Lan Ha Bay: cruises, day trips and Cat Ba, explained

Lan Ha Bay (vịnh Lan Hạ; vịnh means bay) is the stretch of limestone islets, lagoons and small beaches off the east and south-east coast of Cat Ba Island. It sits directly south of Ha Long Bay and looks much the same from a sundeck, but it belongs to Hai Phong, not Quang Ninh. That border shapes almost everything a visitor deals with: the sightseeing fee, the pier, the route your ship is allowed to take, and who decides when boats stay in port.

Below: which trip fits your time, what a cruise includes, where you board and what changed on the water recently. If you already know you want an overnight boat, go straight to the Lan Ha Bay cruise guide.

What Lan Ha Bay is, and where

Lan Ha lies inside the Cat Ba archipelago, whose largest island is Cat Ba itself. The town of Cat Ba sits on the south coast, the fishing village of Cai Beo and the day-boat pier of Ben Beo are 2 km east of it, and the bay opens out from there. The whole area is administered as the Cat Hai Special Zone (đặc khu, a unit directly under Hai Phong city).

On 16 September 2023 the Cat Ba archipelago was added to the Ha Long Bay World Heritage property, which was renamed "Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago". It became Vietnam's first natural World Heritage site shared by two provinces. Cat Ba was already a UNESCO biosphere reserve (2004) and a Special National Monument (2013) (details in Vietnamese).

A figure you will see everywhere is "366 islands". That count belongs to the whole Cat Ba archipelago, which covers roughly 300 km². Lan Ha alone is better described as hundreds of limestone islets over more than 7,000 ha of water: with sheltered lagoons where ships anchor for the night.

Two names get mixed up. Cai Beo is the fishing village next to Ben Beo pier. Viet Hai is a land village of about 90 households inside the national park, with no road, reached by boat and a short bike ride (Viet Hai guide).

Lan Ha vs Ha Long: what is really different

The scenery is the same drowned limestone. The differences are administrative and practical.

Since 1 April 2026, an agreement between Quang Ninh and Hai Phong licenses four overnight routes that cross between the bays (Ha Long routes 3, 4, 5 and 6, each with a Lan Ha leg). On those routes a ship may moor overnight only at designated spots in its home province, must carry AIS/GPS tracking shared by both port authorities, and may not use or sell single-use plastic. There is no licensed public day boat between the two bays, so "hop from Ha Long to Lan Ha for the afternoon" is not something you can buy as a ferry ticket (VnExpress report).

So almost every big "Lan Ha" cruise is really Ha Long plus Lan Ha. You board in Ha Long, sail an hour or so through Ha Long waters (or take a speedboat to a ship anchored near Gia Luan on Cat Ba), and do your sightseeing on the Lan Ha side. Read the itinerary: Dark and Bright Caves, Tra Bau, Ba Trai Dao and Viet Hai are Lan Ha; Ba Ham lake, Cua Van and Tien Ong are Ha Long, even when a listing puts them under a Lan Ha heading. Full comparison: Lan Ha vs Ha Long.

Lan Ha Bay cruises: which kind of trip to book

There are four products that all get sold as "Lan Ha Bay". Pick the type first, then the ship.

Overnight cruise, 2 days 1 night (2D1N). The default: one afternoon and one short morning on the water. Peony, Capella, Mon Chéri, Aspira, Azura, La Pandora, Elite of the Seas and many more sell it. See 2-day, 1-night cruises.

Overnight cruise, 3 days 2 nights (3D2N). Day 2 is spent on a separate day boat, usually with cycling to Viet Hai village and a beach or lagoon stop, then back to the ship for dinner. It is the only version where you get a full day in the bay. Be careful: many "3-day" listings are one day in Ninh Binh plus a one-night cruise, not two nights on board. Details on 3-day cruises.

Day cruise from Tuan Chau. Large day ships such as Taliya sail into Lan Ha and back from Ha Long. Good if you are staying in Ha Long.

Day boat from Cat Ba. Smaller boats leave Ben Beo around 08:00–09:00 and return around 16:00–17:00, with swims, a fish farm and sometimes Monkey Island or Viet Hai. They are the cheapest way onto Lan Ha, from about $28 on GetYourGuide, but you need to sleep on Cat Ba the night before. Compare both styles on Lan Ha day cruises.

Where to start

1

Couples who want a named ship at a fair price

Elite of the Seas: 35 cabins, launched in 2022, sold under its own name on GetYourGuide rated 4.9 by nearly 3,000 reviewers. Booking direct costs far more per cabin.

GetYourGuide2D1N

Hanoi: 2D1N Elite Lan Ha & Ha Long Cruise with Infinity Pool

4.9 (2,817)

from $125Check dates

2

Klook users who want the brand on the voucher

Aspira, a 22-cabin ship boarding at Tuan Chau Lot 38. Klook shows it under its own name with a high booked count.

Klook2D1N

2D1N Halong & Lan Ha Bay Cruise Tour by Aspira Cruise

4.9 (824) · 6K+ booked

from $146Check dates

3

A day on Lan Ha from the Ha Long side

Tropical is Cozy Bay's Lan Ha day boat from Tuan Chau; it lands at Gia Luan for Trung Trang cave.

KlookDay trip

Tropical Day Cruise: Lan Ha Bay, Cat Ba Island, Trung Trang Cave

4.9 (1,916) · 10K+ booked

from $38Check dates

4

Already on Cat Ba

A full Cat Ba day with biking and lunch, at a price no Tuan Chau product can match.

GetYourGuideDay trip

Cat Ba: Lan Ha, HaLong bay full day- biking, kayaking, lunch

4.8 (1,672)

from $28Check dates

5★

GetYourGuide3D2N

Hanoi: 3 Days Ninh Binh, Ha Long & Lan Ha Bay 5-Star Cruise

4.8 (2,115)

from $225Check dates

5★

GetYourGuide3D2N

3 Days Ha Long & Lan Ha Bay on 5* Cruise with Balcony Cabin

4.8 (1,534)

from $338Check dates

5★

GetYourGuide3D2N

Hanoi: 3 Days Ninh Binh, Ha Long & Lan Ha Bay 5-Star Cruise

4.8 (1,483)

from $220Check dates

GetYourGuide2D1N

2-Day Ha Long, Lan Ha Bay Luxury Cruise w/ Balcony & Bathtub

4.8 (1,193)

from $110Check dates

5★

GetYourGuide2D1N

2 Days Ha Long Lan Ha Bay 5-Star Cruise w/Balcony & Bathtub

4.7 (1,231)

from $131Check dates

GetYourGuideDay trip

Taliya Day Cruise - Lan Hạ Bay: Kayaking, Swimming & Cave

4.8 (811)

from $53Check dates

See everything on GetYourGuide →See everything on Klook →Prices checked on October 16, 2026

The cruise finder filters every ship by class, pier and lowest price.

What a 2-day Lan Ha cruise looks like, hour by hour

Most one-night programmes on the big Tuan Chau ships run to the same shape.

Day 2 is half a morning. Of roughly 24 hours, two short excursions happen; the rest is meals, sailing and deck time. If you want to do more than look, book 3D2N or stay on Cat Ba.

Prices and what is included

"From" prices per person, twin share, look like this across the market:

The same ship can cost very different amounts by channel: Elite of the Seas shows from $125 per person on GetYourGuide, while its own list runs to hundreds of dollars per double cabin. Compare the same date and cabin type.

What a cruise fare usually includes: the cabin, lunch, dinner and breakfast or brunch, the bay sightseeing fee, an English-speaking guide, the activities on the programme and insurance. What usually costs extra:

• Drinks. Almost never included beyond water in the cabin. A few luxury ships include soft drinks and beer at meals.
• Hanoi shuttle, unless the listing says it is included.
• VAT on some direct bookings (8–10% at several lines).
• Card fees of 3–4.5% when paying an operator or agency directly.
• Gala surcharges on 24 and 31 December and over Tết (Lunar New Year, late January or February): about $40–60 per person, or +20% on some ships.

Children: usually under 4 free (one per cabin), about 75% of the adult fare from 4 or 5 to 11, adult fare from 12. Some lines charge full fare from 9 or 10, and Heritage Line does not take under-5s.

The same ship often sits on two platforms at different prices. La Pandora, for example, shows from $104 on Klook against $171 on GetYourGuide today:

Cabin type and inclusions can differ between listings, so check what each one covers before choosing on price alone. Our booking guide explains direct versus platform in detail.

How to get to Lan Ha Bay: Tuan Chau or Cat Ba

Your pier depends on the product, not the bay. Most big cruise lines check in at Tuan Chau International Marina in Ha Long, each at its own numbered lounge (Peony and Mon Chéri No. 34, Capella 20B, Aspira and Azura Lot 38, and so on). A few boats and most Cat Ba day trips start on the Hai Phong side, from Ben Beo near Cat Ba town. Check your voucher before booking any transfer.

Getting to Cat Ba itself has changed. The old Got ferry pier closed on 1 March 2024; the car ferry now runs from Dong Bai on Cat Hai island to Cai Vieng on Cat Ba, a 25–35 minute crossing. There is no road bridge to Cat Ba. Combined bus-and-ferry tickets from Hanoi take about 3–3.5 hours and cost around $11–15. The Hoang Long bus-and-speedboat combo, still recommended in older guides, is suspended.

Practical points:

• From Hanoi to Tuan Chau is 2.5–3 hours by road. Cruise shuttles range from free to about $40 return.
• On summer weekends and holidays, cars cannot board the ferry toward Cat Ba between 09:00 and 13:00. Go early or leave the car and take the cable car.
• The Tuan Chau to Gia Luan passenger ferry sails only with at least 30 passengers, and the last boat leaves Tuan Chau at 15:30 in summer, 15:00 in winter. Do not count on a late hop.
• Already staying on Cat Ba? Peony and Mon Chéri can pick you up by speedboat at Gia Luan around 12:30–13:00, for a surcharge. That saves the long road loop back to Ha Long.

Full routes are on how to get to Lan Ha Bay; which ship boards where is on Lan Ha cruise piers.

Things to do in and around the bay

The cruise is only half of it. Cat Ba Island is the base for everything you cannot do from a big ship.

• Cat Ba National Park. Open 07:00–17:00. The usual ticket is 120,000 VND for the central route through Kim Giao forest, up Ngu Lam peak and into Trung Trang cave; the whole park is 160,000 VND (official fee board). The Cat Ba langur, a critically endangered monkey found only here, numbers around 90; visitors rarely see one.
• Viet Hai village. Boat from Ben Beo (about 30 minutes) to the wharf, then a bicycle at about 50,000 VND a day or an electric car. Usually part of 3D2N cruises and many Cat Ba day boats.
• Monkey Island (Cat Dua). About 10 minutes by boat from Ben Beo. The monkeys are macaques, not langurs, and they snatch bags and phones. There is no state entrance fee. See Monkey Island.
• Bioluminescent plankton. In the warm months, roughly May to October, on dark, moonless, calm nights. Never guaranteed, and every tour relies on night kayaking or swimming, so the kayak rules below apply. Book in the new-moon week. More on plankton tours.
• Climbing and deep-water soloing. Hundreds of routes over the water, but deep-water soloing needs high tide, and there is only one a day. Asia Outdoors, named in many older guides, closed in 2019.

All of it is collected on things to do in Lan Ha Bay and the Cat Ba Island guide.

Best time to visit Lan Ha Bay

October and November are the best months: the driest and sunniest of the year, with the sea still around 25–28 °C. December and January are cool and dry, with nights down to 14–16 °C and the sea near 20 °C: fine for a cruise, cold for swimming. February to April brings fog and drizzle; February and March have the least sunshine of the year. May to September is hot and wet, each month over 200 mm of rain, August the wettest.

Storm season runs from June to November. When a storm approaches, Hai Phong declares a sea ban (cấm biển) and stops the Cat Ba ferries; in Ha Long the port authority halts departure permits. The cruise line does not make that call, and refunds follow the operator's or platform's terms. During one ban in late August more than 1,700 tourists were stuck on Cat Ba. From June to October, book flexible dates and keep a buffer day before an international flight.

Domestic peaks matter too. The 30 April and 1 May holiday brought about 70,000 visitors to Cat Ba in two days, with ferry queues of 2 km. Summer weekends and Tết are busy. Month-by-month detail is on the best time to visit.

Safety: the rules and what to ask

Two incidents shaped the current rules. On 14 June 2026 a day boat ran into a wooden tour boat from behind near Van Boi in Lan Ha; the wooden boat sank and one tourist died. Since then the Cat Hai Special Zone requires every passenger to wear a certified life jacket from boarding and throughout the trip, with crew safety briefings (Tiền Phong report). On the Ha Long side, a day boat capsized in a squall in July 2025 and a wooden boat caught fire in February 2026; neither was a Lan Ha cruise.

Wooden hulls are still legal. Before you book a cheap boat, ask three things: is the hull steel, what year was it built, and is the ship's name on the voucher.

Bring your passport: most operators want its details 24 hours ahead and the original at check-in.

Booking on GetYourGuide, Klook, Trip.com or direct

GetYourGuide has the widest Lan Ha choice, especially on the Cat Ba side (day boats, plankton, hikes, transfers). Many of its biggest cruise listings are sold by agencies under generic titles such as "5-Star Cruise with Balcony". Before paying, find the real ship: look at the activity provider, the meeting point and lounge number, the ship name in the photos and reviews, and message the supplier if in doubt. Most listings allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and many offer reserve now, pay later. Browse all Lan Ha listings on GetYourGuide.

Klook sells most cruise brands under their own names and shows booked counts. Cancellation terms differ per activity. See Lan Ha cruises on Klook.

Trip.com lists a few ships nobody else sells in English, but with few reviews so far. It is worth a third look, not the first one: Lan Ha on Trip.com.

Booking direct has strict cancellation: fees often start 30 days out and reach 100% inside 7 days. That gap is the honest reason to book through a platform. See GetYourGuide vs Klook.

Lan Ha Bay FAQ