Halong Bay is a unique natural phenomenon. It has more than 3,000 islands, islets and rocks of sometimes incredible shapes. Since 1994, the bay has been included in the UNESCO list, and since 2011 it has been one of the 7 new wonders of nature.
As is usually the case with the Vietnamese, a beautiful legend is associated with the bay. Halong is translated as "where the dragon descended into the sea." Once upon a time there was a large island, and a dragon lived in its mountains. One day a dragon came down from the mountains and crushed Ha Long Island with its tail. Thus, depressions and hollows appeared, which, after the dragon plunged into the sea, were filled with water, and only small islands and rocks remained above the surface of the water.
Halong Bay is not only the small picturesque karst rocks that we see in guidebooks. There are also large islands, such as Tuan Chau (the island, the former residence of the ruler of Ho Chi Minh City) and (the largest island of the bay).
Surprise for the Russians: there is an island in the bay named after the Soviet cosmonaut German Titova. The island was named personally by Ho Chi Minh City in 1962, when the astronaut first visited Vietnam.
This visit happened in winter (so that you understand, it is very cold in the north of Vietnam in winter, especially in the bay, penetrated by all winds). Leader Ho Chi Minh personally accompanied German Titov during his boat trip around Halong. But then the sun came out, and Titov expressed a desire to swim in the "ice" by the standards of the Vietnamese, the water - its temperature was 16 degrees. For the sake of such a great cosmonaut and Ho Chi Minh accompanying him, they took a boat to the nearest island, which at that time had no name, but was designated only as No. 46, where the astronaut safely completed his swim. This impressed the Vietnamese leader so much that, embracing the cosmonauts by the shoulders, he solemnly presented this island to him, giving the unremarkable island No. 46 the name of the Soviet cosmonaut.
However, the name of the astronaut was written in the Vietnamese manner - Ti Top(they don't like long words). Usually a visit to Titov Island is included only in the 3 days and 2 nights program (if you buy a ready-made group tour, and do not organize it individually).
Titov Island
Weather in Halong
Since the bay is located in the northern part of Vietnam, it is often quite cool here (and frankly cold in winter) and it rains very often. In winter, it will most likely be rainy and foggy in Halong, so you will observe all the beauty of the bay in a foggy haze. If possible, it is better to guess the best time of the year to visit Halong. This will provide you with the most beautiful photos and unalloyed positive emotions.
The best time to visit Ha Long is spring (from mid-March to the end of May) and autumn (all of September and October). We visited it in April.
November, December and January are the coldest and foggiest time in Ha Long, and specifically from September to October. Swimming on the heavenly beaches of the bay will definitely not work.
And in summer it is quite warm in the bay, but the probability of precipitation is the highest in a year.
Excursion to Halong from Hanoi
There are three types of tours from Hanoi to Halong:
- 1 day (no overnight stay). Price - from $ 28
- 2 days 1 night (overnight on Cat Ba island). Price - from $ 75
- 2 days 1 night (overnight on the ship). Price - from $ 70
- 3 days 2 nights (one night on the ship, the second on the island). Price - from $ 130
We ourselves were late with the purchase of the tour, and bought it only at 10 pm on the eve of the trip. At this time, they could only offer us an excursion with one night on the island, which we were very happy about: we didn’t want to sleep on the ship.
One more nuance: if you choose an excursion with an overnight stay on a ship, we highly recommend choosing more expensive options. Because the cheapest excursions mean the worst ships and living conditions. We got on just such a ship: it was still not bad to sit on the deck, but it would be scary to spend the night on such a ruin. Especially after the Junk sank in Halong in 2011(as these small pleasure boats are called here) with tourists.
On February 17, 2011, a disaster occurred in Halong Bay. At 5 am local time, a tourist boat sank. It is also tragic that at this time all the tourists on the ship were sleeping, and many simply did not have time to understand that they were going to the bottom. Then 12 foreign tourists died, among whom were 2 tourists from Russia.
If you spend the night on a ship, then it is better on this one:
Or like this: 
And this is our boat, it’s not very comfortable to spend the night on this one:
To Halong on your own
If time permits, a great option would be to live on Cat Ba for a few days and buy a tour of Halong right on the island. Firstly, because you will be able to navigate the weather and choose the sunniest possible day for a trip around the bay. And secondly, we will be able to see with our own eyes the ship on which you are offered to sail and choose the best one (and not a “pig in a poke”, as happens with those who buy an excursion in Hanoi).
International crowd. Everyone got to know each other very quickly and communicated cheerfully to the best of their English)
Denis met his namesake from Germany
There are 4 real floating villages in Halong Bay, with about 1600 inhabitants, most of whom have never set foot on solid land.
Villagers earn extra money by selling water, beer and all sorts of snacks to tourists on ships. And tourists are happy to buy all sorts of drinks from them, because on the ship the prices for them are more expensive.
It is worth mentioning that in any excursion drinks are not included in the price, and in a bar they cost 3-4 times more expensive than on the “mainland”.
The beauty of Halong is certainly mesmerizing. Every minute we observe more and more new rocks, caves, islands:
Luon Cave and Kayaking
Our boat entered the quiet bay of Luon Cave, where there were several other ships.
Tourists were offered kayaks or boats with paddlers to explore the lagoon and the caves located here.
Since the kayaks were only doubles (not the triples we used in Thai), we went out to explore the lagoon in a boat with a few tourists who didn't want to kayak. It is worth mentioning that you cannot swim inside the lagoon on motor boats, so we only choose between kayaks and rowing boats.
And it’s good that we ended up on a boat, because we would be afraid to take a camera on a kayak and would be left without very beautiful pictures.
After a leisurely boat trip around the bay, we swam into the same cave Luon Cave. It is small and rather low:
And behind the cave was a lagoon, quiet and picturesque:
Vanya, as usual, made friends among friendly Asians:
Kind girl from Cambodia
And a funny guy from Myanmar
If you're sailing the lagoon on a rowboat, please don't forget to thank him with a tip!
Luon Caves in Halong Bay on the map:
Halong bay from Nha Trang: price
If you are relaxing in the south of Vietnam, in Nha Trang, but really want to see the north of the country, then you have such an opportunity. Travel agencies in Nha Trang offer tours to Halong Bay for about $ 445 per person ( $ 80 of which air tickets are made up). The duration of this tour is 2 days and 2 nights.
You can organize your tour on your own by purchasing Nha Trang-Hanoi-Nha Trang tickets. In this case, you can buy any excursion in Hanoi you like, with at least one, at least two or three overnight stays in the bay. And at the same time you will have the opportunity to explore the Vietnamese capital.
