Vietnam | A Ha Long Bay Day Cruise

Cruising through Ha Long Bay “Please don’t call it a junk! It doesn’t sound good. We call it a cruise ship!” our Vietnamese guide with a Bri...

Cruising through Ha Long Bay

“Please don’t call it a junk! It doesn’t sound good. We call it a cruise ship!” our Vietnamese guide with a British accent, Duc, politely corrected me as I got accustomed to call those large wooden ships cruising Ha Long Bay as “junks” similar to what they call it in Hong Kong. From Halong Plaza Hotel, we were headed to the port for a Ha Long Bay day in this UNESCO Heritage site in the province of Quang Ninh, Vietnam. It is popularly known for its thousands limestone karst picturesquely dispersed on a bay off Ha Long City.

A boat vendor selling fruits

A Ha Long Bay Day Cruise

It is actually my second time in Ha Long Bay. While I would recommend an overnight cruise of Ha Long Bay to get the most of the experience of sleeping on a modern cruise ship and seeing the sunset in the midst of these multitude rock formations, it is still possible to do a Ha Long Bay day cruise for those who have limited time. For this familiarization tour with Cebu Pacific Air and Red Tours, we were only doing a Ha Long Bay day cruise, whichI thought was good so I would know the difference with an overnight tour. By 9am we were already boarded on our cruise ship and headed to Ha Long Bay. Our cruise ship is designed for a day cruise only but has dining facilities and sun deck.

More ships and karst formations at the bay

Docking on Driftwood Island for Thien Cung Cave

Impressive rock formations at Heavenly Palace Cave despite the multi-colored lights

Heavenly Palace Cave

As we draw closer to the towering karst isles and islets of the bay, I’m still in awe of the numerous karst gradually fading in the horizon. While I still have the same sentiments that the ocean waters here aren’t as clear and inviting as our very own Palawan, I must admit that Ha Long Bay impresses by sheer numbers.

Our first stop in this tour is the Thien Cung Cave or the Heavenly Palace Cave. I haven’t been here so I was curious what it’s like. This 10,000 square meter cave is said to be the most beautiful primitive cave in the bay. After a bit of trivia from Duc, we proceeded into climbing the staircase leading to the cave entrance.

Heavenly Palace Cave, like Sung Sot Cave which I visited before, is also developed. Cemented pathways and multi-colored lights illuminate the rock formations and walls of this cave. It’s a fairly huge cave and the pathway winds through several crevices before leading to the exit. I must say the cave has impressive rock formations even if we strip away those fancy lighting. It’s an easy cave to explore. I finished exploring the cave in half an hour in a slow pace, taking my sweet time taking photos inside the cave.

Mica enjoying the view from the island

Exploring the cave

A natural pool turning wishing pool where people throw in coins for a wish

View of the bay from the viewdeck upon exit from Thien Cung Cave

Exploring a couple of lagoons at Ha Long Bay

Two Lagoons

It was amazing how our cruise ship squeezed in a tight space between two ships as we docked on a platform where visitors could hire small traditional boats to take a tour of the lagoons in the bay. Our group of course took the tour and each boat can accommodate up to 4 persons. Our boat-woman rowed us through a small cave tunnel to enter a lagoon. If I’m not mistaken, these were the same lagoons I visited before. It was nice and quiet lest for the occasional laughs and sometimes songs from other boats doing the same tour. It was really more of a sightseeing tour since we didn’t get off the boat. I’d also think twice swimming here as the waters were not that inviting for me.

Tight squeeze between ships

Traditional boats entering the cave for the lagoon

Our lunch on board the cruise ship

Seafood Lunch

Soon, we were on our way going back to the city after the lagoon tour and it was time for our lunch. We were served with plates full of seafood, from prawns, crabs and some spring rolls in the mix. We enjoyed eating with our bare hands. Past 1pm, by the time we finished all our food we were already back in the city shores. Our Ha Long Bay day cruise took only at least 4 hours. We rode back to Hanoi after.

The group having a fun conversation on the cruise

Group photo at Driftwood Island

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Our familiarization tour of Hanoi was sponsored by Cebu Pacific Air. Cebu Pacific Air flies from Manila to Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam thrice weekly every Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturday, leaving Manila at 10:20PM and arriving in Hanoi at 12:30am. Return flights will leave Hanoi for Manila at 1am every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and arrive in Manila at 5:15am.

For bookings and inquiries, guests can go to www.cebupacificair.com, or call the reservation hotlines (02) 7020–888 or (032) 230–8888. The latest seat sales and promos can also be found on CEB’s official Twitter and Facebook pages.

All photos on this post are taken with a Nikon D7100. Check out Nikon.ph for more details.