GREEN MANGROVE & AMAZING KARST BAYS 3 days 2 nights

Highlights of our deluxe cruise
+ Visit the featured sites of Hanoi
+ Visiting green mangrove & a hidden cave
+ Experience a night at an Eco-life bungalow
+ Overnight on a private junk in Halong Bay
+ Kayaking & swimming in Lan Ha Bay
+ Visiting a local fish-farm

Detailted itinerary:
Day 01: Hanoi - Catba - Lan Ha ( Lunch, Dinner​ included )
08:00 ·  - Get picked up at your hotel and spend the morning to visit some featured sites of the city. The first spot you will start for the day is Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the final resting place of Vietnam's first president (Viewed from outside on Mon & Fri as it is closed). Followed by a nice walk through a part of the Botanical Garden to view the Presidential Palace, Uncle Ho's house-on-stilts and the modest One-pillar Pagoda. After that, you will continue on the morning with the Temple of Literature - Vietnam's first university. It is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars.This historic site is ranked as one of Hanoi’s most important cultural places and considered as a place of study rather than a religious landmark.  The last site is a museum at your choice (Our suggestions are the Woman's museum, Hilton prison museum, Vietnam history museum).
·  13:30 - Enjoy your lunch at a nice restaurant in the city with a Vietnamese set menu.
·  14:30 - Get back to your private vehicle and make your way to the coast. The drive to Cat Ba Island takes you about 3 hours via Hai Phong city. The drive includes a 20-minute local ferry ride from Cat Hai Commune to Cat Ba Island. After a short transfer from the port, you will arrive at your accommodation tonight. Check in and rest for the remainder of the day. Dinner and overnight at Phu Long Ecolife village
 

Day 02:  Lan Ha – Halong Bay ( Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner​ included )
07h30 – Breakfast is served while
08:30 - Check out of your accommodation and start the morning tour of the Mangrove Green Forest. Transfer to a little boat dock and take a sampan boat ride on a river which leads you to the green part of the forest. Your local rower will take you to small creeks bordered by lush mangrove bushes. It is really interesting to move gently in between the green. You are also taken to explore a limestone cave where you will admire many beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. After the cave, return to the dock and head to  Cai Beo tourist wharf which is located at the other side of the island.
12:15 - Get on your private Indochine Vintage Junk, enjoy welcome drink, move around to learn about the boat and check into your cabin before cruising.
12:30 - Pull up the anchor and start your cruise. The junk firstly winds its way by a fishing village toward Lan Ha Bay. Not much different from Halong Bay, featured with hundreds of limestone islands and islets. Lan Ha is smaller but the karst formations gather close together, this makes Lan Ha Bay become the best place for kayaking and swimming activities. The beaches are tiny but there are more than in Halong Bay.
13:30 - Anchor is dropped in the middle of the bay for lunch time. If the weather is nice, your lunch will be served on the top where you are able to enjoy the scenery the best.
14:30 - After the lunch, the crews will help you on the kayaks. You will spend 1hr paddling around to explore some corners of the bay. Get closer to the feet of the islands, explore a natural lake which is surrounded by sheer rock walls which can access by only one tunnel-like cave. Jump off your kayaks for a swim when you wish.
15:30 - Anchor is pulled up for the cruise toward Halong Bay. After the turn where you can view the open sea, you will reach Halong Bay. It gets a bit wider and you could not see a lot of tourist boats as you are still in a remote part of the bay. The junk is gently moving to the night place.
17:30 - Get back on the top-deck for an interesting cooking demonstration during the sunset. The chef will show you how he makes the Vietnamese popular fried rolls. Of course, after the samples, you will have a go, then enjoy your work right after.
19:00 - Enjoy set-menu dinner and stay overnight on the junk.

Day 03: Halong Bay – Lan Ha bay – Catba - Hanoi (  Breakfast, Lunch included )
For early risers: The summer sunrise is about 6:00 AM; Winter sunrise is about 6:30 AM (Ask your captain for better information on the day). Otherwise, you can remain in your cabin untill the breakfast time.
07:15 - The engine is started for the day.
07:45 - Breakfast is served while the junk is cruising back to Lan Ha Bay.
09:30 - Visit a fish-farm & learn the variety of fish grown in the farm. Try your luck with local fishing technique by the farm.
10:30 - Check out of the cabin. Start cruising back toward the wharf while an early lunch is served.
11:45 - Bid farewell to the crews and disembark. Drive back to Hanoi.
15:30 - Arrive at your hotel in Hanoi. End of service.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
Depend on the weather condition and other objective reasons, the timing and activities of the cruise might subject to changes without prior notice (The essential changes normally based on the safety standard & local authority regulations)
For safety reasons, these below visitors are not recommended to cruise overnight in Halong Bay:
Person with disability: physical or sensory + Person who has symptoms of hallucinations, sleepwalking, fear of being enclosed, epilepsy…+ Person who is older than 80 + Person who is overweight (>100kg) + Person who is taller than 2 meters,