Oriental Bridge Cruises in Halong Bay
Cruises on our own Authentic Private Junk
ORIENTAL SUN


WHY A PRIVATE JUNK ?

Of all the ways to visit Halong Bay, a private junk is by far the best for many reasons:

- You are the only passengers on board;

- Smaller than collective junks, a private junk sails on channels not accessible to larger ones and stop you on isolated beaches which the larger ones cannot approach;

- Private junks are allowed to spend the night in a small quiet bay selected by the Captain, when collective ones must all stay in the same large bay;

- Better service and food.

Oriental Bridge Travel is the happy owner of its two-cabin private junk, Oriental Sun. The fact that we own her presents enormous advantages: The fact that we own her presents another enormous advantage compared with junks sublet from their owners by agencies: as sole owners, we are in complete control of the quality of the onboard services and of the maintenance (in addition to the regular checkings, Oriental Sun is taken to a shipyard and completely inspected once a year).

We propose to you cruises from 2 to 4 days, as well as a sensational programme: A 2 to 3-day cruise on Oriental Sun, combined with a one or 2-day stay in the magic "Halong Bay on Land" of Ninh Binh (Tam Coc).


THE JUNK ORIENTAL SUN

An ancient 22-meter fishing junk, she has a very rare particularity: she has two real sails, which allows her cruising without engine, weather permitting, whereas most other junks have decorating sails. Even more environmentally friendly, she has a system of treatment of used waters before they are rejected in the sea.




Oriental Sun has been entirely redecorated in June 2011. She counts two 15-m² cabins, one double and one twin, each with its own bathroom, an open lounge-dining room on the stern deck, and a bow sun deck large enough to sleep « under the stars » if you wish. Meals are feasts of sea food bought in the fishing villages we visit, a guarantee of its perfect freshness, and prepared by a true Cordon Bleu sailor.




Our junk Oriental Sun has obtained in 2013 the certificate of respect of the environment issued by the Office of the Cat Ba Archipelago Biosphere Reserve.


Important remark: Oriental Sun has 2 cabins, but, if you are only 2, we do not take other passengers on board and the junk is for you alone.


THE TRANSFERS FROM HA NOI TO CAT BA ISLAND

Oriental Sun starts from the island of Cat Ba. To reach the island from Ha Noi, you have the choice between 2 solutions: private car or local bus.

Private car Hanoi-Haiphong and speed boat Haiphong-Cat Ba Island

Departure from your Ha Noi hotel around 6 AM and transfer to Hai Phong, then boat from Hai Phong to Cat Ba. Return by boat from Cat Ba to Haiphong and car from Hai Phong to your Ha Noi hotel. This solution allows more time to visit Cat Ba Island.

Local bus Ha Noi- Haiphong and regular boat Haiphong-Cat Ba Island

Car from your Ha Noi hotel to the local bus Ha Noi-Haiphong, then boat Haiphong-Cat Ba. Return by the same means.


OUR CRUISES ON ORIENTAL SUN

2-day cruise (one night on board) : Lan Ha Bay

Day 1: HA NOI – CAT BA – LAN HA BAY (lunch, dinner)

    The driver and English-speaking guide meet you at your hotel around 6:30 for the transfer by car or bus from Hanoi to Haiphong and by boat from Haiphong to Cat Ba Island.

Arrival in Cat Ba around 12:00, boarding on Oriental Sun. Seafood lunch while the junk starts sailing through Lan Ha Bay, a protected site part of Cat Ba National Park. We sail towards isolated islands, cruising through passages inaccessible to larger boats.
 

We stop on a isolated small beach for swimming and/or kayaking weather permitting. Visit of the Hang Ca Lagoon, accessible by a small craft through a tunnel. Delicious seafood diner and night on board in Lan Ha Bay.


Day 2: LAN HA BAY - HA NOI (breakfast, lunch)
  Breakfast on board; we sail through Lan Ha Bay, approaching islets and peaks as close as possible. Visit of a floating fishing farm village.

Lunch on board (or on land if we have to embark new passengers), disembarkment between 11:30 and noon and return to Hanoi, where you arrive at your hotel around 18:00.
   


3-day cruise (2 nights on board): Lan Ha Bay

Because of administrative disputes between the authorities of Cat Ba and Halong City, the boats based in Cat Ba can no longer sail in the bays of Halong and Bai Tu Long, they can just sail alongside them.

Day 1: HA NOI – CAT BA - LAN HA BAY (lunch, dinner)

    The driver and English-speaking guide meet you at your hotel around 6:30 for the transfer by car or bus from Hanoi to Haiphong and by boat from Haiphong to Cat Ba Island. Arrival in Cat Ba around 12:00, boarding on Oriental Sun. Seafood lunch while the junk starts sailing through Lan Ha Bay, a protected site part of Cat Ba National Park.

We stop on a isolated small beach for swimming and/or kayaking weather permitting. Lunch on board and just relaxing. Visit of the Hang Ca Lagoon, accessible by a small craft through a tunnel. Delicious seafood diner and night on board in Lan Ha Bay.
 


Day 2: LAN HA BAY (3 meals)
  Breakfast on board and we continue the navigation through Lan Ha Bay.

We spend the day navigating, swimming, kayaking, having lunch on board, and just relaxing.

Another delicious diner and a second night on Oriental Sun.
   

Day 3: LAN HA BAY – HAI PHONG - HA NOI (breakfast, lunch)

Breakfast on board while sailing through Lan Ha Bay, approaching islets and peaks as close as possible. Visit of a floating fishing farm village. Lunch on board (or on land if we have to embark new passengers), disembarkment between 11:30 and noon and return to Hanoi, where you arrive at your hotel around 18:00.


Rates per person in dollars

RT transfer by local bus + regular boat

  2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers.
2-day cruise $329 $265 $233
3-day cruise $467 $396 $356

RT transfer by private car + speed boat

  2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers.
2-day cruise $458 $343 $298
3-day cruise $613 $491 $428


Children rates when sharing a cabin with the parents :

1 to 4 year-old: free bed, meals $20 for the 2-day cruise, $40 for 3 days
5 to 7 years: 50% of the Adult rate
7 to 10 years: 75% of the Adult rate
10 years and over plus: Adult rate


Included : Roundtrip transfers Hanoi-Cat Ba by local bus or private car ; English-speaking guide ; all the meals on the junk, permits and entrance fees ; activities (kayaking, fishing etc. ) ; taxes and service

Not included : Personal insurance, drinks, tips (optional)


We can also organize for you a customize cruise with the itinerary and for the number of days you wish. Please do not hesitate to ask us.


French Guide du Routard 2023, page 178 (translation):

Based in Hanoi, a small dynamic agency founded by 2 young Vietnamese. Their cruises in Lan Ha Bay and Halong Bay offer excellent services in a private or collective junk (2 and 3-day cruises). Several levels of comfort and rates, extreme seriousness in the organization, traditional products (seafood) on the cooking side, and an excellent knowledge of the bays… Our preferred boat: their ancient private junk, Oriental Sun, with real sails (she also has an engine!).


Our private junk Oriental Sun has obtained in 2023 the certificate of respect of the environment issued by the Office of the Cat Ba Archipelago Biosphere Reserve.




COMBINATION HALONG BAY / "HALONG BAY ON LAND" OF TAM COC (NINH BINH)
At the end of your 2 or 3-day cruise

A chauffeur-driven car picks you up at the disembarkation quay of the boat Cat Ba-Haiphong. We then drive through the Red River Delta from north to south and arrive around 19:00 in Tam Coc, 6 km from the capital Ninh Binh in the middle of the magic Halong Bay on Land. Registration at the hotel Chez Loan, among the lime peaks and rice fields, rest, and a delicious diner (Vietnamese fondue).


1-day Tam Coc Programme : TAM COC – HOA LU - HANOI

  In the morning, we go boating on the 3-tunnel river through lime cliff canyons, one of the "Must Do" of Vietnam, followed by the visit –by car on bicycle at your choice- of the Bich Dong Pagoda, built on 3 stages on a cliff, and Thai Vi Temple. Lunch chez Loan. We then take a small road to an astonishing site, Hang Mua Pagoda, perched on a high mountain, and from which you enjoy a stunning panoramic view of the entire region…at a price: climbing 450 steps, totally worthwhile.

We then drive on 15 superb kilometers of small roads through the lime peak maze, one of our little "secrets", and arrive in Hoa Lu, the first capital of Vietnam. Visit of the two temples of Hoa Lu: Dinh Thien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh, and drive back to your Hanoi hotel.
   

2-day Tam Coc Programme : TAM COC – HOA LU – PHAT DIEM - HANOI

1st Day : TAM COC – HOA LU

In the morning, we go boating on the 3-tunnel river through lime cliff canyons, one of the "Must Do" of Vietnam, followed by the visit –by car on bicycle at your choice- of the Bich Dong Pagoda, built on 3 stages on a cliff, and Thai Vi Temple. Lunch chez Loan.

We then drive on 15 superb kilometers of small roads through the lime peak maze, one of our little "secrets", and arrive in Hoa Lu, the first capital of Vietnam. Visit of the two temples of Hoa Lu: Dinh Thien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh. We then return to Chez Loan for a free à la carte diner and the night.


2nd Day : TAM COC – PHAT DIEM - HANOI

    In the morning, we take a small road to an astonishing site, Hang Mua Pagoda, perched on a high mountain, and from which you enjoy a stunning panoramic view of the entire region…at a price: climbing 450 steps, totally worthwhile. Then, short ride through the rice fields and canals of the Delta, the center of North Vietnam Catholicism.

Arrival for lunch at the stupendous –and, again, rarely visited- Phat Diem Cathedral (1891), a Sino-European architectural masterpiece of enormous proportions.

 

Lunch near the cathedral and visit of the complex (bell tower, main building, and the 4 elegant chapels).
Return to Hanoi, where the driver leaves you at your hotel around 6 PM.


Rates per person in dollars

The rates here under are to be added to the rate of the Halong Cruise you have selected, and include:
-A chauffeur-driven car for the trip Haiphong-Tam Coc and Tam Coc-Hanoi
-The guide
-The room Chez Loan in Tam Coc
-The meals as indicated The entrance fees to monuments
-Taxes and service
-They do not include the diner à la carte Chez Loan (evening of Day 1 of the 2-Day stay); the drinks,
and your personal purchases.

  1 pers. 2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers.
1 jour Tam Coc $346 $196 $163 $140
2 jour Tam Coc $582 $325 $276 $235