What‘s Included

Reviews

• Absolutely worth it.

  Laura M,

  May 15, 2024

  - Viator

  5.00

  The experience was amazing, the food on the boat was great, and we had a great time. They picked us up on time at our hotel and dropped us off at the end of the day. After some of the negative reviews I was a little skeptical but I'm glad I booked it anyway, the bay is one of the most beautiful things I've seen and this tour was just right for us. The transitions sometimes can be a bit tricky, but they work with you and you have people to call if you're confused about anything. Tony, our guide was delightful and we had a great day.

• Beautiful place but disorganised tour

  Joseph G,

  Dec 19, 2023

  - Viator

  3.00

  Overall, it was a long day where we went to beautiful places without too many tourists. However, we did fewer activities than described in the tour advertising and the tour company did not adequately communicate to us about what to expect. Overall, we think this experience was not worth the price we paid. The pros: - Nice and informative guide on the boat. He was professional and did his job very well. - Beautiful scenery (kayaking was delightful and a highlight for us). The cons: - Limited communication from the tour company about what to expect. The first and last 3 hours are just spent driving or on a grotty car ferry that is open to the elements (you have to stay out of the car for the ferry journey). It would have been good to know that we needed to bring breakfast and to expect not to be comfortable on the car ferry. This journey would have been fine had we been told what to expect. - The fish farm. This wasn't advertised as a stop on the tour and was a bit sad to see big fish in such small enclosures. - There were fewer activities than described. Hiking was advertised as part of the tour although this did not occur. This was a real shame as we were looking forward for this. Also, swimming at multiple sites was discussed. We only swam at one location after lunch.

• Not recommended

  Ulrike K,

  Dec 14, 2023

  - Viator

  1.00

  I was picked up early in hanoi. Then we had to go to pick up another couple. Unfortunately, the driver didn‘t find their hotel, so started in hanoi with a delay! The driver also couldn’t speak any english. Due to the delay, we missed our ferry. At the ferry port to cat ba, we were left by ourselves without a guide! with google translator, we were told that someone would pick us up at the other side! I received a whatsapp message from the organiser but the other couple didn‘t, so I always had to inform them! When we arrived the boat for the tour, me and the couple were told that we can‘t do the full day as we have to go back to hanoi. So we had to leave straight after lunch (1.30PM) even though the tour was booked for 5PM. We were picked up with a dodgy fisher boat, and it wasn‘t a nice ride back! when we arrived back at the island, we had to take a bus which picked up all the backpackers from different hotels. So if you book this trip, you will end up just travelling to pick up other tourists or backpackers. The deal was that you will also be dropped at the place where you were picked up. The bus driver said he can’t do it! After I complained with the organisers, the bus driver changed his mind! However, as the bus driver took a different route (to drop off everyone in the old quarter) and traffic was horrible, I decided to walk back to the hotel! If I had known about everything before, I wouldn’t have booked this trip! It’s absolutely not woth the money! I wouldn’t even give 1 star.

• Beautiful in off season but no organization or guides

  Kim F,

  Nov 15, 2023

  - Viator

  3.00

  Need to do 2 day one night tour to do everything the itinerary states. Thought we would see fish farm and sunset but had to leave on small fishing boat at 2 pm to get back to Hanoi which was an 6 hour commute. Nothing is told to you how you would go, who will meet you at each point of your trip, which is many. Recommend doing the overnight on a boat instead.

• Really good tour

  thamara b,

  Oct 15, 2023

  - Viator

  5.00

  If you don’t have much time but want to go to Cat Ba/Ha Long Bay this is the tour. The organisation was good, they picked us up at the hotel in Hanoi and took us to the meeting point to take the bus that would drive us to the pier. Then we took the ferry and another bus to the hotel. The tour to Ha Long Bay was amazing, the guide spoke very good English and explained many interesting things from the place and the culture. The food was amazing as well. I just think a more “international” hotel should be booked for foreigners. The one we stayed was not really good, the receptionist didn’t speak English and the breakfast was topically vietnamite.