Review: Ha Long Bay 2-Day, 1-Night Indochina Junk Cruise (Dragon Legend Boat) Activities

We had 4 days to spend in Hanoi during our family trip. Ha Long Bay would be a 2-hour drive away, but we knew it was a must-visit. To see the ~1,969 limestone islands outside of the realm of photographs (whether through social media, or otherwise) was a priority for us.

My sister was in Vietnam a few years prior and spoke highly of her experience at Ha Long Bay. She had taken a cruise from Indochina Junk and loved it. After a few searches for other competitors, we also decided to give Indochina Junk a shot.

Initial Experience

Indochina Junk’s booking is not via an online cart system, but rather an email thread, initial deposit via a OnePay link, with the remainder paid on-site. The OnePay initial deposit charged 4% for credit card fees. Our price paid was $2,212 USD for 5 double rooms, which is a premium to other cruises that we found.

Included is free transportation from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay which is a great plus. We communicated with our driver via WhatsApp the day of, and they picked us up from an incredibly busy area of Hanoi (Old Quarter) with ease. Free transportation is typically included in other Ha Long Bay cruises as well.

En route is a mandatory stop at a break area, with a cafe and a pearl shopping area. The pearl shopping is an entirely optional experience, and you can bypass it should you choose to. I noticed other tour groups were funnelled around in this area though. After that stop, you make your way to the Indochina Junk office, and then off to the transport boat you go.

Impressions on Room Quality, Amenities

Upon docking onto the cruise ship from a transportation boat, we noticed that the ship was quite clean, though not overly modern. The ship consists of 24 cabins, a spa, an exercise area, and two floors of sundeck with a plentiful amount of beds given the intimate guest list.

The rooms were nicely decorated, clean, and equipped with a bathtub with a large ocean view. We greatly appreciated that the windows by the bathtub were able to be fully opened. The beds were spacious, with a view of the ocean, though we did note that some other cruises had room layouts with larger windows, offering better views of the bay from the bedroom. Spa, massage services are available, but offered as additional services.

Welcome Lunch

Our tour lead and staff lead kicked off the experience with a brief speech over welcome drinks. The welcome drink was a delicious herbal tea, that we were unable to order off the menu, which is unfortunate. Tea & coffee were meant to be included in the breakfast, but we were still charged for this. Drinks, alcohol or otherwise, are offered as additional charges, which is slightly disappointing given the price paid.

The lunch menu (all is provided):

• Seafood soup
• Salad
• Squid from the fishing village
• Steamed sea bass
• Ginger chicken
• Chayote w/ peanuts
• Rice
• Fruit platter

Our group had a person with a few allergies, and the staff were very accommodating to that and provided him with a special meal substitute for every course. This was greatly appreciated.

That being said, the food was good, with the squid being the highlight of the meal. Squid is in abundance in Ha Long Bay waters, and typically fished overnight, so I had high expectations of the squid quality – it lived up to it. Our group also became addicted to the rice offered with the sweet, spicy soya sauce. Our waiter would offer us additional food at the end of the meal if we weren’t fully satiated. I’d take that offer any day.

Kayaking around Hon Co Island

After a brief break after lunch, we’d head out for kayaking and caving at Hon Co Island. It was a rare period of sun break for us, so we switched to kayaking first. I had forgotten my dry bag going into the trip but was delighted to find out that dry bags were offered for every kayaker at the beach (for free). Major kudos there, they’re ready for unprepared tourists with cameras.

Upon setting out, I noted that the guides did not account for beginners as instruction was not provided. My wife and I are fairly experienced paddlers, though, so it did not matter to us so much. The kayaks were sit-in sea kayaks and felt very stable, so beginners likely need not worry about rollovers (hopefully).

The paddle was fairly brief, around 30 minutes or so, but keep in mind that my wife and I would love to kayak for 2 hours so we’re not necessarily normal in that sense. The views were beautiful, and we’ll always remember our tour guide singing in Vietnamese at various points, which added another layer on top of this experience. We loved it.

Thien Canh Son Cave

Directly after kayaking, we made a very brief hike up to the entrance of the Thien Canh Son Cave. Our guide would educate us on cave formations, stalagmites, stalactites, etc. Geologist enthusiasts would have a great time.

It was a quick walk inside the cave, about 10-15 minutes total including doubling back, so it wasn’t altogether too memorable of an experience. More time spent inside the cave would’ve been appreciated.

Making Banh Xeo

After landing back onto the boat, with another quick break, we were set for a cooking class of banh xeo, a Vietnamese savoury pancake filled with shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts. The cruise staff would prepare the batter and fillings for us, so it’d largely be our task to fry the pancake, turn it over (taco-like), and add the fillings. After a demonstration of how to cook it, we were off.

I had missed this demo as I was taking in the view of the bay from the bedroom, and just needed a longer break from the activities so far. The guide would walk me through the demo again while I cooked, and I’d – not so successfully – imitate his actions. He’d let me try again until I made an edible-looking version of banh xeo.

The dish was great and made for a delicious snack. This was definitely on the list to make at home. The activity, while simple, was a very enjoyable one. After eating Vietnamese food non-stop on this trip, it was a great mix-up to make it myself.

Dinner

I would end up having a few plates of the banh xeo (including the not-so-successfully cooked versions of mine), so when dinner service was announced, I was still stuffed. The dinner menu looked good, but I was disappointed by the absence of squid. Maybe we needed to replenish the supply later that night.

The dinner menu (all is provided):

• Salad
• Grilled oysters with shallot
• Fried king prawn w/ carrot & rum sauce
• Mackerel
• Sauteed beef
• Stir-fried winter melon
• Squid cake w/ sticky rice
• Rice
• Mango dessert

I’d recommend if you have a birthday or a special event that you inform the staff when you are booking. They will very likely put together a token of appreciation (in the form of a cake or a small gift) depending on your special occasion. The head chef would come out at the end of the dining service, armed with 3 carved statues made from carrots and turnips. The dragon symbolizes power and prosperity. Doves symbolize peace and love. Storks represent longevity and good fortune. It was a lovely cherry on top of our trip to Ha Long Bay.

Squid Fishing

I was looking forward to this greatly as I’ve read about how active squid was here at Ha Long Bay at night. Watching a few Anthony Bourdain specials, I was also aware of the fact that there may be fishing boats out, armed with very bright overhead lights, to attract the squid. I told my wife to expect to see lots of squid that night. We predicted a catch of about 10-15, conservatively.

The final result of the night: 2 squid – my wife catching 1 of those 2. With any fishing experience, your-mileage-may-vary. We still loved the experience.

Morning Tai Chi

We did not wake up in time for this one, but from what we heard from our fellow group members that went: it was an enlightening experience and an excellent way to start off the day. 6 am on a holiday for me is a no-go, though.

Vong Vieng Fishing Village Tour

Before our farewell breakfast buffet (possibly featuring the 2 squids we caught last night), we headed out for the Vong Vieng fishing village. The tour is about a 20-minute paddle, with our tour guide doing much of the history lesson of the village before us hopping on the smaller rowboats.

Once in the rowboats, it was a fairly quiet experience. There are no stops in between (to chat with the village people, buy wares, etc.), so it’s largely just a peaceful row through the village. This wasn’t a great experience for everybody, but I did enjoy it.

Water Puppet Show at Yen Duc Village

After leaving Ha Long Bay, the tour agenda was not yet complete. Taking a slight detour off the direct route back to Hanoi, we stopped at Yen Duc Village to see a traditional water puppet show. It’s a nice bonus to be included, as it’s typically hard to reach a village to see a water puppet show without this tour. The show lasts about 15 minutes or so, and small refreshments are provided as well. The show is presented in a mix of Vietnamese and English from the narrator, but the actual ‘puppets’ only spoke in Vietnamese. However, the premise of the story is simple enough to follow, as the target audience is a bit (a lot) younger than me.

Near the front entrance, there was a sign that mentioned that the goods/trinkets that they sold here were only about 20k VND each and that 20k VND goes a long way for them. My wife and I happily purchased some coasters here, primarily so we could donate a small sum of 40k VND to the village. We ended up using these coasters quite a bit back at home (Christmas coaster in April? Why not.)

Overall Impression

The cruise was off to a bit of a rocky start with the booking, and some missing items over the welcome lunch, but the activities and the crew/staff were enjoyable, paced relatively well, and run by a tour guide who cared deeply about educating us about the history and importance of biodiversity at Ha Long Bay.

My favourite experiences from the cruise:

• Rooms were very comfortable and clean
• Kayaking around the limestone islands
• Seeing the fishing village
• Fishing for that 1 squid
• Making banh xeo

Experiences that may need improvement:

• Booking experience
• Caving could be drawn out a bit longer
• Bait should be provided for squid fishing
• Fishing village tour could be better guided

Overall, our time was quite enjoyable, and I’d likely recommend this cruise to others who are shopping for cruises in the Ha Long Bay area for their next trip.

Check Out Indochina Junk Tours Website

Thanks for Reading!