The World at Your Fingertips

Published in Attractions / Places of Interest

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Ha long Bay, Vietnam. Photo: Thierry Borie/Wikipedia (PD)

"Ha Long" means "Bay of Descending Dragons" though prior to the 19th century this name was not recorded in any document or archive. When mentioning the present-day Quang Ninh Sea or Ha Long Bay, old histories often referred to them by the names of An Bang, Luc Thuy or Van Don. Not until the late-19th century did the name of Ha Long Bay appear on a French maritime chart.

The Hai Phong News, a French newspaper of the time, had an article, Dragon appears on Ha Long Bay, reporting the following story: In 1898 a sub-lieutenant named Lagredin, skipper of the Avalanse, reported seeing a huge sea snake in Ha Long Bay. This was also witnessed by many of the crew. Thus emerged the European image of the Asian dragon. Whether this appearance of a strange animal resembling a dragon resulted in the name of Ha Long Bay is unknown.

Islands

The Ha Long Bay archipelago is made up of 1,969 islands, both inhabited and uninhabited. These can be accessed from various ports, though in the special case of Cat Ba you can also arrive either by car, motorbike or bus (via Haiphong) or combined bus/boat (from Hanoi via Halong City).

• Ban Sen, a thickly forested, almost uninhabited island reachable by ferries to Quan Lan from Cai Rong.

• Cat Ba, the home of the endangered Cat Ba langur, a national park, numerous caves and the most popular destination in Ha Long Bay for tourists. It can either accessed by local bus and ferry from Hanoi's Lương Yên bus station (recommended), by tourist boat from Halong City (a five hour "hard sell" ordeal; this is what the hordes of Hanoi package tourists do), or by local bus or ferry from Haiphong (less scenic).

• Quan Lạn, a historically significant outlying island with the beginnings of some tourism infrastructure and some beautiful beaches. Reachable by ferry from Cai Rong or also (reportedly) from Halong City.

• Van Don, a large island that is well inhabited, little visited by tourists and connected by road to the mainland near Cửa Ông.

Climate

The climate of the bay is tropical, wet, sea islands, with two seasons: hot and moist summer, and dry and cold winter. The average temperature is from 15 °C- 25 °C, and annual rainfall is between 2 meters and 2.2 meters. Ha Long Bay has the typical diurnal tide system (tide amplitude ranges from 3.5-4m). The salinity is from 31 to 34.5MT in the dry season and lower in the rainy season.

Get in

There are a number of domestic connections, particularly to the ports of Halong City and Haiphong.

• From Hanoi

— Independently

From Hanoi, you can take a minibus from Gia Lam bus station. Tickets are 90,000 dong, takes approximately 4 hours and the bus will pick up passengers along the way. Air conditioning is minimal, so be prepared to sweat in summer. Larger-sized tourists will not find it to be a pleasant journey, but it is a authentic Vietnamese experience.

You can also hire a private car from Noi bai airport or Hanoi city centre to Halong Bay. There are many providers.

Another way is to go to Halong Bay by seaplane. The trip takes only 45 minutes from Hanoi.The flight can be extended to include an additional 15-minute scenic tour over the bay, which allows you to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the thousands of limestone karsts and remote fishing villages before landing at Tuan Chau Island Marina.

— As a mass tourist bound for Cat Ba Island.

The vast majority of tourists take a 'tour'. This consists of a morning shuttle bus from their hotel or an agent in central Hanoi to a Halong Port controlled by a mafia that basically only ships people to Cat Ba Island. This gives you the least possible options but can be an easy alternative for time-short tourists.

If you do choose this option, standards vary considerably: while comfortable (or even luxurious) boats, excellent food and knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides may be available, most are characterised by long and crowded bus journies, rip-off trips on boats so slow you could swim faster (to get you to buy more food and drink on board), hard-sell add-ons such as brief stops for kayaking, water cave visits and other shady practices. If you must visit Cat Ba, then you can avoid the tourist port entirely by crossing from Haiphong.

— Internationally.

• From Nanning in China's Guangxi province, the Nanning International Tourist Distribution Center (有爱南路10号(中华路口); Yǒuàinánlù shí hào (zhōnghuá lùkǒu); #10 You'ai Nanlu on the corner of Zhonghua Lu) provides daily buses to Halong City (170元, 8 hours) at 07:30.

• You can cross the border to Mong Cai and take a taxi from there to Halong Bai.

Get around

The islands can be accessed from various ports:

• Cai Rong, a small port serving the northeastern archipelago.

• Halong City, spanning a portion of the northern part of the archipelago. There are several ports here; at least one port exists that is wholly distinct from the tourist boat piers.

• Haiphong, a large historic port city at the mouth of the Red River.

What to See and Do in Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km2, including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an area of 334 km2 with a high density of 775 islets.

The geo-diversity of the environment in the area has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea shore biosystem. Ha Long Bay is home to 14 endemic floral species and 60 endemic faunal species.

Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Dau Go (Wooden stakes cave) is the largest grotto in the Ha Long area. French tourists visited in the late 19th century, and named the cave Grotte des Merveilles. Its three large chambers contain large numerous stalactites and stalagmites.

A community of around 1,600 people live on Ha Long Bay in four fishing villages: Cua Van, Ba Hang, Cong Tau and Vong Vieng in Hung Thang commune, Ha Long city. They live on floating houses and are sustained through fishing and marine aquaculture (cultivating marine biota), plying the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks.

Many of the islands have acquired their names as a result of interpretation of their unusual shapes. Such names include Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting cock), Khi Islet (monkey), and Mai Nha Islet (roof). 989 of the islands have been given names. Birds and animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and lizard also live on some of the islands.

Almost all these islands are as individual towers in a classic fenglin landscape with heights from 50m to 100m, and height/width ratios of up to about six.

Another specific feature of Ha Long Bay is the abundance of lakes inside the limestone islands. For example, Dau Be island has six enclosed lakes. All these island lakes occupy drowned dolines within fengcong karst.

There are a number of beautiful beaches on the smaller islands. It is best to avoid beaches and swimming until you get to the islands: Depending on the winds, the beach water can be a varying combination between a garbage dump and crystal clear water.

That said, here are things you can choose to do: cruise, kayaking, explore caves, visit floating villages, swimming, sunbathing, reading on board, Tai Chi, sightseeing, taking photos, cooking class.

Eat

Tu hài is an expensive gourmet shellfish associated with the Van Don Island district, sometimes called 'snail spout'. It is reputed to have a particularly unique and unforgettable taste. It can be prepared in soup or salads, steamed or baked. Steamed tu hài is sweet and cool, and sometimes mixed with spices.

Go next

• To the south there is the neighboring bay Bai Tu Long Bay and coastal town of Haiphong.

• Hanoi is 170 km to the west.

• To the north, you would first reach Mong Cai and Dongxing on the Chinese border and then other destinations in China's Guangxi province. (Wikivoyage, Wikipedia)

Caves of Hạ Long Bay.

Fishing Village in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

Cave in Cat Ba Island.