Ha Long Bay's Caves and Islands: Sung Sot, Thien Cung, Ti Top, Luon Cave, and What Each Cruise Route Sees

Ha Long's 1,600 islands are toured on fixed routes set by the management board, and every boat follows one: route 1 is the day-trip loop from Tuan Chau past the Kissing Rocks to Thien Cung and Dau Go caves; route 2 is the overnight loop to Sung Sot cave, Ti Top island and Luon cave, sleeping at anchor near Cua Van; routes 3 and 4 push to Bai Tu Long. Knowing the route tells you what you will see. The day trip or overnight guide explains which to pick.

Sung Sot (Surprise) cave on Bo Hon island is the largest, three chambers on a paved 500-metre loop with lit formations and a window over the bay; every overnight boat visits and the path is a queue between 9:00 and 11:00. Thien Cung (Heaven Palace) is the day-trip cave, smaller, heavily lit, on Dau Go island beside the older Dau Go cave. Me Cung and Trinh Nu are quieter caves on some routes. Luon cave is not a cave to walk but an arch to paddle through into a lagoon ringed by cliffs, and it is the best 40 minutes on the bay.

Ti Top island, named for the Soviet cosmonaut who visited with Ho Chi Minh in 1962, has the bay's most-used beach and 400 steps to a viewpoint that gives the classic photograph; the beach is packed in summer afternoons. Soi Sim is the quieter alternative some boats use. The Kissing Rocks (Trong Mai), two chicken-shaped stacks, are the bay's symbol and a boat-side photo stop. Ban Sen and the Bai Tu Long islands are the reward of the three-day routes.

The floating fishing villages, Cua Van, Vung Vieng and Ba Hang, were moved ashore in 2014 for environmental reasons; a few families remain as a cultural stop, rowing visitors through the anchorage in bamboo boats and showing the floating school and the pearl farms. It is a gentle half hour and a reminder that people lived on this water for generations. Tips to the rowers are expected.

Cave entries and the Ti Top landing are included in the bay's sightseeing fee, which cruises bundle. Wear shoes with grip in the caves; the paths are wet. The Sung Sot queue is worst mid-morning and thinnest at the first 7:30 landing, which the better cruises take. Kayaking runs unless the bay is rough; the best time guide has the seasons, and the choosing a cruise page which boats do the early landings.