How To Go To Halong Bay The Cheap Way (And Not Have A Crappy Time)

One of the reasons I went to Hanoi is so that I could go see the infamous, magically beautiful Halong Bay.

I get some sort of adrenaline rush when I’m able to travel on the cheap without sacrificing quality, 'cause I still want to have a good time obviously.

Can’t a girl have the best of both worlds?

Some people wander around Hanoi all day trying to find the best Halong Bay tour option that won’t stomp all over their small travel budget like a tiny cockroach (ew, those things freak me out).

The thing with really touristy places like Halong Bay is that there are a lot of people ready to take advantage of the overwhelming number of people and jack up the price.

You could end up overpaying for what you end up getting.

So for me, I wanted to get to Halong Bay on the cheap, but also not be surrounded by so many people that it’s difficult to even get a decent picture in.

And even though I like to travel with my crappy friend, I don't want to have a crappy time!

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I found the way! And since my mom taught me to share, I’ll share it with you.

How Long Should You Go For?

Some people will tell you that one night is enough.

But trust me, you won’t regret two nights if you can spare the time.

Halong Bay is so beautiful, it must be the cure for Alzheimers because it’s unforgettable (I’ve heard that pick up line somewhere 😄).

If you’re short on time, one night technically IS enough to get in everything that you want to do, though. Heck, my friend even did a day trip-tour, which is super ambitious, but technically possible if you’re just really in a rush.

What’s the cheapest way to get there from Hanoi? Do I need to pay for a tour?

Most people fly to Hanoi and then use that as their launch point to get to Halong Bay.

If you like to have everything arranged for you ahead of time, you can pay for a tour in Hanoi. But honestly, you can find cheaper ones once you to Halong City.

And if you’re JUST a little bit brave and adventurous, you will see that it’s not so hard to get there on your own.

YOU CAN DO IT.

I’m so directionally challenged, that even with a GPS I get lost. My GPS is apparently directionally challenged, also.

So if I can do it, you can do it too.

Now, some people recommend going to Cat Ba island instead of Halong Bay because you can find cheaper tours from there, and also because the island is equally as beautiful as Halong but you can find tours from there that are less crowded with tourists.

Some people say to go to both places, which is easy to do.

It’s really up to you, what you want, and how much time you have.

If you’re interested in hearing the Cat Ba island option, I’ve written about it here.

Let’s just focus on getting to Halong Bay for now.

Step 1. Take a grab bike from where you're staying to **My Dinh bus station (pronounced like Meeting).

This is as of June 2018. Other info online is old, and buses routes have been changed since some of those articles have been updated.

Bikes CAN take luggage if you only have one or two small suitcases. You can also take a grab car, which will be cheaper than a taxi but more expensive than a bike.

If you don’t have a sim card in your phone, I’d suggest just going and getting one so that you can call a ride whenever you need to. Or if you ever need a map (although maps.me is a pretty good app that shows up a decent amount of places without wifi/internet).

Viettel is one of the best phone companies, and you can literally pick up a sim card in just a few minutes. No paperwork needed. No contracts. Just give them 50,000 (about $2.25) to get 1gb or 2gb of data on your phone and you’re good to go.

Step 2: Don't freak out about the bus schedule.

Buses leave fairly often, so no worries there! You can catch one at any time of day, but the earlier you leave, the better, because it is a 3-4 hour drive to Halong Bay.

I just showed up at My Dinh early in the morning hoping that a bus would leave soon.

Luckily, I got there and there was a bus leaving within 10 minutes (I got there around 7:20 in the morning).

Once you get inside, just look at the signs to see which line you need to buy a ticket from. If you’re not sure, someone will point you in the right direction if you just say "Halong Bay" or "Bai Chay."

Bai Chay is the name of the bus station where your bus will stop, right by Halong City.

The bus ticket to Bai Chay (Halong City Bus stop) from Hanoi was only 100k, right under $5!

The bus is direct and only stops at a really nice rest stop for 15-20 minutes. It's so fancy, there's even free toilet paper at the rest stop we stopped at!

Buses leave from there fairly often and they're really nice with air-conditioning and comfortable seats.

Yes, you can put bring your suitcase on the bus if you really need to! You can store it underneath the bus###

Step 3: Enjoy Surprisingly Good Rest Stop Food And Peeing In A Bathroom That Has Soap and TP.

At the rest stop, I seriously had the best coffee I think I’ve ever had in my life, and at the cheapest prices, I’d seen in all of Vietnam!

I named my coffee Mickey because it was so fine!

22k is a dollar, so look how cheap the food is!

It also had fruit and a huge gift shop and lots of seating:

Let’s be honest. I don’t know what this is called. I just pointed at it and it was fan-flipping-tastic:

I enjoyed that break WAY more than I thought I was going to.

Step 4: Get back on the bus after peeing and stuff. Once you get to Bai Chay stop (Halong City), you take a taxi to Tuan Chau Pier.

A lot of Halong Tours can be purchased around this pier, and they leave from here also. Which means you freaking made it already!!!

You can try to call a grab here, but it's not super likely you'll get one. You can try, though. If you don't want to wait around though, just take the taxi.

Getting the taxi at the station is the kind of sucky part because the taxi will basically charge you 100k for a 25 minute ride the pier, which makes you cry a little when you were just so proud of paying 100k for a 3-4 hour trip, and now you have to pay the same for a 25 minute ride.

But hey, it's still not THAT bad at $4.54 US. Especially if you're with friends and splitting the cost!!!

Once the taxi drops you off, you can book a tour for Halong Bay or hop on the ferry to Cat Ba island for 80k.

Your total cost to get to Cat Ba island, if you don't share a taxi, is now at $12.74 USD

Should I Book A Cruise From Halong Bay or Cat Ba island?

If you get a cruise from Bai Chay (Halong City), that's where all the main tours depart from, so it can be hella expensive.

It's hard to know which experience is good.

That's the reason that I decided to take the ferry over to Cat Ba island instead! You can get tours to Lang Ha Bay for a much smaller price, AND it's JUST as beautiful as Halong, but with way fewer crowds!

It's seriously the same experience you'll get in Halong Bay, but more peaceful if that's what you're into.

If you want to see famous caves like the Bo Nau Cave or Dau Go Cave,

then you should book a tour from Halong City, but there ARE cruises in Cat Ba island that will take you to both Halong Bay and Lang Ha Bay...

...so that's an option as well.

You know, these epic picturesque cave views that have taken over social media. This is one of the pictures I saw that really made me want to go to Halong.

I had to steal this pic from halongbaytourism.com because unfortunately, I don’t have my own pictures of this view because Halong Bay is where my phone got stolen.

I opted to go to Cat Ba straight from the ferry, for the cheaper tours and fewer crowds. Cat Ba was amazing!

If you want to know how to do that too, then I'll explain tomorrow and link that article here!!

Can You Bring Suitcases On The Bus From Hanoi to Halong City?

When it comes to relationships, maybe you should try to leave your baggage behind. When it comes to Halong Bay, you can take your baggage with you if you want.

I mentioned earlier that the local buses have compartments for baggage and then you can leave it in your hotel when you get to Halong City, or if you are planning on going to Cat Ba island, the ferry is so big that buses and cars go on it, so you can definitely find room for your suitcase.

But you BETTER not take your eye off of it, because I can almost guarantee you that it will get stolen!!!

If you don’t want to take that risk, you can get a cheap hotel/Airbnb for $10/night in Hanoi just for the sake of having a place to lock your suitcase securely, and then you can make your 1-2 night trip to Halong Bay without your suitcases.

Since I was living in Hanoi for a month, I left my suitcases locked up in my room.

It was definitely nice to only have a tiny backpack to look after, but for people like my friend who was in a different situation than I was, bringing the suitcase along on the bus was a nice option to have.