Ha Long Bay or the bay of the descending dragon Only 170 km from the capital Hanoi.

Ha Long Bay is where the dragon is stepping down in the sea and According to legend, created the 3 000 islands, mountains and valleys of a huge dragon, whose tail movements shaped valleys that filled with water when he threw himself into the sea.

Ha Long Bay is like Thailand, but with fewer tourists – Ha Long Bay is a unique archipelago with some 3000 islands, large limestone cliffs, lonely paradise beaches and exciting cave system.

Ha Long Bay is a water area of approximately 1 500 km ² in northern Vietnam with a 120 km long coastline, the Gulf of Tonkin near the border to China, and 170 km east of Hanoi. "Vinh Ha Long - Ha Long Bay - means" the bay of the descending dragon "in Vietnamese.

the bay consists of a dense network of 1 969 monolithic body sand islands, sugar mountain peaks, each with a dense jungle vegetation on top, which rises spectacularly from the sea. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Huang Dau Go (Hiding timber cave) is the largest cave in Ha Long area. French tourists visited this in the late 1800s and gave the name Grotte des Merveilles. Its three large chambers consist a large numbers of stalactites and stalagmites (as well as French graffiti from the 1800s).

Next to some of the islands there are floating fishing villages, which use the shallow water with its 200 fish and 450 mollusk spices. Many of the islands have had their name from their unusual shapes, some examples are: Voi (Elephant), Ga Choi (fighting cocks), Mai Hha (the ceiling). 989 of the islands have had their own names among birds and animals, the Bantam, antelope, monkeys and Iguana.

In the southern part of the Tonkin Gulf lies the island of Cat Ba. The island is 120 square km and has fantastic clean and nice beaches where you can enjoy the sea and the good weather. The national park on the island is one of the most beautiful and has a rich flora and fauna. On The island there has been discovered some 6-7000 year old traces of human beings.

Ha Long Bay was in 1994 posted on the UNESCO's World Heritage List and is one of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations.

Ha Long Bay has been the place for local naval battles against Vietnam's neighbors. On three occasions the labyrinth of islands has prevented the Vietnamese from the Chinese army to disembark troops there. 1288 Tran Hung Dao stopped the Mongol ships from sailing from the nearby Bach Dang River by placing bamboo poles at high tide, which lowered the Mongolian fleet when it was low tide and piles perforated Mongols ship.

On the mainland there are many major hotels, restaurants and a lovely beach. Tourists are not that many yet, but it is increasing year by year. The harbor has a number of djonks that takes tourists on different tours to the islands. You can also choose a tour with one or two nights onboard a djonk.