We will be arriving in Halong Bay around 8:30 am and leaving the next afternoon. We would like to take a full day junk tour or 2 days, 1 night.
Should we book ahead or will there be lots of options when we arrive?
If we should book ahead, any recommendations for middle aged couple?
thanks!
If you will be in Hanoi you will have lots and lots of options including some not so good ones. Best to book there.
Definitely recommend that you do an overnight if your schedule allows. I would look up recommended operators in lonely planets guidebooks and book one of those. Beware that there are lots of operators who knock off the names of the rec operators.
Hi Wendy. My wife and I did an overnight cruise with Handspan Tours a couple of years ago and they were wonderful. They are also one of the more eco-friendly tour companies in the Halong Bay area, parts of which have become quite polluted in recent years, due largely to a lack of tourism regulation.
Regardless of who you go with, I recommend choosing a company that will take you to neighboring Bai Tu Long Bay. It is less crowded and less polluted than Halong Bay, and the natural scenery (particularly the limestone karst formations) is just as stunning. (I believe that Indochina Junk is another company that is licensed to take tourists to less crowded areas of Bai Tu Long Bay, but I have never traveled with them myself, so I don't know what their quality is like.)
Thanks for the replies - really appreciate your help!
