Halong Bay Cruises for one – The unique experience

Nowadays, traveling alone has become a new trend for a lot of people, especially among young people. Traveling alone gives you the chance to indulge yourself fully, to meet new people, to make new friends from all around the world. If you are a single traveler who dream of exploring Halong Bay, then this article is perfect for you.

1. The Location:

The first and most important question that needs to be answered before every trip is: Where to go? For foreign traveler especially solo traveler, researching about your destination is indispensable. For some of you who don’t know, Halong Bay area doesn’t just consist of the famous bay itself but also two of its less well-known sisters. This UNESCO World Heritage site can be divided into three areas: the most famous one – central Halong bay, the uncharted one – western Bai Tu Long bay and the wild one – Lan Ha bay near Cat Ba islands. All three have the same beauty of natural limestones and karts. While Halong bay has long been a tourist attraction, Bai Tu Long bay and Lan Ha bay remain as off-the-beaten-track destinations. Most of the cruises in Halong Bay offer the same itinerary with the classic route. However, some companies can offer you the chance to visit Lan Ha bay with their 3 days and 2 nights cruise. For the magnificent and primitive Bai Tu Long bay, the selection pool is getting smaller since only some cruise lines have access to this area.
 

So now, the question is: What to choose? Well, if you don’t have time to explore all three, the choice will be based on yourself. If you are a young and dynamic traveler and you want a little bit of the hustle and bustle city lifestyle in your cruise, Halong Bay is just too perfect for you and also for traveler with a limited budget. And maybe, if you have time, choose the 3 days and 2 night cruises for a glimpse of wildly Lan Ha bay. If you want to explore further about the mysteries of Halong bay; or you just love a quiet place to relax, visiting Bai Tu Long bay is a must.

2. The Cruise:

The cruise in Halong Bay can be considered as an emissary of this beautiful site. Depend on which type of cruise you pick, you will have different experience with it. There is a type of cruise to suit everyone’s preferences – relaxing, romantic, active,… – you name it, we have it. Most cruises can be divided into 2 group: wooden junk and steel junk. While the wooden junk will aim more to the authentic Asian traditions: from their decoration to their foods and sometimes, activities; the steel junk is more about the modern western lifestyle. So you sometimes see there are 2 stereotypes when it comes to choosing the cruise: the western guests lean more to the wooden junk and Asian guest as they are too familiar with the Asian experiences will be more interested in the steel junk. But this can’t be applied to all because as always the choice is yours.

Normally, a solo traveler will take the lower budget cruises while couples, honeymooners, and those whom seek peace and quiet will be on the more expensive and more private cruises. Do not book the wrong type of cruise if you don’t want to pay more than your budget.

3. Single Supplement:

What is “Single Supplement”? The Single Supplement is an extra fee that will most likely to occur when you are doing the cruise as a solo traveler. You can understand this fee as an extra money you have to pay for the “would-have-been-the-second-guest” in your cabin. Most cruises companies will apply this cost, since not every cruises have single cabin on board. Normally, this supplement falls around 15 to 50 percent of the cost for one person in a double cabin. So now you wonder why should you pay this fee? Well, since you are using the cabin which was meant for two people, you can enjoy your trip with a much more spacious cabin. If you don’t want to pay for extra fee, you can choose to stay in a single cabin. But be sure to ask the cruise company about this.
 

One different way to avoid this supplement is to share the cabin another solo traveler that have the same intention with you. This way is easier to carry out when you are staying a hostel where you can easily meet many other solo travelers. If you found your ideal companion for the cruise, simply just book your trip as a group and no more single supplement.

4. The Luggage:
You can bring anything you want but always remember this rule: Less is more. For most traveler, one small backpack is enough for the trip. But for solo traveler, we could make an exception – one mid-sized backpack. One of the best things about a Halong Bay cruise is that everything is included. So you don’t want to carry your entire house with you for just a 2-3 days trip. Be sure to check out another article of ours for more packing tips. We will list below some of most needed things for your cruise.

5. The Trip: 

 

One of many things you can anticipate when you travel alone is making new friends and Halong bay cruise is not an exception. Since you will most likely to join a group tour, there is always the chance for you to meet other travelers from different countries and cultures. During every meal, the cruises staff will arrange you to seat with other group, because during this fun cruise how can you expect to have “table for one”. The whole cruise will get to know each other better during our activities. Kayak for one? Don’t worry it’s totally fine and there are plenty of solo riders out there paddling around the bay. But hey, many people are happy to share kayak with you too. And who knows, maybe after this cruises, you won’t have to be a solo traveler anymore. We had guests whom return to our cruise for their honeymoon because this is the place that they met each other for the first time.

So solo travelers around the world pack your back and come to Halong Bay. You are maybe solo but you are not alone!

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