Ha Long Bay, Vietnam: Exploring one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World
- Esther
- Nov 10, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 4, 2020
Knowing that Ha Long Bay is famous for being one of the most beautiful places in Vietnam (and the world!), I was so excited to tick visiting this place off of my bucket list.
And after finishing a three-day cruise along it this morning, I can definitely say it was just as amazing as I’d hoped it would be!
The boat trip we ended up booking was a very kind birthday present from my Dad. We sorted it all through Lily’s Travel Agency (the same agency we used to book our trip to Sapa Valley) and they set us up with a really good (but still very affordable) cruise for two nights.
It turned out we’d made a very good choice booking through Lily’s because our boat, the Royal Palace, was really impressive. The best part of it was the top deck, where you could have a cocktail while looking out at the water and Ha Long’s jungle-covered islands.
We spent the morning of our first day taking in the amazing views and chatting with the rest of our group over lunch on the boat. After we’d eaten, we also got to kayak around the little islands, which was really fun (even though the kayaking was actually quite hard work!)
Sometime in the evening, we also stopped off at Ha Long’s famous Ti Top island, where we swam in the ocean and climbed up a few hundred steps to the viewpoint to catch an incredible sunset over Ha Long Bay.
That night on the Royal Palace, we had some 2 for 1 cocktails on the deck, followed by a tasty Vietnamese dinner with the rest of our group (while the staff ironically played music from the Titanic!)
The next morning, our boat sailed to Cat Ba island and dropped us off at the beautiful and secluded little beach resort where we'd be staying until the next day. We were basically free to do whatever we wanted on Cat Ba, so we spent the day sunbathing, swimming and kayaking around the islands.
After a super relaxing day, our group got to have a BBQ on the beach, then some karaoke (apparently the Vietnamese love to sing!) and a campfire on the beach at night.
On the third day, the weather was quite a bit cloudier, but Ha Long Bay was still beautiful in a different, more misty kind of way. We got up bright and early to start the morning with a trip to the Surprising Cave, where our tour guide, Toni, made us laugh with his huge amounts of enthusiasm for all the shapes he was showing us in the rocks.
Back on the boat, we had a spring roll making class and some lunch before it was finally time to say goodbye to the Royal Palace (whose staff all waved us off as we left) and make our way back to the harbour.
It's been an incredible couple of days in Ha Long Bay. The only downside I can think of to this place is that a lot of tourists come here all year round, so there are loads of boats everywhere (which can sometimes get in the way of the views) and at some of the more popular viewpoints and caves things can get pretty noisy and crowded.
Still, it’s not hard to see why so many people flock to Ha Long to see the incredible scenery. Ha Long Bay has definitely earned its title as a Natural Wonder of the World and it's been a highlight of my travelling so far. I don’t think any trip through Vietnam would be complete without it!
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