Choosing a Ha Long Bay Day Cruise Route

Choosing a Ha Long day cruise is mostly a matter of choosing a route. Each route has a code from VHL1 upward, a fixed list of stops and a published fee, so two tours on the same code see the same places. The questions below help you pick one.

Which route suits you?

You want caves and the famous rock islets. Take VHL1. It leaves from Tuan Chau or the Ha Long port and takes about 5 hours, with Thien Cung grotto and Dau Go cave, then the Ba Hang caves and the islets Cho Da, Dinh Huong and Trong Mai.

You want a beach, a big cave and a paddle. Take VHL2. It includes Ti Top beach, Sung Sot cave, Luon cave and the Tung Sau pearl lagoon. Sellers say it runs about 6 hours. Some listings also show Soi Sim beach, but it is closed to visitors.

You want to see how people live on the water. Take VHL3 for the Cua Van floating culture centre, Tien Ong cave, Ba Ham lake and Ba Men temple. The culture centre was suspended for upgrades from April 2024, so ask whether it is open.

You want quieter water. VHL4 visits Thay cave, Cong Do, Vung Vieng and Xep islet park.

You want one long day. VHL7 joins VHL1 to VHL4 and runs on day boats only. VHL8 is a low fee route near the White Bridge area, and VHL6 heads towards Gia Luan and Lan Ha.

What you pay

The official fee is per person per trip, and it is normally folded into the tour price. VHL1, VHL2 and VHL5 cost 250,000 VND (roughly $10 at 26,000 per dollar). VHL3 and VHL4 cost 200,000 VND. VHL6 is 150,000 VND, VHL7 is 600,000 VND and VHL8 is 70,000 VND. Port charges are separate. At the Ha Long International Passenger Port they are 80,000 VND return or 40,000 VND one way from 1 July 2026. A child under 1.2 m or under 7 pays nothing, and a child from 7 to under 16 gets 20 percent off. Details are on the Ha Long Bay Management Board site .

Timing

Caves open from 07:30. They close at 17:30 until 31 October and at 17:00 from 1 November. The sightseeing fee covers 06:30 to 18:30. Boats return to port by 19:00 in winter and 20:00 in summer, and the earliest departures are 05:30 in winter.

Checklist before you book

  1. Ask for the route code and the stop list in writing.
  2. Ask for the boat’s registration number and safety certificate.
  3. Ask whether the hull is steel or wood.
  4. Ask whether kayaking is included.
  5. Ask what happens if a typhoon warning cancels the sailing.

The UK Foreign Office suggests you consider safety standards carefully and wear a life jacket whenever you join a boat, and its travel advice is worth reading before you choose a boat. Typhoon warnings stop sailings at short notice.

No flights

Seaplane tours ended on 1 April 2026. Helicopter tours have been suspended nationwide since a crash near the bay in 2023. Any site selling a scenic flight over Ha Long is out of date.

Read more: Sightseeing in Ha Long describes the places these routes stop at.

Day cruises on every route can be searched on GetYourGuide .