Ha Long Bay routes VHL1 to VHL8, as the management board lists them

The short answer

Every sightseeing boat on Ha Long Bay runs on one of the routes the bay's management board sets, and the board's fee page says there are currently eight of them, numbered VHL1 to VHL8. The fee page sets the sightseeing fee per person for each route, and lists them as two cave-and-islet routes (VHL1 and VHL2), a route built around the Cửa Vạn floating cultural centre and archaeological caves (VHL3), a route to Hang Cỏ, Cống Đỏ and Vông Viêng (VHL4), an extension of VHL1 toward Cát Bà (VHL5), a short run to the edge of Lan Hạ Bay (VHL6), a combined route open only to exploration cruises (VHL7) and a coastal run between ports (VHL8).[1] XTOUR's reading is that choosing a boat trip on the bay therefore means choosing one of these routes first. Overnight boats, the board says, mostly use VHL2, VHL3 or VHL4.[15]

The routes start from Tuần Châu International Passenger Port or Hạ Long International Passenger Port, according to the board's route pages.[6][5] XTOUR's travel base for the bay is Ha Long; what UNESCO inscribed, including the 2023 extension to the Cát Bà archipelago, is covered in Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago.

Who sets the routes

The pages cited here are on halongbay.com.vn, which calls itself the general information website of "Ha Long Bay – World Natural Heritage" and gives the board's address at 166 Lê Thánh Tông, phường Hồng Gai, tỉnh Quảng Ninh.[18] The body behind it has changed name. Its own introduction page says the Ha Long Bay Management Board was founded on 9 December 1995, and that on 10 November 2025 it was merged with the Bái Tử Long National Park board and the province's relics and landscapes board into the Ha Long Bay – Yên Tử World Heritage Management Board (Ban Quản lý di sản thế giới vịnh Hạ Long – Yên Tử), under Decision 4166/QĐ-UBND of 1 November 2025. The same page says the board was reorganised under the Quảng Ninh Economic Zone Authority on 14 July 2026, and that its functions include organising tourism and services in the heritage area.[20]

Older pages on halongbay.com.vn still use the earlier name: the 2024 fee-exemption page is issued as the Ban Quản lý vịnh Hạ Long, while the visitor-advice page refers to the guides of the new Ha Long Bay – Yên Tử board.[3][2] The board's introduction describes the new body as formed from the old one, so XTOUR treats both names as the body that sells the sightseeing ticket.[20]

The eight routes

VHL1: Thiên Cung, Đầu Gỗ and the named islets

The VHL1 page lists Thiên Cung grotto, Đầu Gỗ cave, Hòn Chó Đá (Dog Stone islet), Ba Hang, Hòn Đỉnh Hương (Incense Burner islet) and Hòn Trống Mái, also called Gà Chọi (fighting cocks); the board's English list calls them Dog Stone Islet, Ba Hang Caves and so on.[13] The board describes Thiên Cung as sitting on Đầu Gỗ island 20 m above sea level with a floor of about 3,000 m², notes that President Hồ Chí Minh visited Đầu Gỗ, and says Ba Hang is three small notch caves linked to two saltwater lakes. Trống Mái, the page says, was chosen as the symbol of Ha Long tourism.[5]

VHL2: Ti Tốp, Sửng Sốt, Hang Luồn and Mê Cung

The VHL2 page lists Soi Sim island, Ti Tốp island, Sửng Sốt cave, Bồ Nâu, Hang Luồn, Hồ Động Tiên, Hang Trống, Hang Trinh Nữ and Mê Cung cave, plus the pearl farm in Tùng Sâu cove. It says Ti Tốp is the only island in the bay named by Hồ Chí Minh, after his 1962 visit with the Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov. The page describes Hang Luồn as a tunnel through the foot of a limestone island that opens onto an enclosed lake, where visitors row or kayak and meet rhesus macaques, and calls it an archaeological site of the Soi Nhụ culture, dated 18,000 to 7,000 years ago. Bồ Nâu, Trống and Trinh Nữ are passed by boat, and the page says the Trống and Trinh Nữ area is one of the bay's overnight anchorages.[6]

VHL3: Cửa Vạn and the archaeological caves

The VHL3 page lists the Cửa Vạn floating cultural centre in Tùng Sâu cove (displays on the life of Ha Long's fishing communities, sea songs, and kayak or bamboo-boat hire around the old fishing village), Tiên Ông cave (a prehistoric site of the Soi Nhụ culture within the Hòa Bình period), Hồ Ba Hầm, Áng Dù, Rừng Trúc and the Bà Men temple on Cật Bà island at the boundary with Cát Bà, Hải Phòng. Hồ Ba Hầm, the page says, can only be entered by bamboo boat at low tide. It also says the Bà Men temple festival is held on the 19th and 20th of the first lunar month.[7]

Two of the listed stops are not ready, by the same page's account. Rừng Trúc (the bamboo forest) is "currently not open to visitors", and Áng Dù, an enclosed lagoon of nearly 2 hectares, is "being invested in and restored".[7]

VHL4: Hang Cỏ, Cống Đỏ and Vông Viêng

The VHL4 page lists Hang Cỏ (also called Thiên Cảnh Sơn), the Hang Thầy area, the Cống Đỏ overnight point, Hang Cạp La, a tùng–áng (enclosed-lagoon) ecological area at Cống Đỏ, Hòn Xếp park and Vông Viêng. It says about 70 stone steps lead up to Hang Cỏ's entrance, and that at Vông Viêng visitors can go fishing with local fishers on traditional sailing boats, row bamboo boats or kayaks, race dragon boats and watch pearl crafting.[8]

Again the page qualifies its own list: Hang Cạp La and the Cống Đỏ tùng–áng area are both "currently under investment and infrastructure improvement", and the Hang Thầy area is "expected" to host services in future.[8]

VHL5: VHL1 continued toward Cát Bà

The VHL5 page lists the same stops as VHL1, then says the boat continues among the islands of the Cát Bà bay area in Hải Phòng; the route's title ends at Gia Luận wharf (Cát Bà – Hải Phòng).[9]

VHL6: to the edge of Lan Hạ Bay

VHL6 runs from the port to Hòn Chân Voi, Ba Cửa cove (named for its three entrances, with mangroves), Tùng Lâm island and Hòn Cặp Bài. The page says Tùng Lâm has many Ha Long palms (Livistona halongensis), a species endemic to Ha Long Bay and the Cát Bà archipelago, and that Hòn Cặp Bài marks the meeting point of Ha Long Bay and Lan Hạ Bay, next to Gia Luận.[10] On the fee page, VHL6 is the only route whose fee adds "per day" to the per-visit, per-person wording used for the others.[1]

VHL7: the combined route, for exploration cruises only

The VHL7 page says it follows VHL1, VHL2, VHL3 and VHL4 together and applies "only to exploration cruises" (du thuyền khám phá).[11] None of the pages read defines what counts as an exploration cruise.

VHL8: the coastal route

VHL8 is a shore-side route between Tuần Châu or Hạ Long International Passenger Port and Nam Cầu Trắng port. The highlights its page lists are on land: the Bãi Cháy tourist area, the Nữ Hoàng cable car, the Sun Wheel on Ba Đèo hill, Bãi Cháy bridge, Bài Thơ mountain (where, the page says, King Lê Thánh Tông had a poem inscribed in 1468), Hạ Long market and the Quảng Ninh Museum–Library.[12]

What the board's fee and advice pages say

The fee page, last updated on 31 March 2025, gives 250,000 đồng per person for VHL1, VHL2 and VHL5, 200,000 đồng for VHL3 and VHL4, 150,000 đồng per visit per day for VHL6, 600,000 đồng for VHL7 and 70,000 đồng for VHL8, with the VHL6, VHL7 and VHL8 fees applying from 1 May 2025.[1] These are the board's published sightseeing fees, not boat fares; XTOUR has not checked whether they have changed since that update.

For overnight stays the same page sets a maximum of 24 hours from departure for one night and 48 hours for two, and separate combined fees: route 2 with one night at 550,000 đồng and two nights at 750,000 đồng, and routes 3 and 4 at 500,000 đồng for one night and 650,000 đồng for two. It names the overnight points for each: Hang Trống, Hang Trinh Nữ, Hồ Động Tiên, Hòn Lát 690 and Ti Tốp 587 for route 2, the Tiên Ông area for route 3 and the Cống Đỏ area for route 4.[1]

The exemptions page, issued under Quảng Ninh People's Council resolutions of 2017 and 2018, makes children of any nationality under 1.2 m tall (or under seven) and people with severe disabilities exempt, gives 20% off to children of any nationality aged seven to under 16, and gives 50% off to elderly Vietnamese citizens aged 60 or over. It says proof is shown at the board's ticket counters at the tourist boat ports, where free passes or reduced tickets are issued and then shown at the ticket gates.[2]

The board's advice page tells visitors not to hire boats offered outside the passenger ports, to go into the terminal and ask the board's guides about itineraries and tickets, and to buy sightseeing tickets for a regulated itinerary.[3] Its day-boat page says tickets can be bought at the counters at Hạ Long or Tuần Châu International Passenger Port or through travel agencies, and asks passengers to keep the ticket for inspection at stops.[14] The overnight-boat page says to book through reputable platforms or directly with operators, and that an ID card or passport is required for the stay declaration on the bay.[15] None of the board's pages read on 11 October 2026 offers its own online sale of sightseeing tickets.

Day trip or overnight

The board's day-boat page says visitors usually choose between two routes: VHL1, which it describes as four hours, and route 2, which it describes as six hours and as including kayaking or bamboo boats at Hang Luồn.[14] Those durations are the page's own description, not times XTOUR has checked. The overnight-boat page says most overnight boats run two-day/one-night or three-day/two-night programmes on VHL2, VHL3 or VHL4.[15]

The board's boat directory sorts listed vessels into restaurant boats, daytime boats and overnight boats, giving each one's home port (Tuần Châu or Hạ Long), a telephone number and its capacity.[19] XTOUR does not know whether the directory covers every licensed boat.

Kayak and bamboo-boat hire depends on where the boat stops. The board's services page names the provider and its prices at Hang Luồn, Ba Hang, Cửa Vạn, Vung Viêng and Hòn Bàn Chân beach (one cooperative serves the last two); at the Lờm Bò and Cống Đỏ overnight points it says some overnight boats keep kayaks there and tour companies include kayaking in the overnight tour price, and at Hang Cỏ and Cống Đầm it says Đông Dương JSC includes them in its tour price.[16] That page was last updated in November 2024. A separate page describes a speedboat circuit from Cát Lán through Hang Luồn, Hồ Động Tiên and Hang Trống, priced per person per run or per boat for small groups.[17]

Where the board's own pages disagree

The board's pages are not consistent with each other, and the differences matter when comparing tour offers.

• Stops on the day routes. The route page lists Ba Hang as a VHL1 stop, but the 2026 day-boat page's VHL1 line leaves it out; the same day-boat page describes route 2 as Ti Tốp, Sửng Sốt and Hang Luồn only, against the nine named places on the route page.[6][14][5]
• Stops on the overnight routes. The overnight-boat page describes VHL3 as including Hòn Con Cóc and Đầu Bê island, which do not appear on the VHL3 route page or the fee page.[1][7][15]
• Season dates. The visiting-times page uses a summer of 16 April to 31 October for the caves' opening hours, but a summer of 1 April to 31 October for boat departure times.[4]
• Place names. The fee page and the VHL4 route title write Vông Viêng; the visiting-times, overnight-boat and services pages write Vung Viêng, and the VHL4 page uses both spellings.[16][15][4][8][1]
• Listed but not open. VHL3 and VHL4 are priced as full routes, while their own pages say Rừng Trúc is not open and Áng Dù, Hang Cạp La and the Cống Đỏ tùng–áng area are still being worked on.[8][7][1]

XTOUR does not resolve these. The route pages are undated, the day and overnight pages were updated in March 2026, and the fee page in March 2025.

What XTOUR does not know

XTOUR does not know whether the fees above are still current, how long any route takes at sea, which stops a given boat actually makes, whether Rừng Trúc, Áng Dù or Hang Cạp La have opened since the pages were written, or how accessible the caves are; the board's own visiting-times page gives cave hours, but XTOUR repeats none of them as checked. It also does not know how the routes are affected by weather closures, which none of the pages read describes. halongbay.org.vn and vinhhalong.gov.vn could not be opened on 11 October 2026, so anything published only there is not reflected here. For the country, see Vietnam.