If you are planning a luxury Vietnam holiday and Halong Bay is on your list of 'must sees', then we recommend coming onboard the beautiful luxury junk, ‘Paradise’.
Overnight cruises are available, however the highlight is a 3 day, 2 night itinerary, including a visit to Cat Ba Island to experience the life of a typical Northern Vietnamese fishing village. Here you can swim during the summer or explore Cat Ba National Park by bicycle.
This is the only luxury Halong Bay cruise to include a visit to Cat Ba Island. Cooking classes are also available onboard upon request and a luxury Vietnam holiday would not be complete without an early morning Tai Chi lesson on deck to start the day followed by a massage in the Paradise junk spa!
Day 1: Hanoi – Halong Bay
In the morning, enjoy a shared transfer (private available on request) from your hotel to Halong Bay. The drive takes around 3 hours with a refreshment break en route. Board the ‘Paradise’ junk on Tuan Chau Island and meet the crew by enjoying a welcome cocktail whilst you cruise into the bay, enjoying an Asian buffet lunch along the way. In the afternoon explore a famous limestone grotto and traditional fishing village.
Continue peacefully cruising through the majestic islands of Halong Bay, a perfect time for taking photographs as the sun is beginning to set, arriving at your anchorage for the evening. Take a sunset swim during the hotter summer months or go kayaking, before enjoying a fabulous dinner. Evening entertainment includes movies, board games or spa treatments.
Day 2: Halong Bay – Cat Ba Island
For the early birds, enjoy a Tai Chi session on the sundeck at 6am – a magical experience. There is also time for a swim or kayak before a full international buffet breakfast. At 8.30, transfer to a local day trip boat and depart for Cat Ba Island National Park, where you can take a bicycle trip through untouched forest, or swim in the Bay’s islets.
After a Vietnamese set menu at a local restaurant, work off you meal on a hike up Navy Peak, or for the less energetic, enjoy the village scenery.
Board your day boat in the afternoon and cruise through the Bay to another spot for relaxing or swimming. Arrive back at your anchorage point for the evening at 6pm, for more swimming, kayaking or spa treatments, before an Asian dinner, movies & relaxing on deck under the stars.
Day 3: Halong Bay – Hanoi
Tai Chi again this morning and a buffet breakfast, before cruising through the Bay back to Tuan Chau Island, arriving at 10.30am. Arrive back in Hanoi at approximately 2.30pm.