayaking, a visit to a cave, a short break to enjoy a swim, and a visit to a pearl farm. It was great to see the other side of Halong Bay, where the water is cleaner, the bay is quieter, and the experience is even more relaxing.
After our day out we were reunited with the Phoenix Cruiser, our boat that we were staying on, and a new group of passengers that had been picked up earlier in the day. Once again we ended the day with sun-downers on the deck and another excellent meal.
Our final day in Halong Bay included a trip to Hang Sung Sot (Surprise Cave) and a lesson in making spring rolls. The spring roll making lesson was really just about rolling raw spring rolls with a filling that had been pre-made and leaving the frying of the spring rolls to the chef. But the visit to Hang Sung Sot was fantastic.
My expectations for the spring roll making lessons included having a full hands-on experience. Because we were only taking part in one small part of the spring roll making process, it felt a bit like we had been cheated out of the full experience.
However, if my expectations for visiting Hang Sung Sot were to simply to see another limestone cave, these expectations were blown away. Firstly it is the size of the cave that is awesome. It really is big. The main cavern is high and long, and just when you think you have reached the back, you realise that around the corner it still has more to offer. And then there is the fantastic lighting throughout the cave. Whilst some might say that the lighting is 'artificial' or 'fake', the reality is that you wouldn't see much if the cave wasn't lit. Yes the different coloured lights might seem a bit overdone, but it actually makes the cave feel alive and gives a great atmosphere.
I think that your experience of Halong Bay is what you make of it.
If you come out here hoping to fit as much as possible into a short period of time, you might be disappointed.
If you come out here expecting to see only pristine beauty and clean water, you might be disappointed.
If however you come out here with a bit of extra time to spare, realising that some small parts of Halong Bay have been impacted by tourism, but that there is a much larger area that is beautiful and untouched, you might just be surprised. The irony of course is that those that complain about Halong Bay being a tourist trap and a site that is being destroyed by the impacts of tourism, are probably those that are only seeing the small part of Halong Bay where tourism is being concentrated to ensure that the larger area is not negatively impacted by tourism.
Next up: Sapa
But first, for those that are asking, 'what is Halong Bay?'
Halong Bay is a World Heritage Site situated on the Northern Vietnamese coast about 150km from the Chinese border. The main attraction here is the limestone pinnacles and islands that fill the bay. Depending on who you ask, the number of pinnacles and islands varies from about 1,500 to about 4,000. I don't think it matters which number is correct, there are a lot of them!
A trip to Halong Bay, for most tourists, starts in Hanoi, and consists of a four hour drive before embarking on a tour of the bay by boat. Some people will do this trip in a day, which I think means 4 hours on the road, 4 hours on the water, and then another 4 hours on the road. This does not sound like a relaxing day out, and I would recommend avoiding this option if you can.
The next option, which seems to be the most popular, is to spend a night on-board the boat. This means that you have a half day either side to enjoy some time in Halong Bay.
The option that we went for, and which I think gives a better overview of Halong Bay, is to spend two nights on the boat, and to have the extra day to explore some of the quieter parts of Halong Bay.
The view from our boat, from the harbour, out towards Halong Bay
Heading out to one of the anchorage areas within Halong Bay
After boarding the boat and being shown to our rooms, it took about two hours to get from the harbour to the location where we would be anchored for the night. We were told that there are three locations within Halong Bay where boats can drop anchor for the night, and that each boat needs to reserve its spot ahead of time. Whilst this means that you can forget about your boat heading off to some secluded spot, it does have a few other benefits:
- The lights of the surrounding boats at night can be quite pretty; and
- From a practical point of view, it means that it is easier to control litter and any potential pollution as it is generally confined to these three locations.
And so we headed out through the limestone pinnacles towards the spot where we would be spending the night along with a flotilla of other tourist boats. After arriving at our destination, the afternoon's activities included kayaking and a visit to Ti Top Island. This kayaking / Ti Top island combo seems to be the popular choice for a lot of the boats.
For the kayaking we were taken to Luon Cave. After paddling through a short cave you arrive in a small bay completely surrounded by high limestone rock. The only way in and out of this bay is through the cave, and because of the high surrounding rock, it is completely protected from any wind. This makes it the ideal spot for kayaking, even if it is your first time. But if this isn't enough to entice you on to the water, another option is to take a ride on a bamboo boat which is rowed by a local.
After the kayaking it was off to Ti Top Island. Ti Top Island is named after the Russian Cosmonaut Gherman Titop, who visited this island in 1962. But the reason for visiting Ti Top Island is the view from the top. There is also a small beach at Ti Top Island for those looking to have a swim. Unfortunately though Ti Top Island is right next to one of the anchorage areas, and the water is not clean. So it's not a great spot for swimming, but if the tide is low enough it is a great spot to just sit on the beach and enjoy an ice-cream.
View from Ti Top Island, above and below
Green bean and cereal ice-cream. Actually much tastier than it sounds!
Then it was back to the boat to enjoy sunset, and start getting ready for dinner. Whilst I can't vouch for the other tour boats, the meals that we had on our boat were fantastic. Dinner on the first night consisted of about 6 or 7 different courses, all extremely tasty!
The next day we said goodbye to our fellow passengers, as we were the only ones staying a second night, and headed to Ti Top Island to meet up with our tour group for the day. Our tour group for the day consisted of several other travellers from various boats that had also signed up for 2 or more nights. After our group had assembled we were taken out by boat to explore some of the quieter parts of Halong Bay. Our day out exploring included more kayaking, a visit to a cave, a short break to enjoy a swim, and a visit to a pearl farm. It was great to see the other side of Halong Bay, where the water is cleaner, the bay is quieter, and the experience is even more relaxing.
After our day out we were reunited with the Phoenix Cruiser, our boat that we were staying on, and a new group of passengers that had been picked up earlier in the day. Once again we ended the day with sun-downers on the deck and another excellent meal.
Our final day in Halong Bay included a trip to Hang Sung Sot (Surprise Cave) and a lesson in making spring rolls. The spring roll making lesson was really just about rolling raw spring rolls with a filling that had been pre-made and leaving the frying of the spring rolls to the chef. But the visit to Hang Sung Sot was fantastic.
My expectations for the spring roll making lessons included having a full hands-on experience. Because we were only taking part in one small part of the spring roll making process, it felt a bit like we had been cheated out of the full experience.
However, if my expectations for visiting Hang Sung Sot were to simply to see another limestone cave, these expectations were blown away. Firstly it is the size of the cave that is awesome. It really is big. The main cavern is high and long, and just when you think you have reached the back, you realise that around the corner it still has more to offer. And then there is the fantastic lighting throughout the cave. Whilst some might say that the lighting is 'artificial' or 'fake', the reality is that you wouldn't see much if the cave wasn't lit. Yes the different coloured lights might seem a bit overdone, but it actually makes the cave feel alive and gives a great atmosphere.
Hang Sung Sot (Surprise Cave)
The main cavern, Hang Sung Sot
View from Hang Sung Sot
Heading back to the harbour
A mostly peaceful video clip of Halong Bay, interrupted only by a couple speed boats
I think that your experience of Halong Bay is what you make of it.
If you come out here hoping to fit as much as possible into a short period of time, you might be disappointed.
If you come out here expecting to see only pristine beauty and clean water, you might be disappointed.
If however you come out here with a bit of extra time to spare, realising that some small parts of Halong Bay have been impacted by tourism, but that there is a much larger area that is beautiful and untouched, you might just be surprised. The irony of course is that those that complain about Halong Bay being a tourist trap and a site that is being destroyed by the impacts of tourism, are probably those that are only seeing the small part of Halong Bay where tourism is being concentrated to ensure that the larger area is not negatively impacted by tourism.
Next up: Sapa
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