Is the Lan Ha Bay cruise BETTER than Ha Long Bay? Honest review! ⛴️🇻🇳

This is the part of Vietnam that is perhaps the most famous in the world. Even someone who doesn't know much about the country has probably seen pictures of these iconic limestone rocks. Ha Long Bay is the place that gets all the plaudits. But in the same stretch of water off the northeast coast lies an almost identical landscape that's only different in name, but equally as beautiful. We are talking about Lan Ha Bay. Cruises here have become a popular alternative in recent years due to the huge crowds that flock to Ha Long Bay. Some reports online have highlighted how Ha Long Bay has become at times less enjoyable due to how busy it is compared to its quieter sibling. With that in mind we decided to book ourselves onto a Lan Ha Bay cruise. Come with us to see what it's like on board, enjoy kayaking around these majestic vibrant waters and marvel at remarkable caves and nature up close on wooden boats. And let's find out together if Lan Ha Bay is in fact a better option than Ha Long Bay in 2024. So we've made it to the terminal after getting a transfer with a crazy driver. He was not hanging around to get us here but we're here. It's a little bit hazy this morning which is a bit of a shame so hopefully the sun's going to burn through at some point. I've checked the local forecast and it's supposed to be a nicer day tomorrow so hopefully we're going to get a beautiful sunrise tomorrow morning from the boat. But yeah we're just waiting in the harbour now to get our transfer from the terminal to the actual cruise itself. We booked the Rosie cruise and paid $175 each. It's quite the splurge for us and way outside of our normal day-to-day budget but it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so we thought we'd go all out. It's already pretty full we're only on the transfer boat so far and the guy was just saying that apparently five meters and it's like a little bit misty today and a little bit hazy but apparently this is really good weather. After around a half an hour ride out we made it to where the boat was docked and got our first glimpse of it. The staff was so polite and welcomed us on board. We are on the cruise. Our room was the senior suite on the second deck. This is our room. Wow. Nana's in 302. And it's got a van. This is cute. Open the curtains. Oh my god. Oh my god. Wow. Look at that. Feel like a celebrity. This is crazy guys. We've got a bath. This is going to be the coolest bath to take a bath in. It's not going to be a bad bath to have is it? Look at that view from the bathroom. Marnie. We're so lucky. How nice is this? It's very snazzy isn't it? Isn't it cool? Here we go onto our balconies. Wow. Look at it guys. This bed is massive as well. We're not sleeping with the curtains. No way. You've got to sleep with the curtains open on this. Wow. Beautiful. Guys honestly this is ridiculous. This is an absolute pinch yourself moment. I am like beaming from ear to ear right now. Wow. Look at the view from our room. This is the bathroom. Hello. View from the bath. Look at that view from the bath. Like are you kidding me? This is unbelievable. This is unbelievable. Look where we are. Look at where we are. Oh my god. Come outside. Come outside and take a look. Mind the step as you come out. But look at this. This is our home for the next 24 hours and I am in a state of shock right now that this is actually happening. We've been like dreaming about this moment to be honest. Look that's the reflection in our window. It's the reflection in our window. This is incredible. What a moment. What a moment. Heading to lunch. Like straight away. I'm so hungry aren't you? Okay that's all right. I've had worse places for lunch haven't you? Lunch is served almost immediately after you get on board to set you up for the rest of the day. Look where you are. We were still in complete awe of the stunning views out the window from our table in the restaurant. After lunch we were desperate to get out on deck properly for the first time to take in the scenery as we cruised through the bay. We were pinching ourselves at the sight of this astonishing landscape. It feels like a once in a... I don't even need to tell you why. Like a once-in-a-lifetime moment you just have to. We're really starting to see the beauty of Vietnam now. This just takes you into a whole of peace and tranquility and absolutely incredible. As we enjoy these views together let's just take a quick tour around the rest of the boat. So this is one cool little quirk that comes with the boat that we've gone for. It's a little pool out here. So this is the third deck. We're staying on the third deck. Our room's on this floor and at the end of our corridor which is just behind us here is this pool at the front of the boat with these views. So let's go upstairs and take a look upstairs. Come on. One thing that is really good is that like we were just saying at lunch there's not that many people on the boat so it's quite quiet and you can kind of find your own space. Come and enjoy your peace and quiet with the sea. There's a couple around there sat at the front of the boat and they're just all on their own. It's such a magical moment for them the same way it is for us. I mean this is just stunning. Anyway I've left Marnie up on deck five. She's enjoying it up there because I had to go and get her hands on some hot water but there's plenty of shade. Look I'm under the under the cover right here. We're going to go up now to deck five this way. I've only been on board of what a couple of hours and I don't think it would be very controversial to say this is one of the best things that I think we've ever done. Would you agree Marnie? This is one of the most beautiful places you've ever been. Can you think of anywhere better than this for pure natural beauty? Are you having a nice time? You seem really relaxed. Are you? It's not difficult to be relaxed when you're here is it? This, look at it. I have to keep pinching myself to like believe this. Looks like we're getting set up to go kayaking soon I reckon. That's going to be epic. Take a look at this. They come onto the boats to sell stuff. These people that live on the water. It was a fascinating sight to see this local lady working hard to earn money by stocking up on snacks and drinks and rowing up to the boats to sell to people on board. She uses a fishing net to pass up the items and passengers then throw cash into it in return. One way to make a living isn't it? They were saying that these people that were just selling that they just live on the water and that when they go on land sometimes they get land sick because they're so used to just living on the water and yeah so they make a bit of extra cash by sailing the boat up to the cruise ships, the cruise boats, selling a few beers. Time for swimming and kayaking. It was time to up the tempo, get out on the water and take ourselves even closer to the structure that defines this UNESCO World Heritage Site. I'm so proud of Marnie because she's terrified but she's conquering her fears. I don't think there are many better places to go kayaking than this guys. They really aren't. Absolutely at one with nature here. Pure beauty of nature in all its glory right next to us. What a fascinating place. If you actually sit and take a moment you can actually hear the birds. That's so beautiful. The water is such a greeny blue colour as well. Incredible. We were just saying as well that we have got so lucky with the weather today. When we were coming in earlier it was really misty and we were thinking oh no I can't believe the weather's going to be terrible and it's a little bit hazy today but we've got definitely bluish skies now so we can't really complain all too much and we've been kayaking around now for 45 minutes. This is definitely, well I can't say yet because we haven't done the whole thing but this is definitely one of the funnest parts of the trip so far. You've got to get in and kayak guys. Our boat's now all the way over there. That is the big question. Do I even need to answer it with words? I don't think so. I think we should just let. Well you see what we're doing and you decide if it's worth it. Here we go. He's running me around now. Talk about that getting over a Hope everyone's proud of Marnie. She's braving it and when I asked her if she wanted to go back she was like no let's stay so that's also good. I really want to go for a swim as well. Looks awesome. We've just got back to the boat onto our balcony. We just spent the last hour kayaking around and then jumping around in the water being stupid. It's so fun to have such a laugh here and these ladies come up to the side of the boat. Don't tell anyone they sell the beer way cheaper than on the actual cruise so yeah if they come up to the boat you can just get a nice beer. We've got a couple each that we're going to enjoy here. This is going to be a nice spot to enjoy a beer and then in about an hour apparently there's a sort of sunset party on the deck where you go up and they do like happy hours so we'll see what that's like in a little bit but for now time to chill with these views have a nice beer and relax. This is wicked. So beautiful. The boat continued to sail around Lanhar Bay and one of the best things to do on the cruise is to sit back relax and just enjoy the scenery from your balcony. We have got so lucky with the weather it's incredible we've reached now like peak golden hour and it is making for the most beautiful scenery it's like making the water so greeny blue lighting up the the limestone rocks so beautifully and then the way the sun is setting over there it's just looking so incredible and just everything about this is just mind-blowing and obviously everyone has to get these it's making for really really nice pictures as well so we'll definitely show you a oh wow look at this bit of rock that's just sticking out over there going up to the sky deck for the sunset party or whatever they're calling it the colours at the golden hour honestly is just unbelievable this is absolute heaven can you see by the smile on my face how much we are loving this oh this is such a like bucket list thing to do isn't it you see all the pictures of it and you wonder if it's going to live up to the hype and i don't know if like some people might be more fussy than us but this is absolutely taking all the boxes and living up to the hype absolutely like these blocks are so incredible the shape of everything like it just doesn't look real does it it's quite a nice touch the host is teaching everyone how to make spring rolls which is really cool uh we're happy to to sit and watch that all the while we have this backdrop so yeah we're happy to sit and watch because this this is what it's all about really not how to make spring rolls no no it's fun but the backdrop with the lights on on this boat marnie i'd rather sit here and watch this wouldn't you yeah this is a proper place to bring your kids like and they're they're really intrigued it's so beautiful up here now they've turned the lights on look at all this what a feast now are we we literally went from thinking there's going to be no veggie options to an absolute feast we got pasta tofu pizza curry we've had our salad starter this is great this is where we get our money's worth being vegetarian sometimes is a winner everyone's probably looking at our food now like what we want them back this is awesome look after enjoying the ethereal vietnamese sunrise we headed out for what was possibly one of the most beautiful parts of the lanhar bay cruise we were taken to a section of the bay that has become famous for being where some of the king kong skull island movie was filmed boat rowers worked hard to sail us along the vivid bluey green seas with the sounds of the water truly blistering we gazed in awe at the fabled casts which are perhaps even more dramatic here than anywhere else eventually we were taken through the iconic bright cave a must-see part of any lanhar or halong bay cruise the reality of this case it's absolute pandemonium it was pretty busy though as you can see but well worth it to see the 400 million year old limestone which is so old that the rock has turned from white to black in some places it really was just truly mesmerizing and now we are finally saying goodbye to this most incredible an experience that we've had sailing back in towards the port now we're just gonna head up for some brunch before we get off the boat it's absolutely whiz by but it's been absolutely brilliant fun and we were just saying that we think you do get really good value for money on this trip we've packed in a lot of good stuff and uh yeah we've absolutely loved it so what a great experience and something we would definitely love to do again one day and yeah the whole thing is absolutely well worth it and if you're thinking about doing it i think you should just do it because yes there are some cons but they're quickly outweighed by the beauty of this place and the whole experience has been brilliant with rosy cruise so yeah awesome the coming to the end of the cruise we're just saying somehow the scenery is just getting even better going back i think it goes back on a different route to the way it comes in so we're seeing all different kinds of landscape rocks and greenery now it's like being in a movie on here it's just great the beauty of the rocks with the contrast of all these little inlets they've got they look so nice and look at that behind us that's so cool to say we're blown away would be an understatement there's no way to even describe this place really just phenomenal absolutely phenomenal starting to think the price they charge is cheap this is crazily good as i said the journey back to shore was stunning leaving us feeling as though the cruise ended on a real high thank you for coming with us around lanhar bay we hope you enjoyed the adventure and it's given you an insight into what it's really like please do like the video and subscribe to our channel if you want to stay with us on our journey around vietnam it's free to do and it would mean the world to us for you to come along for the ride next up we head to cat bar island so hopefully see you then for now we'll leave you with the remarkable natural beauty of lanhar bay until next time enjoy and goodbye