#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Vietnam, Nepal and Burma  Travel Forum >  >  Ha Long Bay, Vn: anyone been?

## katie23

Hi all, as the title says, anyone been on a tour of Ha Long Bay? If yes, is the water clear and good for swimming/diving from the boat?

Did anyone go on the overnight tour? If yes, was it nice or worth it? Or just go with a day tour? Which tour group or company did you use?

A friend told me that the Ha Long Bay tour is similar to the Palawan islands tour - limestone karsts, etc, but that the waters in Palawan are clearer. I'm inquiring for another friend who plans to go there with her family. They're the touring/ shopping/FB type, not the mongering type. 

She's debating whether to go to the North (Hanoi, Halong) or South (Saigon, Cu Chi tunnels, Mekong Delta). I have gone to the South but never been oop Norf. They plan to go in January, so weather should be good, no monsoons. 

Thanks in advance!  :Smile:

----------


## Neverna

I went on a day tour from Hanoi. As far as I recall, the water was clear.

----------


## Iceman123

I was there in 2011. We spent the night on one of the tour boats of which there were many. Wasn't bad but my fellow guests were a fairly timid lot and I was jealous of the partygoers on the other boats that looked they were having a bit of a party.

The water was filthy, plastic bags and bottles floating about all over the place. It may have been cleaned up since. They supply kayaks for you to paddle about on, but we definitely gave the swimming a miss.

During the next day we were taken to a couple of tourist stops including a pearl harvesting set up.

My summation is that Halong bay looks much better in the brochures than in the flesh.

----------


## misskit

Several years back I went to Halong Bay. The weather was terrible so no blue waters at all. Quite dirty. I was totally unimpressed and annoyed we had wasted our time. My favorite place in Vietnam was Hoi An.

----------


## redhaze

> Hi all, as the title says, anyone been on a tour of Ha Long Bay? If yes, is the water clear and good for swimming/diving from the boat?


I was there about seven years ago or so. The water was infested with garbage, more or less. We still jumped from the boat though. It was still fun. I don't think we were literally diving into garbage, but its all over in the water there




> Did anyone go on the overnight tour? If yes, was it nice or worth it? Or just go with a day tour? Which tour group or company did you use?


Yeah, did the overnight. Even bought into a "VIP" boat, which in retrospect was clearly a sales gimmick because our boat was a shitty as all the other boats. They didn't feed us enough and everyone was hungry after dinner. Meanwhile, the workers were gorging themselves on dishes that we much better than what we ate and not offered to us. Then all the workers got drunk with each other, and asking for a beer that you paid for seemed like it was a giant inconvenience for them.

It was still fun to spend the night though, and the mist around the mountains at sunrise almost made all the other shit worth it. If you just want to see it, a day tour would probably be fine though. 

Don't let them sell you on a VIP boat in Hanoi, once you get to Ha Long you will totally end up on the same shitty boat as everyone else. Can't remember the company name we got the tickets from but honestly I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. Google reviews on the topic more or less confirm that they are all selling the same shitty tickets filled with disappointment and shattered dreams. You'll waste your time trying to get a refund after the fact, so just take it all for what it is if you decide to go.

----------


## redhaze

> My favorite place in Vietnam was Hoi An.


I agree, Hoi An is nice. I found Dalat to be a nice little place as well. Hanoi is worth going just for the food (unlike most the rest of the country where the food is a mixed bag at best).

Overall I found Vietnam pretty disappointing as a travel destination

----------


## david44

It'll be cool I go to Delta and Phu Quoc 25 min flight or even overland via Snooky and Kompot which are both worth a visit, they do seem to have learned dual pricing fromm the thais but at least I can read the menus, even if not understand them, food is great .Even a day trip to marshes opp Can Tho worthwhile , many tours from $20 up strating in Saigon hotel door to door pick up lunch , but Delta is a geeat place worth a few days, I also like Hue and Dalat ,(Dalat will be cold in winter20ish and as low as 12-15 at night).

Did I mention the Delta ladies

----------


## redhaze

> I also like Hue


I almost died on a blood soaked hospital bed in Hue. The blood wasn't mine. The hospital bathroom was an inch deep in feces with no bum gun or TP in the bathroom or for sale anywhere near the hospital. Not exactly conducive to a severe intestinal infection and 109 degree fever caused by food poisoning. 

One guy banged up in a moto-cy accident died looking right at me no more than two feet away in the bed just next to mine. I wasn't far behind, the hospital staff was basically reading me my last rights.

One smart doctor finally diagnosed me correctly just when it seemed the end was nigh.

This whole experience sort of turned me off from Hue.

Never go to a hospital in Vietnam

----------


## Norton

Bobcock was there but all pics are gone. So has he.  :Smile: 
This as well.
https://teakdoor.com/vietnam-nepal-an...long-sapa.html

----------


## terry57

Katie Darlink,

I shall give you the good oil on Halong Bay.  

Given it's not a river or an ocean but just a bay relying on tidal movement it all depends on what time of the year one goes  to how how clean or dirty it will be.

Think off any Asian beach, if ya go in the monsoon the beach is covered in shit and totally disgusting, go high season they are glorious. 

Halong  bay is never glorious  because of the lack of flowing water, it's more like how dirty or clean it is at the time of year you visit. 

Regards swimming, good fookin luck with that Katie.  I would not put my toe in it simply because of the chance of catching leprosy.

We took an overnight tour but took the option of being dropped of at Cat-Ba island and spending the night in a Hotel and finishing the tour the next day.

Fantastic call on our part. 

Consider this but do go see Halong Bay.  Nice tour.

Just don't swim in the shit house eh. 

Look around at all the boats there, they all discharge huge amounts of human shit into Halong bay every fookin  day. ??????

Have a nice trip Katie. 

All good.   :Smile:

----------


## mudcat

In March 2012 we did a loop from our Hanoi hotel to a boat to and through Halong Bay.  Avoided VIP anything as the reason to go is visual and not fine lodging/dining, make reservations on the ground instead of getting sold a 'grand' tour.  Spent two or three nights in Cat Be including a day trip back to the Bay for kayaking and up to a park.  Avoid wintertime as it was the only time I ever experienced wet not damp walls in a hotel (warmish water coldish air = condensation).  Circled back to Hanoi through Haiphong to NiMH Binh(?) for a paddle boat trip through the karst formations along a river.  Train back to Hanoi.

----------


## terry57

^

The overnight boat trip could be a very long night if ya don't want to get pissed up and Party on. 

Hence why we said, Fook that, and bunked up on Cat-Ba. 

Anyway, Halong is quite a beautiful area but unfortunately fuked up by mass tourism same as any other place. 

Ya still got go see it though.  

Just don't swim in the fookin sewage pond or sleep on the boat. 

If ya are a young fooker well maybe.

----------


## CaptainNemo

I went all the way across to Halong on a motorbike from Hanoi during Tet one year... it wasn't that good. All I remember was eating frogs legs and seeing a VN bird with uncharacteriscally gravity defying knockers by the sea-side.

----------


## katie23

Thanks all for the honest replies. I knew I could count on TD for a no-holds-barred review. 

As I've previously stated, I'm asking for a friend, not myself, but the info will be very helpful in case I want to take this trip in the future. I've read mixed reviews about the water. Some say it's okay, others say it's full of rubbish floating about. 

My friend will go to Vn for touring and maybe shopping, so a day trip will probably suffice. They'll get lots of ops for selfies with a day trip, so her FB fix will be catered to. I'll let her decide on whether to go on a day trip or O/N tour. 

Cheers all!  :Smile:

----------


## terry57

The thing is Katie it's quite a run out to Halong bay so doing the over night thing is a solid idea. 

The only question is whether ya want to overnight on the boat or bunk up on the Island.

Regards the quality of the water and the shit floating around it simply depends on the season.

----------


## katie23

^Yeah, I've read it's 2-3 hrs one way from Hanoi to Halong Bay. For a day tour, leave early morn then arrive back in Hanoi at night - a friend of a friend did that. It will be a drag in the bus, but it's doable. It depends on my friend B, the one who'll be doing the trip. She said they'll have roughly 5D/4N for the trip, so it depends on her how much sightseeing or shopping she wants to do.  She asked me to make an itinerary for her, as she knows that I travel. She's a good friend, so I'm doing this as a favor. 

I've already made an IT for her for the South, so I'll let her choose. The middle (Hoi An or Hue) is out of the question, since it's far & they have limited time. They prolly also don't want to take another flight while in Vn. Hanoi or Saigon is okay, since there are direct flights to both cities from Manila. So those are the considerations. Heck, I might even convince her to go to the South, since I'm more familiar with it & can give her more guidance for her trip. If she wants to go somewhere cool, I'll include Dalat in her IT. 

Thanks and cheers!

----------


## terry57

^

Well that amount of time is nothing so maybe drop Halong bay.  To do a day trip is a grind and also ya don't get to see the stuff ya see on the full over night trip.

----------


## redhaze

Halong _is_ out of the way. If I only had five days I would probably just stick to Halong Bay and Hanoi. More than two destinations in four nights really just isn't enjoyable.

----------


## Roger Ramjet

Went to Halong Bay and stayed on the mainland for 2 nights in February... Quite cold..... below 20 Deg C.   I arrived at the Hanoi Airport and had difficulty finding reliable information..Everything is focused on trapping tourist money....offering very expensive boat trips and VIP travel plans!  I did some quick blog reading and caught a metered cab to the Hanoi Bus station..( cheap!) then the locals bus to Halong Bay...very cheap.... 3 hours of very rough ride as the road is very potholed and rebuilding and upgrades everywhere.  It is hard to figure where to get off the bus but I arrived at about 7.00pm and got off where my Google maps showed the main market area which is where the locals mostly got off!   The whole seafront area is undergoing massive construction with a couple of Kilometers of huge multi story tourist hotels simultaneously under construction including all the big Western Hotel names.  The view out to the Islands is great and I located a very comfortable inexpensive (off season)3 star newly constructed hotel 100 meters from a large Seafront landscaped Park (also under construction) and about 1 kilometer from the locals market and the Fisherman's wharf.  The tourist boats were not obvious and I think maybe not running due to weather...but I enjoyed the market and fisherman's wharf area and was amazed at the scale of construction! Good place to keep clear of in another 12 months I think  as I expect tit will be full of Chinese tourists from top to bottom!...... But it was B Cold in February and I left a day early to Thailand to warm up!

----------


## OhOh

> ^Yeah, I've read it's 2-3 hrs one way from Hanoi to Halong Bay.


'arry flew from Halong to hanoi in a float plane. I took a "freight train" early morning from an out of town Hanoi station to Halong. Many locals taking veg to sell, sitting in the "guards" coach tasting the local brew and playing cards with the "inspectors". Cheap fare but expensive card games.

Halong city itself, is still under construction in many ways, lots of locals, Asians, frolicking in the sea from the man made beaches.

Old Hanoi very entertaining, excellent 5* hotels and delicious Asian/French at hand. Even ameristani junk food available if that's your thing. 

Stand still, for one moment, in the street and a man on a motorbike will offer whatever you desire. Delivery may not be what you asked for but as I turned them all down I may be wrong.  :Smile:

----------


## redhaze

> Stand still, for one moment, in the street and a man on a motorbike will offer whatever you desire.


With a cop just behind him too....

----------


## katie23

Thanks all, your reviews have been noted. Cheers!

----------


## OhOh

> With a cop just behind him too....


Isn't that always a risk?

----------


## redhaze

Its a known scam in VN, and I saw it happen.

----------


## hick

All in all, sounds like a place/tour to be avoided.

----------


## katie23

^hick, from your previous remarks, you're the type who doesn't like crowds and very touristy places. You haven't been to Petra or the pyramids at Giza, despite being the ME for some years already (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I read that in another thread). 

My friend is the type who takes selfies, is an FB addict and goes to the famous tourist spots in a place. She & her family also don't do drugs or alcohol, so less chances of getting the services of a motocy guy for stuff. So diff strokes for diff folks.   :Smile: 

I've prepared itineraries for my friend, one for oop North (including Halong Bay) & another for the South. I'll let her choose.

----------


## hick

You are correct, Katie.  :Smile:  

I avoid "hotspots" and crowded locations like the plague but occasionally get sucked in for the sake of my companion.  

Different strokes indeed.

----------


## Scottish Gary

I went 2 years ago.  Like everyone says the water is not clean and i never seen anybody swimming but you can kayak.  The kayaks are all 2 manned so if your on your own like i was they will find somebody for you to team up with.  Be careful when booking your boat. I went for a cheap one and the thing was a rust bucket.  Your better to pay a bit more for a decent one.  The rocks are amazing

----------


## hick

> Don't let them sell you on a VIP boat in Hanoi, once you get to Ha Long you will totally end up on the same shitty boat as everyone else.





> Be careful when booking your boat. I went for a cheap one and the thing was a rust bucket.  Your better to pay a bit more for a decent one.


Conflicting reports.  It's all so confusing,...what will I.....<sorry>  I forgot I wasn't going for a minute.  :Razz:

----------


## terry57

There are that many boats and companies working ha long bay that it's a throw of the dice to wether ya get a good tour. The Vietnamese do not mind ripping of the punters. Quite expert at it really. Sneaky little fukers.

----------


## redhaze

^This is all true. 

Its not about how much you pay, its just dumb luck. Maybe showing up and buying spot on site is the way to get the right boat. No predicting the crew though. They will likely be tossers regardless

----------


## Scottish Gary

> Conflicting reports.  It's all so confusing,...what will I.....<sorry>  I forgot I wasn't going for a minute.


 I saw boats in much better condition than mine and i just assumed they must have cost more but then again  maybe not

----------


## redhaze

I would have thought that too, until I paid more and literally wound up on the same boat and in the same cabin style with people who simply didn't request a nicer boat LMAO

----------


## terry57

The trouble with being a tourist is that at times ya got a just take ya chances with the local Scum.

Sometimes ya kick a winner and sometimes ya get reamed out.

Quite normal stuff really. 

The best course of action is knowing someone who can give ya the good oil.

----------


## dinhoecotour

Halong Bay is worth a visit - Overnight on a junk or on Cat Ba island (2D1N). If you have 3 days, I think you should head to Bai Tu Long Bay instead of Halong Bay - Less touristy or more beautiful.

----------


## Riviera

HaLong bay is wonderful, worth visit. You must be surprise with the scenic of the bay with thousands of island. I hope you have a good trip.

----------


## ChristineLamote

Halong Bay is one of amazing destination in Vietnam with a lot of wonderful places to see and things to do. When visiting there, you can not miss enjoy overnight on cruise tour because it is the best way to explore the beauty of Halong Bay

----------


## ChristineLamote

Overnight in cruise tour will amazing tour when visiting Halong Bay, so you should spend at least 1 night in cruise to enjoy amazing atmosphere of Halong Bay at night. You can refer wonderful cruise tour at https://www.halong-bay-tours.com/

----------

