Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site so in my short time there I thought it made sense to experience it, and honestly it was spectacular. I also wanted to experience a cruise, after hearing so much about them from my friend Maria 🛳️

Given that it’s the main thing to do in Ha Long, there are a lot of different options. I went with Carnival Cruises – felt it had the best selection of activities, I jacuzzi (which I love), and it started a little bit later, so I had some buffer time after the half marathon.

Cruise

The cruise started at 10:30am sharp. I arrived at 10:29, due to a taxi mix-up. So started with a bit of stress but everything went smoothly once aboard. Our host was called Mr Bean and is an absolute legend.

Me and Viet Bean

It was a holiday weekend so there were lots of Vietnamese on the cruise, though I got seated by a fellow European – Alexandre, a wine seller from France, who was dead on.

About half an hour after leaving we were served a beautiful buffet. We then had a chance to explore the boat and take in the sights as the ship approached the first destination.

Lots of views like this

Caves

We transferred from the cruise ship into a smaller boat to bring us over to our first stop, Song Sot Cave. It was roasting outside but nice and cool inside, and just really impressive to see. The boat picked us up the other side and brought us back to the ship.

View from the cave entrance

View from inside the cave

Kayak

Next up was a fun speedboat ride before having half an hour to splash about in a kayak. Myself and Alexandre joined up and went under the arch to an epic lagoon. Once again, it was very hot in the sun but we paddled over to the shade which was nice and cool, before returning.

Chill

Our final stop was a beach island that had a hut on top of it. Having done a half marathon that morning, I was a bit spent in terms of physical activity so gave it a miss, then made myself at home in the jacuzzi at the back of the ship. This was lovely and I basically dossed about here as we returned to land.

Juicey juice and jacuzzi

So Long, Ha Long

A very worthwhile trip and I’m delighted to have done it, despite my early start. In truth, there’s not much else to do in Ha Long, and lots of the cruises even leave from Hanoi, but for me it was a nice way to top off the time in Ha Long. Conked for a bit once home, before getting up for some food, and then back to bed for an early night.