Lan Ha Bay vs Ha Long Bay (and Bai Tu Long)

Ha Long Bay has the big show caves and official routes. Lan Ha Bay, off Cat Ba Island, has island beaches; Bai Tu Long centres on lived-in islands.

Read about Lan Ha Bay

1,969 islands in Ha Long Bay (management board count)

Over 7,000 ha Lan Ha Bay, hundreds of islands

15,783 ha Bai Tu Long National Park

A steep green limestone cliff above a cluster of floating houses and a red-hulled boat on dark green water. — Làng chài Cái Bèo Floating houses and fish pens below a green limestone cliff at Cái Bèo, near Cát Bà, in August 2018. Photo: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0

Three bays sit side by side on this stretch of the Gulf of Tonkin, and the bay’s management board, the Ha Long Bay - Yen Tu World Heritage Management Board (the Board) describes them as one island-and-sea complex. Vịnh Hạ Long (Ha Long Bay) is in the middle, Vịnh Lan Hạ (Lan Ha Bay) lies to the south-west off Đảo Cát Bà (Cat Ba Island), and Vịnh Bái Tử Long (Bai Tu Long Bay) runs away to the north-east. Each has its own ports, boats and tickets.

The three bays compared

Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay share one World Heritage property, while Bai Tu Long Bay is a separate national park. The table sets out size, status, boats, beaches, kayaking, crowds, fees and the trip from Hà Nội (Hanoi), each figure with its own scope.

Two weathered limestone stacks standing close together in calm water, lit warm by low sun, with tall limestone peaks behind under a pale sky. — Hòn Trống Mái The Kissing Rocks (Hòn Trống Mái) stand in warm evening light, with taller limestone peaks behind them. Photo: Mustang Joe, CC0

A tall slender limestone rock rising from dark green water beside a forested island, with white clouds in a blue sky. — Hòn Bút, vịnh Lan Hạ Hòn Bút, a limestone rock standing in Lan Hạ Bay under cumulus cloud. Photo: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0

A small wooden boat with a green cabin and three people aboard, buckets at the bow, floats on calm green water below grey and ochre limestone cliffs topped with scrub. — Vịnh Bái Tử Long A small green fishing boat with three people aboard lies on calm green water below limestone cliffs in Bái Tử Long Bay. Photo: Benjamin Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0

The three bays side by side. Figures come from different sources, years and scopes, so they describe each bay and do not rank them. Checked October 2026.
	Ha Long Bay	Lan Ha Bay	Bai Tu Long Bay
Where	Quảng Ninh (a province until 31 August 2026; a centrally governed city since 1 September 2026)	Cát Hải special zone (đặc khu Cát Hải) of Hải Phòng city	Quảng Ninh, off Vân Đồn and Cẩm Phả (Vân Đồn is now the Vân Đồn special zone, đặc khu Vân Đồn)
Size and islands	1,553 km², 1,969 islands, of which 980 have names (Board count)	Over 7,000 hectares with hundreds of islands	Hundreds of islands. No official area or island count exists for the whole of Bai Tu Long Bay; its national park covers 15,783 hectares (about 158 km²) with 40 islands and rocks
Status	World Heritage since 1994, and the property was extended on 16 September 2023 to include the Cát Bà archipelago	In the Cát Bà component added to the World Heritage property on 16 September 2023 (with Cát Bà National Park), and the bay lies in the UNESCO Cát Bà Biosphere Reserve (designated 2004)	A separate national park (established 2001) and an ASEAN Heritage Park (designated 2016), outside the World Heritage property
Boats leave from	Cảng tàu khách quốc tế Hạ Long (Hạ Long International Passenger Port) in Bãi Cháy; Cảng Tuần Châu (Tuần Châu port)	Bến Bèo (Cái Bèo pier) in Cát Bà town: day boats and hourly hire; Where overnight cruises board since March 2024 was not found, so read the pick-up point on the booking	Cảng Ao Tiên (Ao Tiên port), Vân Đồn: routes BTL1 to BTL6 start here; Cẩm Phả: routes BTL7 to BTL10 start here (launch not confirmed); Cảng Cái Rồng (Cái Rồng port): boats to Quan Lạn
From Hanoi	About 165 km (Board figure), usually 2.5 to 3.5 hours by road from central Hà Nội and 3 to 4 hours door to door	About 2 hours by expressway to the ferry terminal, then the ferry and the road to Cát Bà town, roughly 3 to 3.5 hours without queues (an estimate), with the boat into the bay on top	About 200 km and about 3 hours by limousine to Ao Tiên port (2025), then 40 minutes to 1.5 hours by boat to Quan Lạn
Crowds	About 10,000 visitors a day and about 500 registered tour boats (Quảng Ninh, March 2026), and about 3.1 million visitors in 2024 (the Board's figure)	No boat count was found; Cát Bà (the whole island) took about 70,000 visitors in the first two days of the 30 April to 1 May 2026 holiday; waits of up to 12 hours on 13 and 14 September 2026	No visitor or boat count was found, and a 2025 guide calls Quan Lạn less crowded than Ha Long Bay or Cô Tô
Beaches	In 2023 Ti Tốp (Ti Top) was the only licensed swimming beach operating in Hạ Long Bay	Cát Dứa 1 and 2 (Monkey Island), Ba Trái Đào and the Vạn Bội sand bar; Cát Cò 1, 2 and 3 are Cát Bà town beaches, outside the bay	Minh Châu and Quan Lạn on Quan Lạn island (white sand, Minh Châu calmer), plus Cái Lim and Lương Ngọc
Swimming	Swimming is allowed only at licensed beaches. Soi Sim has been closed since 2020	Press describes Lan Ha Bay as a place for swimming at small island beaches (Cát Dứa, Ba Trái Đào); no rule banning swimming on the Hải Phòng side was found	Minh Châu has gently sloping white sand and is calmer and quieter; the Quan Lạn side is busier. A 2024 guide gives the best months for Quan Lạn as April to June and September to October, and the 2026 guide gives April to June
Kayaking	Allowed at licensed points run by contracted operators, with posted prices of about 40,000 to 100,000 VND	Kayak and rowing-boat services in the Cát Bà archipelago waters, including Lan Ha Bay, have been suspended since 15 November 2024; no resumption was found by 3 October 2026	Not documented in the sources reached
Fees	The official sightseeing fee is 200,000 to 250,000 VND per route plus a 60,000 VND port charge (2026). Fees are normally inside a cruise price	A per-person Lan Ha sightseeing ticket is sold by the Cát Bà bay management board, but its current amount could not be found; Cát Bà National Park costs 80,000 to 160,000 VND by route (2026)	No sightseeing fee is published (free at launch in March 2025), and the boat to Quan Lạn costs about 150,000 to 200,000 VND each way

Three differences matter most in practice. The large show caves, Sửng Sốt, Thiên Cung and Đầu Gỗ, are all in Ha Long Bay; the caves on the Lan Ha and Bai Tu Long boat routes are small or their sizes are not published. Kayaking runs at licensed points in Ha Long Bay but has been suspended on the Cat Ba side since 15 November 2024. And only Ha Long Bay has a published sightseeing fee: the current Lan Ha ticket price could not be found, and no fee has been set for Bai Tu Long since its routes opened free in March 2025.

Choose Ha Long Bay if

Choose Ha Long Bay if you want the large show caves and the official numbered routes. About 10,000 visitors a day and about 500 registered tour boats were counted in March 2026.

You want the big caves. About 70 caves lie in the core zone and 12 are open to visitors. Hang Sửng Sốt (Sung Sot Cave, “Surprise Cave”), about 10,000 m², is the largest open cave, and Động Thiên Cung (Thien Cung Cave) and Hang Đầu Gỗ (Dau Go Cave) are on the same short route.
You want a route you can check. The Board publishes eight numbered itineraries, VHL1 to VHL8, with a sightseeing fee of 200,000 to 250,000 VND per route on the main day routes plus a 60,000 VND port charge, normally included in a cruise price (checked October 2026).
You are short of time. Boats leave from Tuần Châu (Tuan Chau) port or the Hạ Long International Passenger Port in Bãi Cháy (Bai Chay), about 165 km from Hanoi by the Board’s figure. A day trip from Hanoi is possible but rushed: about 11 to 12 hours out for about four hours on the water on the VHL1 route.

The trade-off is the crowd. Ha Long Bay drew about 3.1 million visitors in 2024 by the Board’s count, and IUCN’s 2025 World Heritage Outlook rates the property “significant concern”, citing mass tourism, more than 1,000 tour boats across the property, water pollution and building without enough environmental assessment. Swimming is limited to licensed beaches; in 2023 Ti Tốp (Ti Top) had the only one operating. The cruises page explains the routes, fees and boats.

A lit paved walkway with lamp posts and rope barriers winding through a large cave chamber with rock walls and a high ceiling. — Hang Sửng Sốt A paved walkway lined with lamp posts and rope barriers winds through the main chamber of Sửng Sốt Cave. Photo: lumoplank, CC0

Several sheer limestone towers beside a floating house, with a brown-sailed wooden junk on grey-green water. — Vịnh Hạ Long Tall limestone towers rise from calm water in Hạ Long Bay, with a wooden junk in front of them. Photo: Ondřej Žváček, CC BY 2.5

Choose Lan Ha Bay if

Choose Lan Ha Bay if you want a base on Cat Ba Island, small island beaches, village scenery such as Cái Bèo and national park walking, and you accept a ferry hop. Kayak and rowing-boat services there have been suspended since 15 November 2024.

Day boats and hourly-hire boats start from Bến Bèo (Cai Beo pier) in Cat Ba town, where visitors buy the bay ticket and hire the boat. The routes pass small island beaches: Cát Dứa 1 and 2 on Monkey Island, Ba Trái Đào (Three Peaches beach, white sand and clear water) and the Vạn Bội sand bar. Cai Beo itself is the best-known floating fishing village on the Hải Phòng side, a few hundred households among fish farms.

Swimming at those island beaches is how the press describes the bay, and no rule against it was found on the Hai Phong side. Paddling is another matter: the Cat Ba side halted kayak and rowing-boat services on 15 November 2024, saying they had grown without legal conditions and that a World Heritage site should match Ha Long Bay’s standards, and no restart was found by 3 October 2026.

Getting there takes longer. Allow roughly 3 to 3.5 hours from Hanoi to Cat Ba town when the ferry is clear, then the boat into the bay, so a day trip from Hanoi is long. Two fatal collisions between tour boats have happened on Lan Ha Bay, in June 2022 and on 14 June 2026, and Hai Phong ordered an audit of passenger tour boats after the second.

Moored boats with blue and red roofs in front of steep limestone islands under cloud and blue sky. — Làng chài Cái Bèo Moored boats and floating houses at the Cái Bèo floating village, with limestone islands behind, in June 2017. Photo: Edgardo W. Olivera, CC BY 2.0

A small ornate shrine on a strip of pale sand under a tall grey limestone cliff and green forest, with calm water in front. — Vịnh Lan Hạ A small temple on a sandy beach below a limestone cliff in Lan Hạ Bay, seen from a boat. Photo: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Lan Ha Bay page covers its beaches, boats and how to get there in full.

Choose Bai Tu Long Bay if

Choose Bai Tu Long Bay if you value quiet islands, village life and beaches and accept thinner facilities and unsettled fees. The press describes it as little known to international visitors, and its official boat routes only opened on 29 March 2025.

You want inhabited islands and beaches. Many islands are lived on, so trips centre on villages and beaches. Quan Lạn island has two beach centres about 12 km apart: Minh Châu, with gently sloping white sand and calmer water, and the busier Quan Lan side.
You can give it two or three days. Ao Tiên port in Vân Đồn is about 200 km from Hanoi, about 3 hours by limousine (2025), then the boat to Quan Lan takes 40 minutes to 1.5 hours, at around 150,000 to 200,000 VND each way. The islands are not a day trip from Hạ Long.
You accept loose ends. No sightseeing fee has been published, the routes are new, the caves on them (Hang Nhà Trò and Hang Phất Cờ) have no published size, and no visitor or boat count exists, so “quieter” rests on press descriptions.

Bai Tu Long Bay lies outside the World Heritage property: it is a national park, established in 2001, and an ASEAN Heritage Park, now run by the same Quảng Ninh board as Ha Long Bay. Vung Viêng fishing village and Hang Cỏ (Thiên Cảnh Sơn cave) are often sold as Bai Tu Long sights but sit on Ha Long Bay’s route VHL4. The Bai Tu Long Bay page lists its official routes.

A long single-storey communal house with a brown tiled roof and open timber front beside a bare courtyard. — Đảo Quan Lạn, Vân Đồn The communal house (đình) on Quan Lạn Island, with a tiled roof and an open yard. Photo: Phó Nháy, Public domain

Bathers wade and swim in shallow water on a wide pale beach, with two dark green hills rising from the sea under a blue sky with thin cloud and a bright inflatable toy at the lower right edge. — Bãi biển Minh Châu, Vân Đồn People paddle and swim in the shallows of Minh Châu Beach in the late afternoon, with two wooded hills across the water. Photo: Handyhuy, CC BY-SA 3.0

Cat Ba Island as a base

Cat Ba has the Bến Bèo pier where Lan Ha Bay boats start, town beaches, a hilltop fort and national park trails, so staying on the island puts day boats into Lan Ha Bay within easy reach. The cost is the ferry: queues at weekends and holidays and a last sailing around 17:30 to 18:30.

No road bridge reaches Cat Ba. The 5.443 km sea bridge opened in 2017 joins central Hai Phong to Cát Hải island only, and a car ferry, a cable car, fast boats from Hai Phong or the passenger ferry from Tuan Chau covers the last stretch.

Holidays test the ferry. Cat Ba took about 70,000 visitors in the first two days of the 30 April to 1 May 2026 holiday, with five large ferries running full and a 2 km queue at the Đồng Bài terminal, and waits reached 12 hours on 13 and 14 September 2026 when strong wind closed a landing. A 2023 guide calls autumn and early winter the months with cleaner air and fewer visitors.

For a short stay the passenger routes, the through speedboat from Hanoi or the cable car, avoid the car-ferry queue. The Cat Ba Island page has every route with its dated fares.

Looking down through trees on a bay dotted with moored boats, with forested islands under blue sky and cloud. — Thị trấn Cát Bà The small bay where Cát Bà town stands, with moored boats and low islands, seen from the western lookout at Cannon Fort. Photo: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0

Can you see more than one bay?

In some formats, yes. Routes link Ha Long Bay with Lan Ha Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay, but the crossing time and fares of the Ha Long to Lan Ha service launched on 1 April 2026 were not published.

Ha Long to Lan Ha. Since 1 April 2026 a cross-heritage passenger service links the two bays, with tickets sold from 4 April at Tuan Chau port and the Hạ Long International Passenger Port. Since 1 May 2025 licensed Cat Ba tour boats may also work Ha Long routes VHL3 to VHL6 under a contract with the Board.
Ha Long to Cat Ba. Route VHL5 ends one way at Gia Luận on Cat Ba, and a passenger ferry from Tuan Chau to Gia Luận takes about 50 minutes; check the fare, which has changed every year.
Ha Long to Bai Tu Long. Three connecting routes, VHL-BTL1 to VHL-BTL3, continue from Ha Long’s route VHL4 towards Quan Lan, Minh Chau, Bản Sen and Cửa Ông, and overnight cruises of three days and two nights run from Tuan Chau into Bai Tu Long Bay.

Questions visitors ask

Which is better, Ha Long Bay or Lan Ha Bay?

It depends on what you want. Ha Long Bay has the large show caves and the official numbered routes, while Lan Ha Bay is reached from Cat Ba Island and has small island beaches, though kayaking there has been suspended since November 2024. Both lie inside the same World Heritage property.

Is Lan Ha Bay less crowded than Ha Long Bay?

No comparable count exists. Ha Long Bay had about 10,000 visitors a day and about 500 registered tour boats in March 2026; no boat count was found for Lan Ha Bay, and Cat Ba, the gateway island, took about 70,000 visitors in the first two days of the 30 April to 1 May 2026 holiday. Whether Lan Ha Bay feels quieter on the water is an impression.

Is Cat Ba better than Ha Long Bay?

They do different jobs. Ha Long Bay is where the large caves and most cruises are. Cat Ba is a land base with a national park, town beaches and the Bến Bèo pier where Lan Ha Bay day boats start, and its cost is the ferry, with queues at weekends and holidays and a last sailing around 17:30 to 18:30.

Is Bai Tu Long Bay better than Ha Long Bay?

It suits different travellers. The press describes Bai Tu Long Bay as little known to international visitors, with trips built around inhabited islands, villages and beaches, but its official routes only opened on 29 March 2025, its cave sizes are mostly undocumented and no sightseeing fee has been published.

Is Lan Ha Bay part of Ha Long Bay?

No. Lan Ha Bay is a separate bay in the Cat Ba archipelago, in Hai Phong. Since 16 September 2023 both lie inside one World Heritage property, but they have different managers, boats and tickets.

How far is Lan Ha Bay from Ha Long Bay?

Lan Ha Bay lies east and south-east of Cat Ba Island and south of Ha Long Bay. A passenger ferry from Tuan Chau to Gia Luận on north Cat Ba takes about 50 minutes, and by road the detour via Hai Phong, about 60 km away, plus a boat takes about 2.5 hours.

Can you kayak in Lan Ha Bay?

Kayak and rowing-boat services in the Cat Ba archipelago waters, including Lan Ha Bay, have been suspended since 15 November 2024, and no restart was found by 3 October 2026. Kayaking continues at licensed points in Ha Long Bay.

Sources

Facts checked Oct 2026

Ha Long Bay Management Board, Vị trí địa lý (Location), updated 6 November 2024.
Ha Long Bay Management Board, Giá trị Đa dạng sinh học (Biodiversity values), 2 November 2024.
Ha Long Bay Management Board, Công bố các hành trình tham quan, du lịch trên vịnh Hạ Long, vịnh Bái Tử Long, 9 November 2024.
Ha Long Bay Management Board, Mức phí tham quan vịnh Hạ Long, 31 March 2025.
Ha Long Bay Management Board, Tàu tham quan ban ngày (Day boats), updated 23 March 2026.
Ha Long Bay Management Board, Dịch vụ chèo đò, chèo kayak (Rowing and kayak services), updated 9 November 2024.
Tuổi Trẻ, Vịnh Hạ Long - Cát Bà chính thức trở thành di sản thế giới, 16 September 2023.
Tuổi Trẻ, Bái Tử Long, nơi chứa đựng những giá trị thiên nhiên phong phú, 6 March 2013.
Tuổi Trẻ, Quảng Ninh siết chặt an toàn tham quan vịnh Hạ Long, 17 March 2026.
Tuổi Trẻ, Cát Bà dừng hoạt động chèo thuyền kayak trên vịnh, 20 November 2024.
Tuổi Trẻ, Đến vịnh Lan Hạ chèo thuyền kayak, khám phá Áng Thảm, 6 July 2022.
Tuổi Trẻ, Bí quyết vi vu Cát Bà không lo chờ phà, 26 April 2024.
Tuổi Trẻ, Ăn chơi 'tẹt ga' ở đảo ngọc Quan Lạn với 2,5 triệu đồng, 17 May 2025.
Tuổi Trẻ, Mở tuyến du lịch biển xuyên vùng di sản giữa vịnh Hạ Long và vịnh Lan Hạ, 2 April 2026.
Tuổi Trẻ, Thông tin mới về thu phí tham quan trên vịnh Hạ Long, 26 April 2025.
VnExpress, Vịnh Lan Hạ vào top đẹp nhất thế giới, 26 January 2020.
VnExpress, Các loại tàu và tuyến tham quan vịnh Lan Hạ, 20 June 2022.
VnExpress, 48 giờ ở Cát Bà, 17 November 2023.
VnExpress, Cẩm nang du lịch vịnh Hạ Long, updated 12 June 2026.
VnExpress, Kinh nghiệm du lịch Cát Bà 2026, updated 16 April 2026.
VnExpress, Miễn phí tour tham quan vịnh Bái Tử Long, 29 March 2025.
VnExpress, Cẩm nang du lịch đảo Quan Lạn 2026, updated 5 March 2026.
VnExpress, Khách đến Cát Bà 'đông chưa từng thấy', 2 May 2026.
VnExpress, Tắc bến phà, du khách chờ tới 12 tiếng để rời Cát Bà, 14 September 2026.
VnExpress, Bốn cách tới đảo Cát Bà không phải đợi phà lâu, 8 July 2023.
Nhân Dân, Quảng Ninh khai trương các hành trình du lịch vịnh Bái Tử Long, 29 March 2025.
Báo Quảng Ninh, Khám phá các hang động trên Vịnh Hạ Long, 30 December 2025.
IUCN, World Heritage Outlook: Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, finalised 11 October 2025.
Thanh Niên, Vì sao cả vịnh Hạ Long chỉ có một bãi tắm được cấp phép?, 8 May 2023.

Prices, fees and timetables change. Figures on this page were checked in the month shown on the postmark.