Best Cruises in Vietnam in 2026: Views, Music, and Sea Air

Cruises in Vietnam almost always mean the bays of the north. Ha Long Bay was inscribed by UNESCO in 1994; Lan Ha Bay, south-east of it off Cat Ba Island, has fewer boats; Bai Tu Long lies to the north-east. The vessels run from wooden junks to steel-hulled cruisers with balcony cabins and sundecks, and the stops are a short, fixed set: Sung Sot and Luon caves, Titop Island, Dark and Bright Cave in Lan Ha. Elsewhere cruising is modest: a sunset boat with night squid fishing from Phu Quoc, a dinner cruise on the Han River at Da Nang, and motorboats along the canals of the Mekong near My Tho and Ben Tre.

The formats differ by time on board. A day cruise from Hanoi picks up at Old Quarter hotels around 7:30 to 8:30, spends six or seven hours on the water with lunch served aboard, and makes a day of close to twelve hours door to door. The overnight version boards around noon, gives a cabin with bathroom, then dinner, squid fishing, tai chi at about 6:30 and breakfast or brunch before the road back. The three-day version adds Lan Ha, Cat Ba and Viet Hai village. Private yacht hire for three hours exists as well.

Practical. Typhoons can cancel sailings in any month from June to November. January afternoons in the bay stay around 17C, hazy and cold enough for a jacket on deck, while July is near 29C and the rain peaks in August. Overnight cruises are usually free to cancel more than six days before departure; half is charged inside six days and all of it inside two; day cruises mostly allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and a few are final sale. Drinks and tips are normally extra, and a holiday surcharge for Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year is common. The route can change with the weather and tides.