Vietnam » Northern Vietnam » Hanoi | 🏛 Halong Bay Cruise From Hanoi · Kayaking Tours · Hanoi Hiking Tour · Ha Long Bay Tours · Lan Ha Bay Tours

Lan Ha Bay & Cat Ba Island: 3-Day Kayaking & Trekking from Hanoi

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.98 (917 reviews) 98% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/27

Duration3d

GroupUp to 40

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Three days paddling Lan Ha Bay's quiet side, then trekking Cat Ba's limestone peaks

You get picked up from your Hanoi hotel, driven to Ha Long, and board the Vega Legend cruise for two nights anchored in Lan Ha Bay's quieter waters. Days include kayaking through limestone channels and hidden lagoons, a moderate trek up Cat Ba Island's Ngu Lam peak with views across three bays, village cycling, and a cooking class. All meals, guide, kayak gear, and park entry are included; you return to Hanoi by mid-afternoon on day three.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Hanoi to Lan Ha Bay cruise and kayaking

Pick up from Hanoi hotel
Drive to Ha Long city with break
Arrive at Tuan Chau wharf
Board Vega Legend cruise
Enjoy welcome drink and check in
Have fresh lunch on board
Cruise Ha Long Bay to Lan Ha Bay
Kayak in Lan Ha Bay and swim
Watch sunset and join cooking class
Dinner and overnight on cruise

Day 2 — Trekking Cat Ba Island and kayaking

Watch sunrise on sun deck
Buffet breakfast on board
Tender boat to Cat Ba Island
Drive to National Park center
Trek to Ngu Lam peak
Visit Trung Trang and hospital caves
Lunch at local restaurant
Walk cliff path from Cat Co 1 to 3
Swim at Cat Co 3 beach
Return to cruise and kayak or swim
Dinner and overnight on cruise

Day 3 — Cycling Viet Hai village and return

Breakfast with bay sunrise
Tender boat to Viet Hai dock
Cycle to Viet Hai village
Visit local house and school
Cycle back and tender to cruise
Relax or swim on board
Check out and cruise through islands
Buffet lunch on board
Arrive Ha Long dock and disembark
Drive back to Hanoi
Drop off at hotel or Vega office

The Experience

The boat leaves Tuan Chau Harbor at 1 p.m., and by then you've already been picked up from your Hanoi hotel around 8 a.m., driven three hours through the Red River Delta, and settled into a deluxe sea-view room on the Vega Legend cruise. That pickup-to-boat timeline matters because it means you're not rushing; you arrive calm, eat lunch on deck with the first views of Ha Long Bay already behind you, and then the real thing starts: sailing past the crowded center toward Lan Ha Bay, the quieter side that most tour groups never reach. Your guide steers the kayak through narrow limestone channels, under tunnel grottoes, past fishing villages that don't feel staged. You paddle into emerald lagoons, swim in water so clear you see the bottom, and if the tide allows, slip into a hidden lagoon that opens like a secret room carved into rock.

Day two is the trek. A tender boat takes you to Cat Ba Island in the morning, then a car climbs into the national park for a moderate hike up to Ngu Lam peak—about two and a half to three hours up and down depending on your pace. The summit gives you three landscapes in one frame: Cat Ba Island, Lan Ha Bay, and Ha Long Bay stacked behind it. After that you walk the cliff path between Cat Co beaches, swim at Cat Co 3, and return to the boat for dinner. Night fishing is optional if you want it; most people just sit on deck and listen to the water.

The last morning you're up early for breakfast, then a 30-minute bike ride through shaded paths to Viet Hai village—a real place in a valley, not a tourist stop—where you can visit a local house and see how people actually live there. After that it's back to the boat, a final cruise through thousands of limestone islands while you eat lunch, then the drive back to Hanoi, arriving between 3 and 3:30 p.m. The whole thing is built so you don't have to book transport separately, find a guide, negotiate meals, or figure out which route avoids the crowds; it's all arranged, and the boat is small enough that you're not one of thousands.

What’s included

Your three days include hotel pickup and return transport from Hanoi, a shared transfer by bus or minivan, two nights in a deluxe sea-view room on the Vega Legend cruise with ocean view and balcony, all meals (lunch and dinner on days one and two, breakfast and lunch on day three), a full-time English-speaking guide, kayak and paddle, a cooking class on the first evening, entrance fees to Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay national park, and optional night fishing. Bicycle rental for the Viet Hai village ride on day three is included.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Vega Travel

Is this one for you?Pick this if you want the main Lan Ha and Cat Ba highlights without arranging your own transport, guide, meals, and park tickets—the fixed itinerary and small-group boat are what make it possible to see three different landscapes and a real village in three days without the stress of logistics.