Bai Tu Long Bay guide: quieter cruises, Van Don routes and Quan Lan

Two different trips sold under one name

Many overnight cruises marketed as Bai Tu Long Bay cruises leave from Tuan Chau or Ha Long port and visit Thien Canh Son (Hang Co) cave and the floating village of Vung Vieng; that is how the Bai Tu Long cruises we found on Viator describe themselves. On the Ha Long Bay Management Board's map, those stops belong to route VHL4 of Ha Long Bay: Hang Co, Hang Thay and Cap La caves, Vung Vieng, the Tung-Ang ecosystem, Cong Do island and Hon Xep park. Hang Co sits about 19 kilometres from Tuan Chau and 14 kilometres from Ha Long port, reached by about 70 stone steps, and the board says you can kayak from there to the surrounding islands.

That is not a bad trip. Quang Ninh's provincial newspaper wrote in 2025 that while the near-shore routes VHL1 and VHL2 become overloaded at peak times, VHL3 and VHL4 are relatively quiet. When we checked on 2026-10-03, the board listed a VHL4 day fee of 200,000 dong, and 500,000 dong for one night (650,000 dong for two) at the Cong Do overnight area; most cruise packages include the fee, so check that yours does.

The other trip is to the bay proper, east of Ha Long around the Van Don islands, from Ao Tien port in Van Don. Quang Ninh's decision of 19 July 2024 set out ten routes on Bai Tu Long Bay and three routes linking it with Ha Long Bay; one of the linking routes runs from the VHL4 sights on to Thang Loi, Ngoc Vung, Quan Lan and Minh Chau islands. If a cruise promises 'real' Bai Tu Long, ask which port it leaves from and which of these islands it reaches.

The official routes from Ao Tien port

On 29 March 2025 Quang Ninh opened its first sightseeing routes from Ao Tien port. The Ha Long Bay Management Board lists five: BTL1 to Tay Hoi island, the 'Lucky Cat' islet (Hon Meo), Ban Sen island and Nha Tro cave; BTL2 to Phat Co cave, the pearl farm at Hon Da Den, Cong Lao Vong, Hon Dua and Minh Chau island; BTL3 to the Cong Lao Vong fishing village, Tra Ngo Lon island and Swan islet (Hon Thien Nga); BTL4 to the Cai De area and the Mang Ha overnight anchorage; and BTL5 to Tra Than cove on Tra Ngo Lon, Cai Lim beach, Mang Ha and Cai De. The provincial list adds a Hon Xep park route from Ao Tien and four routes from Cam Pha's piers past Vung Duc and Ong Cu and Reu islands towards Cua Ong, Hon Xep or, on the longest, Quan Lan and Minh Chau.

The provincial newspaper describes Phat Co as one of the largest caves in the bay, with kayaking, a floating seaweed farm and a quiet beach on the island, and says boats pass Hon Qua, Cong Lao Vong and Hon Dua for photographs from the deck. In summer 2026, Tien Phong newspaper reported a five-star day cruise leaving Ao Tien daily on three of these itineraries, with Tay Hoi about 30 minutes from the port.

Fees work differently from Ha Long. When the routes opened, the provincial newspaper reported in April 2025 that Quang Ninh was not yet charging a sightseeing fee on Bai Tu Long Bay, so visitors paid only for the boat ticket and the port service charge. We found no later announcement of a fee when we checked on 2026-10-03, but confirm what your ticket includes.

Inside Bai Tu Long National Park

The national park covers 15,783 hectares, of which 6,125 hectares are forest land on more than 40 islands and about 9,650 hectares are sea, coves and tidal flats, according to Vietnam's national biodiversity information site; the Ba Mun island ecosystem is its core zone. Earth islands such as Ba Mun, Tra Ngo Lon and Sau sit among limestone ones, and the same page lists 106 species of coral and 119 species of fish in its waters.

Its showpiece is Cai De, which the biodiversity site calls the largest through-cave in the Ha Long – Bai Tu Long area: a tunnel about 300 metres long and up to 50 metres wide that runs under a limestone massif from the Cai De inlet into a saltwater lake enclosed by the island. The park's own site says you must go in with a guide, because a rising tide can trap visitors inside. It also describes Hang Doi (Bat Cave) at the end of a mangrove forest, home to thousands of bats as well as monkeys, crabs and horseshoe crabs. Routes BTL4 and BTL5 are the ones that reach Cai De.

In 2025 the province said it would finish overnight anchorages on Bai Tu Long Bay so that overnight boats could operate there, with Mang Ha on the official route list. We could not confirm which boats now spend the night at Mang Ha, so if sleeping in the bay proper matters to you, ask the operator directly.

Quan Lan, Minh Chau and the inhabited islands

What Bai Tu Long has and Ha Long does not is island life. Quan Lan and Minh Chau are inhabited islands with beaches; the provincial newspaper describes Minh Chau's beach as about 2 kilometres long and among the finest on the Gulf of Tonkin. Van Don's history goes with it: the Van Don trading port complex is a special national relic, and Van Don counts 44 historical, cultural and scenic sites.

Boats leave Ao Tien for Co To, Quan Lan, Minh Chau and Thanh Lan. In April 2026 the provincial newspaper reported more than 60 boats on these routes, 15 more expected that summer, and peaks of 16,000 passengers a day at the port in summer 2025. On summer weekends and holidays, book your crossing ahead.

Sea farming is part of the view. Cong Lao Vong is a fishing village of oyster, fish and shellfish rafts inside the bay, and in 2026 Van Don is piloting tourism on its sea farms, planned across 16 farming areas with 8 to 10 model rafts where visitors can see the work and eat the catch. These are new, so check what is actually running when you arrive.

Getting there and getting around

By road, the Hanoi – Hai Phong – Ha Long and Ha Long – Van Don expressways run all the way to Van Don; the government's news portal puts the trip from Hanoi at about two and a half hours. The Ha Long – Van Don section is nearly 60 kilometres long and tolled on most of its length. Ha Long is about two to two and a half hours from Hanoi, according to the provincial newspaper, so a VHL4 cruise from Tuan Chau or Ha Long port is a shorter transfer than a trip to Ao Tien.

Ao Tien port, in Ha Long commune of Van Don, opened in October 2022 as a passenger port for island routes and sightseeing on Bai Tu Long and Ha Long bays. Arrange the transfer to the port with your hotel or boat operator; it is where the BTL routes and the island boats start.

Van Don also has an international airport (VDO), but its flights have been unstable: Vietnam Airlines suspended its Van Don – Ho Chi Minh City route from 1 April 2026 because of fuel prices. Check current schedules before planning around it; most visitors arrive through Hanoi.

Combine the bay with the rest of the north-east: Co To island is reached by boat from Ao Tien, Yen Tu's Buddhist mountain lies on the way from Hanoi, and Cat Ba and Lan Ha Bay are on the Hai Phong side of Ha Long.