Bai Tu Long Bay: The Empty Corner of Ha Long, the Three-Day Cruises, Vung Vieng, and Who It Suits

Bai Tu Long is the north-eastern third of the Ha Long world heritage area, the same drowned-karst landscape stretching towards the Chinese border, and it is where the bay is still empty: a national park of islands with a handful of licensed cruise operators, no day-trip traffic, and anchorages where yours is the only boat. It costs a longer sail from Ha Long and a night more on the water, which is exactly what keeps it quiet.

Boats board at Ha Long (Tuan Chau or Hon Gai) and sail north-east for three hours past the busy routes, then two days of the bay to yourselves: kayaking the Cong Dam lagoons, Thien Canh Son cave with its view from the mouth, the Vung Vieng floating village rowed by former fishing families, a swim at Cap La or Ban Chan beach, squid fishing from the deck at night, and the return on the second or third morning. The two-night version reaches furthest; the one-night version gives a taste with a long sail each way.

Both are the answer to the crowded core routes. Lan Ha, off Cat Ba, is closer to Hanoi, has more beaches and more boats to choose from, and works as a one-night cruise; the Lan Ha guide covers it. Bai Tu Long is emptier still, wilder, and best over two nights; it suits people who want the bay as a landscape rather than as activities, and photographers. If you have one night, Lan Ha; two nights and a wish for silence, Bai Tu Long.

Fewer operators run Bai Tu Long, mostly mid-range and premium wooden junks and small ships with 10 to 30 cabins; prices run above the equivalent Ha Long boat because of the longer sailing. The choosing a cruise guide framework applies: cabin class, deck, kayaking policy, early landings. Book three to six weeks ahead in high season; the licensed boats are few.

March to May and September to November for calm, clear water. Summer brings heat and the typhoon closures; the north-east monsoon from December to February makes Bai Tu Long colder and mistier than the sheltered core, and the long sail rougher. The best time guide has the months, and the getting to Ha Long page the transfer.