Halong Bay Kayaking, Vietnam

Ha Long City · Vietnam

Easy3 daysAsia~£350 est.

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Overview

Ha Long Bay hosts millions of visitors a year, and a sea kayak is the instrument that makes them all disappear. Paddling at dawn from a liveaboard anchored among the bay's 1,969 limestone karsts, you slip through tide-gated tunnels into hidden lagoons - collapsed sinkholes walled by hundred-metre cliffs where the only sounds are dripping rock and the occasional crash of a langur through the greenery. The dark passage of Hang Toi, floating villages where families still farm pearls and fish from stilted platforms, and night squid-fishing off the boat's stern round out a three-day trip that beats any cruise-deck view of the World Heritage seascape. Timing matters on two axes. First, book a smaller boat with genuine paddling time - many "kayaking" cruises mean forty minutes in a roped-off bay - or base in quieter Lan Ha Bay next door. Second, aim for October to December or March to April: summer brings heat, storms and the odd typhoon, while deep winter can be cold and grey. Tides gate the best tunnels, so a good guide plans the day around them. Three-day liveaboard trips with kayaks run about £350 including transfers from Hanoi.