A Complete Lan Ha Bay Guide For First-Timers
With its jagged karst limestone islands rising from the azure sea, pure beaches, Lan Ha Bay is an enthralling place to visit.
1. Why Lan Ha Bay?
Being a World Heritage Site, Halong Bay is famous for its stunning caves and islands, and no one can be doubtful about the beauty of Halong. Thousands of people have traveled here and come back every year. But actually, there is another place that even offers you much more. It’s Lan Ha bay, situated in the east of Cat Ba Island, known as the twin of Ha Long bay, an undiscovered land and water of blooming tourism in Vietnam in the last decade. Tourists now can fully explore the bay on an overnight cruising tour package.
Lan Ha is a highly serene gulf-shaped bay spreading over a range of more than 7,000 hectares, of which 5,400 hectares are under the management of Cat Ba National Park, with about 400 small and large islands creating an enormous picture depicting the scene. Dissimilar to Halong, all islands in Lan Ha Bay are covered with green trees or vegetation, even if it is a tiny island like a peninsula. The waters here are home to hundreds of species of fish and marine life. Larger marine animals in the area include seals and even three species of dolphin.
2. Best time to visit Lan Ha Bay
Quite fresh and cool thanks to its surrounding, Lan Ha Bay is worth visiting the whole year round for its different beauty in every single season. The average temperature here is about 25 – 28 degrees C. It can be seen, June, July and August is the time most Vietnamese visitors to choose to Halong Bay. The reason is because in June, July and August is the summer, the hottest weather is in the North. Therefore, many tourists choose to Ha Long Bay to cool, bathing and enjoy water activities.
If you want to enjoy comfortable temperatures and avoid tourist crowds, the best time to visit the Bay is October through December and from January to April. The weather is pleasant without harsh conditions such as being too cold or excessively hot. The cool breeze over the bay, along with diverse greenery and fresh air, will make your vacation enjoyable.
3. How to get to Lan Ha Bay?
To get there, you must first travel to Cat Ba Island (Hai Phong). If you are based in Hanoi you can reach Cat Ba Island by taking a direct bus or taxi .Once in Cat Ba you can take a boat to visit Lan Ha Bay from Beo Harbor (Bến Bèo) which is about 2 kilometers from Cat Ba town.
Many choose to arrange a cruise with a Hanoi-based cruise company; these cruise packages usually provide a return transfer to and from Hanoi and full board overnight on a cruse ship. But in order to choose this method, you have to be in Tuan Chau Harbor – Ha Long Bay because they cruises from Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha is a destination during the journey.
4. Best things to do
Unlike its famous twin, Lan Ha Bay reserves a more pristine scenery with an intense concentration of limestone mountains which the sea surface has partitioned into smaller bays and gulfs. Many lagoons, bays, and caves remain untouched. The Bay is home to hundreds of mounts of which forms and beauty are entirely different depending on travelers’ imagination: Quoc islet (High Heel islet), Doi islet (Bat islet), etc…
The Bay has up to 139 golden sandy beaches, small but pretty and isolated as “blue straits,” inviting tourists to explore. Many sandy beaches stretching between two rocky mountains, quiet with no big waves, are the ideal beaches. Under the blue water are the colorful coral reefs such as Van Boi, Van Ha beach, and calm waters such as Sen island, Cu Island, Monkey Island …, where visitors can dive into.
The Capella cruise offers many exciting activities including a waterslide
Lan Ha is a peaceful sea with small fishing villages existing isolated from the rest of the world. Wooden floats raise different species such as green mussel, geoduck, cobia, crab, abalone, grouper, which can serve visitors according to their needs. By small boat, visitors can glide through the ravine, lagoons to visit the caves, resting on the beach in the middle of the sea such as Vem lagoon, Tung Gau cave, Cat Dua beach. Cat Dua (Monkey Island) has recently raised monkeys serving tourists. Especially visitors can visit the pearl farms here.
Tourists coming to Lan Ha should go through the Cat Ba National Forest, where many precious species, including rare white-headed langurs and Nageia fleury forests. Over the top of Ngu Lam, at the end of the journey, is Viet Hai fishing village, the most pristine fishing village of Cat Ba island, where visitors can discover many exciting things about a fishing village in the North.
Lan Ha Bay has gradually gained popularity thanks to its unspoiled and magnificent natural beauty and as people look for pristine, less crowded destinations. Just 30 minutes by boat from Cat Ba Island, you will be charmed by breathtaking views of the Bay, and soon you will forget all the stresses of your busy life.
Wandering on the azure-blue beach, breathing in the ocean breeze, enjoying the tropical sunlight, visiting a pearl farm, along with a kayaking trip, rock climbing, and maybe even some fishing, your trip to Lan Ha Bay will surely be a highlight in your trip in Vietnam and become a long-lasting memory.
Cruising with Capella cruise to Lan Ha Bay, tourists can enjoy plenty of exciting outdoor activities of kayaking, waterslide, floating pool, bamboo boat rowing, swimming..