Our clients said about their Hanoi tours Vietnam to Halong bay and Sapa with us
See what they said about Hanoi tour Vietnam to Halong and Sapa with us
See our clients said about their Hanoi Halong bay Sapa tour package with us
Sapa Halong bay tour from Hanoi reviews by our clients
Why book Halong bay Sapa tour package with us
Review from our clients for their Sapa Halong bay tour package with us
Our travelers as your Halong tripadvisor
Everything you need to know on your Halong bay tours:
97% travelers to Halong bay have great time. in 3%, some booked wrong cruises - cabin onboard is not good, food not good.... as it is low quality boats. Some booked wrong itinerary as it should be 2 day or 3 day. One day is too rush with near 8 hours on road. Some complains the food and drinks are too expensive.
In other words, you are cheated by staff on the cruise. What will you do in this case? you can talk with them or call the hotline in Halong bay: 033.6282.282 - 0913.265.009. We recieved the information that some travelers got help from them.
No wonder why Halong bay is the top of must-do things on Vietnam holiday. However, some tourists still complain and feel unsatisfied for booking Halong bay tours with their Vietnam tour operators. Here are some travel tips to make your Halong bay trips unforgettable.
Food Satisfaction: Most of the food abroad is seafood. Your Halong bay tour will take place on the bay or on water, so food has to be prepared before departure. If you have any special requests on food. Example, you can not eat seafood, shellfish, prawn, beef, checken..... You should tell us while you book your Halong bay tour or at least the day before your Halong trip. Something like this: I can't eat seafood but fish is fine, or no seafood but meat is fine. There will be enough time for us to prepare. If you forget to inform this, the staff will try their best but not much choice.
When is the best time to go to Halong bay? Halong bay looks so different from hot weather with blue sky to cold weather with cloud and mist. Summer time starts from April to July. It is also rainy season. However, it does not rain all the time. Normally it rains about half or hour in the afternoon. It does not affect your Halong bay tours at all. I am sure this is the best time of the year to see Halong bay. It is "Paradise on Earth". From November to the end of March, it is winter time here with some sunny days. The weather is sometimes cold and very foggy. However, Halong bay still is so beautiful and considered as top of all Vietnam holidays. Sometimes it is so foggy that the local authority does not allow Halong bay cruises to go out( for your safety).
Halong Bay Tour Activities:
+ Kayaking is great adventure for your Halong bay tour. However, it is suitable for young tourists or those whom has good physical levels. Our travel tips for kayaking tours: must wear life jackets because you are not professional at kayaking, the kayak may be upsidedown. Take water-proof bags for your camera. Do not kayak after dark in Halong bay. It is so easy to get lost. Remember your boat name. If you get lost, you come to the closest boat and tell them your boat, they will help you. The best place to do kayaking tour in Halong bay is Ba Hang, Sung Sot and Hang Luon caves; Cong Do, Vung Vieng, Cua Van floating Villages; Tip Top island, 3 Peach beaches.
floating village, swimming, moutain climming, cave visiting, squid fishing, sampan rowing, treking
Why join 1 day, 2 day, 3 day Halong bay tours?
From Hanoi to Halong bay, it takes about 3.5hours to 4hours for one way. It depends on the traffic. So, about 8hours for 2way drive and 4 hour cruise in Halong bay all come to 12hour for 1 day Halong bay tour. It seems tired for you. However, if you do not have alot of time, it is worth to join 1 day Halong tour.
Definitely, it is much more wonderful to join 2 day Halong bay tour with overnight onboard. Normally, check in from 12:15 and check out at about 11:00am. You will have more time to see Halong bay and also chances to see sunset and sunrise over most charming bay in the world. Most tourists to Vietnam take this trip.
It will be the best to join 3 day Halong bay tour if you have time. You will get lost on the "Paradise on Earth" on the second day of Halong bay trip. Cruise Halong bay to most untouched, quite and stunning nature. This trip in Halong bay will highlight your lifetime travel. We highlighly recommend you to take this tour.
Should we book 4 day or 5 day Halong bay tours Vietnam? Definitely not. It will be boreing as the same activiest will repeat from the day 4 like sailing around beautiful karsted islands, cave exploring, swimming, kayaking, visiting fishing village. Recommend going to Cat Ba island for hiking in the forest. There are so many beautiful travel destinations in Vietnam for you to discover.
How to choose your best cruise in Halong bay? I am sure you have heard before that "Cheap not good, Good not cheap". Don't book the cheapest Halong bay tours. The service is not good. The risk is high. You may hear some accidents in Halong bay before. Some foriegn and Vietnamese tourists died. More information on this accident.
You should know what you are looking for. Luxury, Adventure or Combination. Our tip is you should book at least mid-range cruises from 3star. The food is good. The cabin is good. The staff is good. They care your satisfaction. If your budgets are good, you should consider upgrading to Luxury level.
Check how old the cruise is and if the cruise has glass windows ornot. The junks with wooden windows are old. Check how big your cabin is.
On your Research: Look for reviews of Halong bay cruises on internet. You will find out reviews and posts on many websites and forums. Many of them are fake and convince you their boats are the best. Some reviews are posted for wrong cruises as well. A good tour operator will help you alot. Tell them what you are looking for and ask them for recommendations. Ask if they could provide clients' contact, you contact them directly to know how they enjoy their Halong bay tours.
Why is the color of the boat not same as you see on the internet? Do not complain for that. They do not treat you. Before coming to Halong bay, you can see different coloured boats on internet. However, the local government forces all the cruises in Halong bay to change into White color. So far, many tourists have said that is a stupid decision. Many websites do not change their photos and hope the junks can return to their original colors sometime in the future.
Where to book Halong bay tour in Hanoi?
There are three ways to book your Halong bay tour. If you have very tight budget for Halong bay trip, you can shop at the old quarter in Hanoi, looking for a cheap boat with packpackers. The service and quality is on average. Another way to book trip to Halong bay is to contact the Halong junks directly. The cruise officers are not so good at English and slow because they are there mainly to answer the tour companies' requests in Vietnamese. You may have to wait a few days to get back. At that time, it may be full. Moreover, you can not know which is the best cruise for your style. The most favorite way to book your Halong bay holiday is to contact Vietnam tour operator like us. Tell us your style and get the best advice for your cruise over 500 boats in Halong bay. We are not the representative of any cruises, so we will recommend the best one. We are working for your friends recommended to us in short future.
How to go to Halong bay? There are 3 different ways to go to Halong Bay.
By public transportation: it is cheap, but inconvenient and dangerous. You have to go by taxi from you hotel to Gia Lam or Luong Yen bus stations. Take the bus from here to Bai Chay bus station. Then, take taxi to Halong piers. There are Tuan Chau, Bay Chay, Hoang Gia, Hon Gai... Halong bay cruise piers for different boats. It takes at least 4.5 hours by this kind of transportation because the bus stop many times on the ways to pick passengers waiting on the road side. Sometimes our customers really want to taste the local traffic and after taking one way to Halong bay. They said the bus runs like terrorists on the way. For the way back to Hanoi, they would like to take our private van.
The second way to go to Halong bay is by chartered helicopter. It is great to see the panoramic scenery of Halong bay from the helicopter. The cost for private helicopter is really expensive about 15 000 USD. It can hold up to 12 people. If the cost does not a matter, Halong bay tour by helicoper would be nice. It takes about 45 minutes from Gialam airport to Halong bay.
The third way to go to Halong bay is by private car, van and bus. 99.8% of tourists to Halong bay choose. It is convenient with pick-up and drop off at your hotel and our proffessional drivers know all the piers for Halong bay cruises. More than that, you can stop for great photos on the way. See the cost of Hanoi To Halong Bay Transport here
Why can't our boat go out? but other Halong bay cruises are going out: This case happen sometimes. For safety reasons, there are some cases the local authorities do not allow the boats to go out: very foggy, very windy or storm comes soon. Many day trip junks have just gone out 5 minutes you land in the pier, but your boat can not go now. This is because the time they went out was fine with the safety. However, when you arrive the wind comes to the 6 level, the local goverment will stop the boat from going out but let other cruises have already gone out to continue their trips in Halong bay. It seems strange but it is here.
Our tip for you in this case is to wait 1, 2 hours or may have lunch in Halong city first. Many times, they allow to cruise Halong bay again. If you join 2 days Halong bay tour, stay in Halong bay city tonight and do 1 day Halong bay trip the next day.
Safety: Before boarding the tender to transfer to your cruise, you must wear life jacket. Ask them to give you if they forget. There are some steps to take before getting on the tender, so be careful - on the rainy days, it may be slippery. Onboard, normally they will give you safety instructions. Ask them to provide if they forget. Example, where they put life jackets and hammers to break the glass window in need. When your cruise start leaving the pier, stay inside and do not touch the outside of the windows or the frame. You may get hurt when 2 boats kiss each other. You can go on sundesk of the cruise when it leave the pier about 200m.
Misunderstanding: The price of drinks: Normally there is a list of the drinks with price. If they bring only a tray of drinks to invite you, you should ask the cost first. The price of the drinks is different from one cruise to another. Ex: soft drink may cost from 1.5USD to 2.5USD. Wine is from 20USD to 69USD/bottle....
Their rooom with flowers, but our room not. When you book your Halong bay tours, your Vietnam tour operator knows this day is your birthday or some important evens of your life. They will pay the boat to arrange some flowers, cake, bottle of wine.... in your room to make this trip memoriable. The other tourists also have important evens but have nothing because their tour operator do not arrange anything for them. Do not complain for that.
acciendents in Halong bay tours?
security instruction
Why do we have to start our Halong bay tour early at 7:45am
We know it is your holiday in Vietnam and you also may know only 170Km from Hanoi to Halong bay. However, it takes 3.5 hours to go for 170km. This is because some parts of the way through towns and cities allows only 50km/hour and most of the cruises in Halong bay depart at 12:15. It is also too hard for the drivers to drive over 3hours. It also needs stop for toilet one time.