KayakHalongBay.com

There’s more to northeastern Vietnam than Halong Bay. The sinking limestone plateau which gave birth to the bay’s spectacular islands, continues for some 100 km to the Chinese border. The area immediately north of Halong Bay is part of Bai Tu Long National Park (Tel: 793 365). 

Bai Tu Long Bay is every bit as beautiful as its famous neighbor. Indeed, in some  ways beautiful, since it has scarcely seen any tourist development. This is good news and bad news. The bay is unpolluted and undeveloped, but there’s little tourism infrastructure. It’s pretty hard traveling around and staying here, and unless you speak Vietnamese, it’s difficult to get information. 

Charter boats can be arranged to Bai Tu Long Bay from Halong Bay; boats range from 100,000d to 250,000d per hour depending size and amenities.The one-way trip take about five hours. A cheaper alternative is travel overland to Cai Rong and visit the out-lying islands by boat from here. Foreigners are almost always charged double the going rate on the ferries around Bai Tu Long Bay.

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