Halong Bay hotels: where to stay before or after your cruise

Why stay here. If your voucher says Ha Long International Cruise Port, Halong International Port or Sun World port, a hotel in Bai Chay puts you about 3.3 km (2.1 mi) in a straight line from the terminal. Sun Group, which runs the port, states that its domestic terminal has 4 berths for the Halong Bay cruise and sightseeing boats, so the boarding hours are busy: being close means you can arrive at the lounge without a van to wait for.

Tuan Chau International Marina is about 5 km (3.1 mi) in a straight line from Bai Chay, a taxi ride across the causeway. That makes Bai Chay a sound choice when your voucher has not named the pier yet: both Halong piers are within a short drive.

Hotels in Bai Chay. Of the hotels Booking.com listed here, Ha Long Essence Hotel was the lowest-priced of the three linked, at US$24 a night for a superior double or twin, with free cancellation and pay at the property as listed. Novotel Halong Bay Hotel listed a standard king room at US$45, and Hyatt Place Halong Bay, Bai Chay a king room at US$70; read the cancellation terms of both before you pay.

Radisson Blu and the Vinpearl resort are the top of the Bai Chay range on the same day, at US$91 and US$85 a night with breakfast; small hotels such as Halong Lavender Hotel started at US$21.

The Ha Long Bay Management Board names Nam Cau Trang port in Hon Gai among the passenger ports of its coastal route, VHL8. Most overnight cruises do not board there; if yours does, a Hon Gai hotel is the closest.

None of the hotels compared on this page is in Hon Gai. For a night before a cruise from either of the two main piers, Bai Chay or Tuan Chau are closer.

The night before

Take a bus or limousine from Hanoi in the afternoon, sleep by the pier, and walk or taxi to the lounge in the morning. You skip the early van out of Hanoi on cruise day and reach boats that board before the Hanoi shuttles arrive.

The bus companies state these times from Hanoi: 2 hours 30 minutes by limousine bus to Tuan Chau Island (Cua Ong Limousine), 3 hours by bus to Tuan Chau International Port (Daiichi Travel), and 3 hours by limousine van to Ha Long International Cruise Port (Ha Lan Limousine). For Cat Ba town, Cat Ba Express states 3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.) by bus and speedboat on its Viator listing.

The night after

Overnight cruises return to the pier around midday on their last day; day boats return in the late afternoon or evening. A night by the bay after a day boat saves the evening drive back, and after an overnight cruise it gives you an afternoon on land in Bai Chay or Cat Ba town.

A night after is also cover in the storm months, from summer into autumn, when the port authority can hold boats in port for a day. Storm odds by month are on the best time to visit Halong Bay.

Every bus, limousine and car between Hanoi and the piers, with fares, is on Hanoi to Halong Bay.

With one night on board you leave Hanoi in the morning, board around midday and are back on land the next day by noon, so the cabin replaces the hotel. A hotel night by the pier makes sense on top of it only if you want to cut the drive on one of the two days or add a day on land.

What one night on the water gives you, and what it costs from Hanoi, is on the Halong Bay overnight cruise page. For the Cat Ba side, the cruises that start in Lan Ha Bay are compared on Lan Ha Bay cruises.