Most of travelers choose a tour due to shortage of time and comfortable
services. There are many travel agents in Hanoi which offer the Ha Long bay
- Cat Ba island tours at different prices. If you search around Hanoi
Old Quarter, you will find their price is very competitive. My advice is
1) do a search before you book a tour, and 2) choose a good and
reputable company to avoid your trip to be ruined.
The Ha Long bay
- Cat Ba island tour price ranges from US$25-US$200 (1-2-3 day tours),
depending on quality of the boats and services, number of people on the
same tours, overnight on boat or at hotel, kayaking, food, English
speaking guide etc. There have been both good and bad comments about the
tours. Most of the complaints were about the cheap tours or bad agents
that did not provide what they promised and failed to satisfy your
expectations. You may end up with many people on the boat, lack of food,
low quality of boat and unhappy trip. If you think about the distance
you will travel between Hanoi and Ha Long town (approx 300km two ways)
by bus, then the costs for boat, food, hotel and entrance tickets, as
well as commission that hotel/agent receives, it will be difficult to
make a good trip at a very cheap price.
There are some types of tours as follows:
1-day
tour: this is a very busy day trip, as your bus ride Hanoi - Ha Long
town takes almost 4 hours, then you cruise in the bay for a few hours
(including lunch on boat and kayaking if someone likes) then go back to
Hanoi (another 4 hours by bus).
2-day tour: there are some options
that travel agents will offer you to choose. For example, 2-day tour for
only Ha Long bay (overnight at hotel or on boat), 2-day tour for both Ha Long Bay
and Cat Ba island (overnight on the island). On the second tour, you
will have a very little time on Cat Ba island. When you go there, it's
already 5-6pm, just sleep one night at hotel then leave early morning
next day, back to Ha Long town by boat.
3-day tour: You will have one
day on Cat Ba island, either trekking at national park, or visiting a
fishing village, or doing whatever you want.
You can travel on your
own, but then you will have to hire a boat for yourself or find some
people to share the boat. In my understanding, the travel agents do not
want to let independent travelers to join the boat with their tourists.
For saving time and convenience, most people choose to go on a package
tour.
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