Halong Bay

The Bay of Descending Dragons

Time-worn Vietnamese junks glide over a jade-coloured sea, their sails flapping calmly like a Geisha’s fan, and they are enveloped on both sides by jagged limestone cliffs. Welcome to one of Vietnam’s most astonishing natural wonders and a highlight of our Vietnam tours: Halong Bay.

Added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994, this beautiful bay is a top tourist attraction and tours to Halong Bay are extremely popular with visitors to Vietnam. One of the ‘New Seven Wonders of the Natural World’, Halong Bay is situated roughly 165 kilometres from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and is nestled in the Gulf of Tonkin.

According to Vietnamese mythology, once upon a time mighty dragons would fly down from Heaven and spit jewels into the depths of the sea, thus creating formidable steep cliffs to protect the locals from invasion. This led to the name, ‘The Bay of Descending Dragons’, and our Halong Bay tours position you at the heart of this folklore, stimulating your imagination and allowing you to comprehend the true power of this spectacle.

The bay, which consists of 1,600 square kilometres, is populated by thousands of unique limestone karsts, which have been formed over thousands of years of geographical activity. Our tours to Halong Bay take in some of the larger islands which, with their own lakes and jagged exterior, have an astonishing landscape of their own. The shimmering, calm water of Halong Bay is also home to a diverse ecosystem, comprising offshore coral reefs, sandy beaches, mangrove forests, tiny freshwater lakes, and freshwater swamps.

If you are interested in experiencing one of our tours, Halong Bay, interestingly, has two distinct seasons. The cool, dry winter spans from November to April, while the hot wet summer lasts from May to October. Temperatures, on average, range from 15 degrees to 32 degrees Celsius depending on the season.

Tucan Travel offers a number of adventure-packed tours, which give you the opportunity to visit Halong Bay.