Ha Long Bay or Bai Tu Long Bay: which cruise to choose

What cruises sell as Bai Tu Long Bay is, on the water, the Ha Long Bay Management Board’s Route 4 (VHL4): the north-eastern part of the heritage area, beyond the classic loop. The classic loop is Route 2 (VHL2), the route of Sung Sot Cave and Ti Top Island that all seven Ha Long day cruises on this site follow. The Board publishes both routes, their fees and their opening hours, and boats on either route leave from Tuan Chau or Ha Long International Port. Thien Canh Son Cave, the first stop on Route 4, is about 14 km from Ha Long International Port and about 19 km from Tuan Chau, the Board says, so the Bai Tu Long cruise uses the port at Bai Chay, which its listing calls Sun World port.

Route 4 is also the cheaper ticket: 200,000 VND a person for the day and 500,000 VND with one night aboard, against 250,000 VND and 550,000 VND on Route 2. Two nights cost 650,000 VND on Route 4 and 750,000 VND on Route 2. The Ha Long and Bai Tu Long Bay cruise lists the entrance fees for Ha Long and Bai Tu Long Bay as included, and so do the best-selling Ha Long cruises, such as the classic Ha Long Bay day cruise from Hanoi.

Thien Canh Son, which the Board also calls Hang Co, sits halfway up Hon Co island. About 70 stone steps under the trees lead to a narrow entrance, then the cave opens into golden-brown stalactites hanging from a low ceiling, and a shaft of light at the far end frames a view back over the bay and its islands. The Board describes it as the cave for anyone looking for a different, more original view of Ha Long Bay, with kayaking to the limestone islands around it. The cruise visits it at 08:00 on day two, together with the white sand beach on Hon Co, which in winter is the moment the cave opens.

Cap La is where the cruise kayaks, at 15:00 on day one, with a swim. Its cave, about 3,000 m² of naturally white stalactites, is one of the bay’s more recent finds and is being fitted out for visitors, the Board says, so the island is explored from the water. The night is spent on the Cong Do side, the Route 4 anchorage, where the Board lists sunrise and sunset on deck, squid fishing, tai chi and yoga; the cruise’s own evening has a sunset party, board games and squid fishing, and tai chi at 06:00.

The rest of Route 4 shows why it suits a slower trip. Hang Thay has natural sand beaches and, in a survey by the Institute of Marine Resources and Environment, some of the highest coral cover on Ha Long Bay. The Tung Ang lagoon at Cong Do is about half a hectare of sea enclosed by limestone, about 100 metres from the anchorage. Hon Xep park is a cluster of folded, stacked rock blocks. Vung Vieng keeps the fishing culture of the bay alive: fishing with local people on traditional sailing boats, rowing boats, kayaks and pearl crafting, under a stone arch shaped like a village gate. Vung Vieng is on the official route rather than in this cruise’s itinerary. For a quiet night in Lan Ha Bay instead, the 5-star cruise with a quiet anchorage is from €127.36 (GetYourGuide, 15 Nov 2026).

We sorted our 28 cruises by the route their itineraries name, with prices, ratings and review counts read on GetYourGuide on 15 November 2026. Route 2 has the volume: the best-selling day cruise has nearly 15,000 reviews averaging 4.8, and the top-rated standard or luxury day trip is 4.9 from more than 6,300. Route 4 has one big-volume overnight, the Ha Long and Bai Tu Long cruise, which its listing describes as a quiet boat with fewer tourists.

It comes in three classes: a standard ocean-view cabin, a 5-star option, and a 6-star option with a private balcony, a bathtub and a chance to try on traditional Vietnamese dress. Every class includes the English-speaking guide, kayaking, the sunset party, a spring-roll cooking demonstration and all four meals. A single cabin costs US$60 more, US$80 on the 5-star option and US$125 on the 6-star option, paid at check-in.

On the Ha Long side, the day cruises suit a first visit in one day, and the overnights that start at Tuan Chau carry on south into Lan Ha Bay. One of them, the 5-star cruise from Hanoi or Ninh Binh, offers Sung Sot Cave on day one; the Elite ship has a panoramic pool and the site’s top overnight rating, 4.9 from 3,101 reviews.

Ha Long Bay, as the Board defines it, covers 1,553 km² and 1,969 islands, and its northern edge runs from Ha Long city to the Van Don special zone. The World Heritage core inside it is 434 km² with 775 islands, and since 2023 it forms one property with the Cat Ba Archipelago: 656.5 km², with a buffer zone of 341.4 km². The Board’s page for Route 4 places Thien Canh Son Cave inside the World Natural Heritage area, so the Bai Tu Long cruise sails World Heritage water just as the classic loop does.

The wider Bai Tu Long Bay continues east to Van Don, where Bai Tu Long National Park protects natural forest, limestone mountains, mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs. It is recognised as an ASEAN Heritage Park and is now managed by the same Ha Long Bay and Yen Tu World Heritage Management Board. Its own boat routes start at Ao Tien port in Van Don, to Tra Ngo Lon island, Cai Lim beach, the Mang Ha overnight anchorage and Cai De, where a cave about 300 metres long runs through the rock to an enclosed salt-water lake. On 31 July 2026 the Quang Ninh authorities approved a plan to protect and promote the Ha Long Bay and Yen Tu heritage together with Bai Tu Long Bay to 2030, including monitoring of visitor capacity at every site on both bays.

Van Don is reached by the Ha Long to Van Don expressway, about 60 km, opened on 1 February 2019, as VietNamNet reported; that is the road for the national park and Van Don airport. The Bai Tu Long cruise on this site does not need it: it boards in Ha Long, about 130 km from Hanoi, like the classic cruises; our guide from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay covers the road.

The Bai Tu Long overnight collects you in the Old Quarter between 07:45 and 08:15 and reaches the port at 12:30, with tea or coffee while the captain registers the boat. You are aboard by 12:45, have lunch at 13:30 as the boat heads north-east, kayak at Cap La at 15:00 and are back on deck for the 17:30 sunset party. Day two is tai chi at 06:00, breakfast at 07:00, the cave and beach at 08:00, a cooking demonstration at 09:30 and an early lunch, ashore at about 11:15 and in Hanoi at 14:30 to 15:00.

A Route 2 day cruise is a single long day: about 13 hours from Hanoi, with Sung Sot Cave, about 40 to 60 minutes on foot with stairs, a kayak or bamboo boat at Luon Cave and the Ti Top beach and viewpoint. As our comparison of a day trip and an overnight cruise shows, it is the better pick when you have one day and want the bay’s best-known cave. The overnights that start at Tuan Chau give you Ha Long Bay on the way and the Lan Ha Bay anchorages at night; for that choice, see our guide to Ha Long Bay or Lan Ha Bay.

The one extra cost to plan for: the Bai Tu Long listing adds a peak-season charge of US$10 a person, US$15 on the 6-star option, from 1 October to 30 April, plus surcharges at Christmas, New Year and national holidays.

Choose Bai Tu Long if you have a night to spare and fewer boats matter more than famous names: a cave reached by 70 steps with a window over the bay, kayaking at Cap La and a quiet anchorage at Cong Do, from €126.55 with entrance fees included. It also suits travellers who have already done the classic loop, families who like the board games and squid fishing, and anyone who wants a balcony cabin, which the 6-star option adds.

Choose Ha Long Bay if it is your first visit and you have one day: Sung Sot, Luon Cave and Ti Top are the sights most people come for, and the boats are timed to them, from €35.85. With a night but a wish to see Sung Sot too, take the 5-star cruise from Hanoi or Ninh Binh, from €114.30, or the Elite ship with its panoramic pool, from €113.39, both of which spend the night in Lan Ha Bay.

Every cruise on both routes is in all our cruises and tours. Travelling between October and April, either works: Thien Canh Son keeps winter hours of 08:00 to 16:45 and Sung Sot 07:30 to 17:00 (GetYourGuide prices, 15 Nov 2026; hours from the Ha Long Bay Management Board).