Nestled in the south of the glorious Halong Bay and the east of Cat Ba Island, Lan Ha Bay has an area of over 7.000 hectares, of which 5.400 hectares belong to Cat Ba National Park. While most of the cruise itineraries direct the routes to the UNESCO-listed “Bay of Descending Dragon,” just some draw the tourists’ attention to the poetic Lan Ha, and in fact, it turns out to be a more relaxing cruise journey. In this pristine destination, you find less crowd but more serenity and privacy.

Tourists today can benefit from Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway, which is less than 2-hour drive for the short or quick transfer. The 6-lane expressway helps fasten transfer time from Hanoi to Got pier of Hai Phong City-home to lovely Lan Ha Bay.

In the sense to avoid crowds in the celebrated Halong Bay, people might choose the less-visited highlights of Lan Ha Bay.  Lan Ha owns up to nearly 400 islands and islets for sightseeing, plus 139 picturesque beaches for swimming and a variety of water activities. A special trait is that all islets and islands of this haven are covered by trees and greenery. The characteristics that Lan Ha might share with Halong include limestone towers of various shapes, caves, spectacular beaches with white and golden sandbanks, and blue seawater. Hundreds of the islets and islands establish sublime vista to please all eyes.

The Lan Ha Bay Cruises promise to be more relaxing and less bustling compared to the other more famous site in the neighboring areas. So if you care about private vacation and unspoiled beauty of Nature, and traditional fishermen’s life, then get to the placid Lan Ha.

Swimming in the gentle will help you unwind as you let worries drift away. While you are soaking, take time contemplating the marvelous surrounding scenery and admiring the power of Nature. Being in front of the beautiful sea and the magnificent cliffs, you might feel humble yet exciting. Also, enjoy the white sandbank and majestic beaches.

Kayaking in Lan Ha Bay will shower you with opportunities to be free and happy when you’re sailing to the middle of the sea, touching the blue-and-clear water, and looking at the far-off mountains. Sometimes, you might listen to the sound of Nature, and it’s wonderful to empower yourself to laugh, take lovely pictures, and create sweet experiences. If you go kayaking with the loved ones, experiences go best. In the serene and captivating landscape, people often say loving words to each other.

Visiting Viet Hai fishing village in which the fishermen and their families preserve traditions of fishing and self-supply life. The visit will bring you pleasant cultural experiences by learning how villagers live, somehow in a way separated from the outside world.

The bay consists of a dense cluster of some 1,600 limestone monolithic islands each topped with thick jungle vegetation, rising spectacularly from the ocean. The bay has a 120-kilometre-long (75 mi) coastline and is approximately 1,553 km2 (600 sq mi) in size with about 2,000 islets. The area designated by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage Site incorporates 434 km2 (168 sq mi) with 775 islets, of which the core zone is delimited by 69 points: Dau Go island on the west, Ba Ham lake on the south and Cong Tay island on the east. The protected area is from the Cái Dăm petrol store to Quang Hanh ward, Cẩm Phả city and the surrounding zone.

A community of around 1,600 people live on Hạ Long Bay in four fishing villages: Cua Van, Ba Hang, Cong Tau and Vong Vieng in Hung Thang ward, Hạ Long city. They live on floating houses and are sustained through fishing and marine aquaculture (cultivating marine biota), plying the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Many of the islands have acquired their names as a result of their unusual shapes. Such names include Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting cock), Khi Islet (monkey), and Mai Nha Islet (roof). 989 of the islands have been given names. Birds and land animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and lizards also live on some of the islands. Almost all these islands are as individual towers in a classic fenglin landscape with heights ranging from 50–100 metres (160–330 ft), and height/width ratios of up to about six.

The climate of the bay is tropical, wet, sea islands, with two seasons: hot and moist summer, dry and cold winter. The average temperature is from 15–25 °C (59–77 °F), and annual rainfall is between 2 and 2.2 metres (6.6 and 7.2 ft). Hạ Long Bay has the typical diurnal tide system (tide amplitude ranges from 3.5–4 metres or 11–13 feet). The salinity is from 31 to 34.5MT in the dry season and lower in the rainy season.

Of the 1,969 islands in Hạ Long, only approximately 40 are inhabited. These islands range from tens to thousands of hectares in size, mainly in the East and Southeast of Hạ Long Bay. In recent decades, thousands of villagers have been starting to settle down on the pristine islands and build new communities such as Sa Tô Island (Hạ Long City) and Thắng Lợi Island (Vân Đồn district).

At present, the Quảng Ninh provincial government has a policy to relocate the households living in the bay to resettle, in order to stabilize their life and to protect the landscape of the heritage zone. More than 300 households living in fishing villages in Hạ Long Bay have been relocated ashore in Khe Cá Resettlement Area, now known as Zone 8 (Hà Phong Ward, Hạ Long City) since May 2014. This project will continue to be implemented. The province will only retain a number of fishing villages for sightseeing tours.