Ha Long resort living
A balcony cabin leaving Tuan Chau, a beachfront room on Bai Chay facing the islands, or a relic-mountain night at Yen Tu about one hour from the bay.
Stay and tours
You either sleep aboard or you sleep on shore and board in the morning. Tuan Chau and Bai Chay are the two ports in the same harbor notice. Bai Chay is the beach ward for an early start. Hong Gai, under Bai Tho mountain, is the older commercial shore, the markets, and the walking street, not the resort bay.
Best months are clear mornings. Van Don fog and heavy rain are a special risk from June through September, so check the flight. Van Don Airport is about 50 km from Ha Long on the airline page, and about 15 km from Cai Rong. A road minute from that airport to the Bai Chay or Tuan Chau piers was not printed. Check on arrival for the pier ride. Legacy Yen Tu prints about one hour by car from Ha Long Bay and from Cat Bi, and about 30 minutes from Uong Bi station.
Choosing your coast, bay, or valley
01 Overnight on the limestone
Tuan Chau
The cruise-center pier for a cabin after the day boats. Paradise Elegance has 31 balcony cabins leaving Tuan Chau International Port for a night among the karst.
02 Beachfront facing the islands
Bai Chay
The shore stay when you want a room on land, a pool, and the pier in the same ward. InterContinental Halong Bay sits at Peninsula 2, Halong Marina, Hoang Quoc Viet, with 275 suites, residences, villas, and Halong Bay Estate. A night in Hong Gai puts the squid-cake market close and the boat a bridge away.
03 Relic-mountain retreat
Yen Tu
A Bill Bensley-designed 13th-century Zen palace retreat in the forested foothills of Yen Tu Mountain, one hour inland from Ha Long Bay. Sleep here when the mountain is the trip and the bay is the next morning.
The flagship resorts
#1 Flagship Tuan Chau
Paradise Elegance Cruise Thirty-one balcony cabins leaving Tuan Chau International Port: 14 deluxe, 13 executive, 2 elegance suites, and 2 captain's-view terraces. One published day starts with a transfer from Tuan Chau to the ship. Source: Paradise Elegance ; Cruise center, Tuan Chau Photo: Paradise cruise halong · CC BY-SA 4.0 Check rates on Trip.com
#2 Flagship Bai Chay Peninsula
InterContinental Halong Bay Resort Two hundred seventy-five suites, residences, villas, and Halong Bay Estate on the Bai Chay shore, facing the islands from land. Source: InterContinental Halong Bay Photo: Steffen Schmitz · CC BY-SA 4.0 Check rates on Trip.com
#3 Flagship Yen Tu Mountain
Legacy Yen Tu - MGallery A relic-mountain night at Yen Tu, about one hour from Ha Long Bay and Cat Bi, and about 30 minutes from Uong Bi station. Source: Legacy Yen Tu Photo: Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0 Check rates on Trip.comSoutheast Asia TravelGuide Network
Compare Across Southeast Asia: Vietnam vs. Thailand
Amanoi, Six Senses Ninh Van Bay, and Bai San Ho sit beside Amanpuri, Soneva Kiri, Four Seasons Koh Samui, and Capella Bangkok.
Sister stays
Thailand luxury resorts
- Amanpuri on Phuket's west coast
- Soneva Kiri on Koh Kood
- Four Seasons Koh Samui and Capella Bangkok
Flagship
Amanpuri
- The Andaman pavilion campus
- A west-coast Phuket headland
- A sister to Vietnam's hidden coves