Lan Ha Bay, 3 Days and 2 Nights: the Itinerary

A three-day Lan Ha Bay cruise follows the same shape on most ships: check in at Tuan Chau in Ha Long about midday and sail south into Lan Ha Bay with lunch, visit a cave or lagoon on the first afternoon, spend the middle day on Cat Ba at Viet Hai village and a beach, and sail back after a last kayak and brunch on day three. Below is Carnival’s version, the cruise this site books, from $266 a person (checked November 2026), then how three other cruises change the order.

Day 1: Tuan Chau to the cave

• 07:30 to 08:00: pickup in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, if you booked the shuttle (US$25 a person, round trip).
• 11:30 to 12:00: arrive at Tuan Chau Marina; a tender takes you out to the ship.
• 12:30: check in, a welcome drink and the safety briefing; lunch while the ship sails into Lan Ha Bay.
• 14:30 to 15:30: the Dark and Light Cave by traditional bamboo boat. Lan Ha’s management board describes four caves here, the Dark Cave being the longest at over 200 m, narrow, dark inside and dependent on the tide.
• 16:30 to 17:30: a swim near the ship.
• 17:30 to 18:30: sunset party and happy hour on the sundeck; a cooking class at 18:15; dinner at 19:15; squid fishing or the bar, and the first night at anchor.

Day 2: Viet Hai village and Ba Trai Dao

• 06:30: Tai Chi on the sundeck, then breakfast.
• 08:15: a tender to Cat Ba Island.
• 09:45: Viet Hai village, in a valley inside Cat Ba National Park, by bicycle or electric car, about 4 km past rice fields and traditional houses. On 30 September 2026 Cat Hai’s authorities handed the village’s households electric motorbikes, and the households pledged to give up petrol ones.
• 12:00 to 13:00: back on board for lunch while the ship moves to Ba Trai Dao.
• 13:30: kayaking and swimming at Ba Trai Dao beach.
• 17:30 to 18:30: a cooking demonstration, happy hour, sunset from the Jacuzzi; dinner at 19:15; the second night at anchor.

Day 3: a last kayak, then back

• 06:30: Tai Chi, a light breakfast.
• 07:30 to 08:30: kayaking among the limestone islands.
• 09:30 to 09:45: check out; brunch as the ship sails back.
• 11:15 to 11:30: land at Tuan Chau; the shuttle reaches Hanoi at about 15:30.

Carnival’s itinerary, from its GetYourGuide listing, November 2026. Every cruise here warns that the order changes with the weather and the tide.

Check dates for this itinerary

How the other three-day cruises order it

From each listing’s own itinerary (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026).

Where the stops are

The cave is in Lan Ha Bay proper, on the Cat Ba bays board’s own route through Hang Toi and Hang Sang (the Dark and the Bright Cave). Viet Hai lies inside Cat Ba National Park and is landed from Viet Hai wharf, and the Viet Hai gate is a stop on one of the four joint Ha Long - Lan Ha routes the two cities opened in April 2026; Ba Trai Dao, the “three peaches” beaches, is on that route and on another of them. Tuan Chau, where the ships check in, is in Ha Long, about 23 km from Cat Ba town in a straight line, so every one of these cruises crosses the south of Ha Long Bay on the way in and out.

Pick your route

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.