Vietnam: Happy Days At Halong Bay

HOW TO DO IT

Vietnam is renowned for Halong Bay and quite rightly too. It’s a stunning area that will make you feel like you’re in another world. However, there’s various different ways you can do it.

HIDEAWAY TOUR

There’s two main tours which cover Halong Bay and Hideaway is one of them. This is generally known as the better of the two as you get to drink and party but you’re not pressured into doing so. It is also the cheapest option so it’s a winner all round. You have different options depending on how long you have (you can do one night, two days or two nights, three days etc). The tour includes boat jumping, kayaking, a nights accommodation on a private island, a BBQ and you can do high speed tubing at an extra cost (€10). If I were to do it again, I reckon I’d go with Hideaway.

CASTAWAYS TOUR

The other major competitor is Castaways tour. This is supposedly more drinking focused and I know of a lot of people who have reported back that it felt a bit like being a fresher again amongst lots of 18 year olds on their "gap yah". It is also more expensive but other than that it seems pretty similar to Hideaway. Both these options are great for solo travellers who want to meet others but if you have a bigger group a different (and far cheaper) tour is worth considering.

OVERNIGHT CRUISES

When we went to Halong Bay Corona virus had hit Vietnam and Cat Ba had been closed down. Both Hideaway and Castaway tours go from Cat Ba Island so if we wanted to do Halong Bay we had to do a different cruise. We went with Cozy Bar cruise and it was definitely a good shout. It wasn't quite the party party that Hideaway and Castaways are, but the six of us had a right laugh. We were homed for the night in lovely cabins, had gorgeous buffet meals, and got to float in one of the most beautiful areas in the world. We also got to go to the largest cave in Halong Bay, Titop Island (which had a beach) and The Floating Pearl Museum. Oh, and if that wasn't enough we had a cooking class and kayaking to keep us entertained. To put it simply, we managed to fit a lot into 24 hours!

DAY CRUSIE

Our original plan was to stay on Cat Ba Island and take a day cruise round Halong Bay. I would recommend this as a lot of the activities Hideaway and a Castaway offer are doable elsewhere (Laos is the best place for tubing, we kayaked many a time in Thailand and we’d already had countless boat parties with jumping into the sea and drinking all day; most of which ended with a beach BBQ). If you want to see Halong Bay then doing a day cruise is definitely the cheapest, and probably most efficient option.

HALONG BAY

Cozy Bar Cruise

DAY 1

After the Hi Giang Loop we went back to a Hanoi, so for Halong Bay we got a transfer from the city. We paid £80 for the whole trip (including transfers) which was cheaper than both the Hideaway and Castaway's shortest tours. We were picked up from our hostel at 7:45AM, and after an explanation on why Cat Ba was closed (it was due to a 26 year old Vietnamese woman having got the Corona Virus from Italy and brining it to the island) our guide told us about Hanoi and what to expect on the tour. It was a four hour journey with a stop halfway at a strange sort of warehouse where you could buy food and, of all things, statues! There was also a section where disabled people where making gorgeous embroidery tapestries which was lovely to see.

We arrived around midday and had a smaller boat take us to the Cozy Bar cruise ship. When I say cruise ship, bear in mind there were 20 people on it so a total of 8 rooms. It was only little but it was perfect, with a bar, dining room and sun deck up top. Our rooms were so lovely and surprisingly spacious, we felt like we were on a proper retreat. We probably brought the average age down about 50 years but we couldn’t have been more content.

A table for six was laid for us to indulge in our delicious buffet lunch. Once again we were presented with lashings of tofu, rice, vegetables and hot chilli sauce (which I was slowly becoming addicted too)! We then had a chance to sunbathe on the top deck before arriving at Cam Hut Thuoc which translates to Surprise Cave. Well there certainly was a surprise inside (see if you can spot the interesting shaped rock ...).

Apparently, there are over 400 caves in Halong Bay, which is unbelievable, but this one was the largest. Once it had been fully explored, we headed to Titop Island. After some fruitful conversation, we arrived and the island was a bit of a construction site (at least it was still beautiful and peaceful whenever there wasn’t drilling going on)! We hiked up 425 steps to the viewpoint which did boast gorgeous views of the bay, before heading down to the beach.

We were all set up for a swim but we hadn’t anticipated such cold water (yes, we are wimps). We would have all got in had there been more variety in where we could go, but the swimming section was pretty limited and the water only went up to our waists. Instead, we hopped out and sunbathed as the sun started to drop down.

At 5:15PM it was back to the boat to watch the sun set; it was beautiful. We then had some quick showers before heading up to the sundeck for a cooking class. I say a cooking class, it was just making fresh spring rolls which were unfortunately pork based. Our guide did separate the noodles, carrot and cucumber for us, though, so we had a crack at it. I’d say Holly was downright awful, Grace was a minor improvement, Cez a little better than Grace and Helena’s was pretty impressive. Between all of us we just about scrambled together one successful roll.

We were also given wine before dinner which was a bonus! We had another buffet which was just as good, if not better, than lunch with the addition of spring rolls, dumplings, fried banana and other fried bits which could have been anything to be honest but we ate them anyway (rest assured we were told it was all completely veggie). We then grabbed our tinnies and headed to the sundeck for some drinks and music, before playing games around the table. Lauren, meanwhile, was playing scrabble ... with herself. It was a tense match between Lauren 1 and Lauren 2.

It started getting late and everyone seemed to be in bed having done some late night squid fishing (we passed on that) so we decided to head to our rooms too. Cez and I entered our luxurious abode for my first ever sleep on the sea.

DAY 2

Cez and I had set alarms for 6AM to see the sunrise but when I looked outside it didn’t look worth it so we drifted back off until 6:50AM. When we were woken for a second time by the delightful ear piercing sound of our alarms, we had a quick turn around before heading for breakfast. Cake, bananas and toast were consumed along with some noodles and rice (I passed on the latter, savoury just doesn’t cut it for me in the mornings).

We then headed to the Pearl Museum which was floating on the water. It was actually really interesting being told how oysters make pearls (they take the membrane from the oyster then insert it back into the shell with a nucleus which over time forms a pearl. However, only 30% of oysters produce them). We then looked around the jewellery which wasn’t ridiculously expensive (surprisingly), we had our eyes on some £80 rings! We resisted buying anything (somehow) as whether or not pearls are cruelty free is a bit of a grey area (I thought best to err on the side of caution).

We then got to kayak so Helena and I splashed our way around the bay. Ceri and Lauren really mastered kayaking but Grace and Holly had a nightmare, they definitely pulled the short straw. They didn’t seem able to move or direct their kayak so the four of us left them behind (aren’t we nice) and explored the other side. Ceri and Lauren got stuck on a rock and almost capsized, but managed to hold it together before we all went into a cave. It was very funky but time was marching on so we rapidly paddled back to the floating village (which wasn’t really a floating village, it was more of a floating barge with some kayaks attached and an attempt at a building ... harsh but true)!

On our way out we spotted some huge (and I’m taking massive here) fish before going back to our Cozy Bar boat. We then checked out and went up to the sundeck for more sunbathing as they had to prepare the bedrooms for the next guests.

Our final hour on Halong Bay was dedicated to lunch (it was an early 11AM lunch as we were getting off the boat at 12 Midday and the next guests would be getting on at 1PM (they run a tight ship)! Once back on the land, we had a half an hour wait before our bus came to take us to Ninh Binh. I had really enjoyed Halong Bay, other than a few ciders and some rice wine this, along with the Hi Giang Loop, had been a real detox and chance to recuperate. I would say not to get your expectations too high though. The islands in Thailand are extremely beautiful and have alike structures stretching up from the sea. Koh Sok National Park is especially similar (it’s actually referred to as Thailand’s Halong Bay) so if you’ve already been there it may not seem quite as sensational. It’s also very touristy (unsurprisingly) and you do have to be lucky with the weather (which thankfully we were)! That being said, it's a bit of a must when in Vietnam and I can't imagine anyone being disappointed!