Vietnam 2025

Day 6 Halong Bay Cruise
• Destination: Halong
• Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
• Accommodations: Heritage Halong Hotel
or similar
Activity Note: We’ll be spending our
day cruising aboard a wooden sailboat
and exploring a cave, which features
uneven surfaces.
Breakfast: At the hotel.
Morning: We’ll drive to the pier and board our
vessel for the day—a traditional Vietnamese
wooden boat—and set out on our cruise.
With its clear, emerald waters and mountains
draped in velvety cloaks of vegetation, it’s
little wonder that Halong Bay has been the
inspiration for generations of Vietnamese poets.
Resting peacefully across the Gulf of Tonkin
near the Chinese border, this region—whose
name translates to “the bay of the descending
dragon”—is dotted with more than 1,600
mountain islands, whose jagged profiles seem
to rise out of nowhere.
Against the backdrop of innumerable
caves, beaches, soaring cliffs, and grottoes,
the Vietnamese go about their daily
lives, fishing and harvesting, reaping the
riches of the land and sea. Vietnamese
fishermen nimbly navigate in lacquered and
woven-wood coracles—lozenge-shaped,
rudderless vessels that resemble an oversized
tub. Oar-propelled fishing boats, or sampans,
abound as well, many occupied by whole
families.
Lunch: Onboard the boat.
Afternoon: Continue relaxing on our boat’s sun
deck. During our cruise, we’ll stop to explore
a cavernous grotto, and then drop anchor at
an island pierced with surreal caves that we’ll
explore. The bay’s caves are popular among
visitors and locals alike, as the stone formations
seem to drip like candlewax from the ceiling or
down the walls.
We’ll return to the pier and disembark the boat.
Our bus will be waiting to take you back to the
hotel, or if you’d prefer, you may remain by the
harbor to continue exploring. The rest of the
day is free for your own discoveries.
Dinner: On your own. Being so close to the sea,
Halong has exceptionally fresh seafood.
Evening: Free to do as you’d like, whether
that’s taking a nighttime stroll through the city
or retiring early to your room to pack.Read more