About Ha Long Bay

Hạ Long Bay is located in northeastern Vietnam, The bay stretches from Quang Yen town, past  Ha Long city, Cạm Pha city to Van Don district,  is bordered on the south and southeast by Lan Ha Bay, on the north by Hạ Long city, and on the west by Bai Tu Long Bay. The bay has a 120-kilometre-long (75 mi) coastline and is approximately 1,553 km² (600 sq mi) in size with about 2,000 islets. The area designated by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage Site incorporates 434 km² (168 sq mi) with 775 islets.
In 2000, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee inscribed Hạ Long Bay in the World Heritage List according to its outstanding examples representing major stages of the Earth’s history and its original limestone karstic geomorphologic features.

The world-recognized heritage area of ​​Ha Long Bay (core zone) has an area of ​​434 km², like a triangle with three peaks: Dau Go Island (West), Ba Ham Lake (South) and Cong Tay Island (East), including 775 islands with many caves and beaches.
The area with spectacular rocky islands and many beautiful caves is the central area of ​​Ha Long Bay Natural Heritage, including most of Ha Long Bay (core area). The islands in Ha Long Bay have their own shapes, unlike any other islands along the coast of Vietnam and no two islands are alike.

Besides the islands named based on their shape, there are islands named after folk tales (Bai Tho Mountain, Trinh Nu Cave, Tuan Chau Island), or based on the specialties on the island or the sea around the island (Ngoc Vung Island, Kien Vang Island, Monkey Island, etc.). Below are some famous islands and cave :

Thiên Cung cave (literally: Paradise cave): this cave is one of the places associated with the ancient dragon king. It told that Thiên Cung cave was the place where the Dragon King’s seven-day marriage took place. To congratulate the couple, many dragons and elephants visited to dance and fly.

Dau Go cave (“the end of wooden bars” cave): these wooden bars in this cave are the remnants of sharped wooden columns built under the water level by the order of Tran Hung Dao commander in order to sink Mongolian invaders’ ships in the 13th century.

Surprise cave : Of all of Ha Long’s caves, Sung Sot cave is the largest, perhaps the most renowned, and likely the most visited of all. During your travel journey to Ha Long, visiting Sung Sot Cave (Surprise Cave Vietnam) should be one of the top activities on your bucket list. Situated in a limestone mountain with an extremely developed karst terrain, the cave features two big chambers with a wealth of stalagmites of various shapes. For a detailed guide to this destination, read on. 

Luon Cave : Luon Cave is a part of Bo Hon Island, which is about 14 kilometers from the mainland of Bai Chay City. Known as the island of amazing things, Bo Hon Island is an outstanding location in Halong Bay that most tourists choose as a nextstop on their way discovering Halong Bay.