Best time to visit Ha Long Bay
Vietnam · Southeast Asia
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Ha Long Bay
Tap a month for its page
- JanJHa Long Bay in January: ok, busy
- FebFHa Long Bay in February: good
- MarMHa Long Bay in March: good, busy
- AprAHa Long Bay in April: sweet spot
- MayMHa Long Bay in May: ok
- JunJHa Long Bay in June: avoid
- JulJHa Long Bay in July: avoid
- AugAHa Long Bay in August: avoid
- SepSHa Long Bay in September: avoid
- OctOHa Long Bay in October: sweet spot
- NovNHa Long Bay in November: sweet spot
- DecDHa Long Bay in December: good, busy
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Dry season: Nov–Apr, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.
Plan this trip
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too.
Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank
Flights from
Flights
Your city is a guess from your time zone. Choose your city
Where are you flying from? Choose your city for its flights and fares.
Book with the airline
Where to stay
Book direct
Luxury
Things to do
Car hire
Rent direct
Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
Things to do in Ha Long Bay
- Yên Tử Mountain Mountain and mountain range in Vietnam
- Dragon's Run Steel coaster
- Ocean Park Ha Long Amusement park
- Cua Ong Temple Historic temple in Cẩm Phả, Vietnam
- Tuan Chau Aquarium Zoo in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Tours and tickets in Ha Long Bay
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank
Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.
Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21° | 5d | 75% | 6.1h | okbusy | busier than usual |
| Feb | 21° | 5d | 80% | 5.1h | good | 21C max, 5 rainy days |
| Mar | 24° | 4d | 84% | 5.6h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Apr | 27° | 5d | 83% | 7.9h | sweet spot | 27C max, 5 rainy days |
| May | 30° | 10d | 84% | 8.9h | ok | 30C max, 10 rainy days |
| Jun | 31° | 14d | 83% | 8.5h | avoid | 31C max, 14 rainy days |
| Jul | 31° | 16d | 84% | 8.9h | avoid | monsoon: 16 rainy days, 304mm |
| Aug | 31° | 18d | 86% | 7.8h | avoid | monsoon: 18 rainy days, 443mm |
| Sep | 30° | 13d | 83% | 8.7h | avoid | 30C max, 13 rainy days |
| Oct | 28° | 7d | 75% | 8.4h | sweet spot | 28C max, 7 rainy days |
| Nov | 26° | 4d | 73% | 8.3h | sweet spot | 26C max, 4 rainy days |
| Dec | 22° | 2d | 68% | 6.7h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at Bãi Cháy, Hạ Long, 43 km from the airport (VDO): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Ha Long Bay's November days now average 26.0°C, 2.5°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 12 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 18.5° | 19.2° | 22.3° | 25.8° | 28.4° | 30.1° | 30.3° | 30.1° | 29.0° | 26.3° | 23.4° | 20.2° |
| 2017–26 | 20.5° | 21.3° | 24.2° | 27.3° | 29.6° | 31.5° | 31.1° | 30.8° | 30.3° | 28.1° | 26.0° | 21.7° |
| Change | +2.1° | +2.1° | +1.9° | +1.5° | +1.2° | +1.4° | +0.9° | +0.7° | +1.3° | +1.8° | +2.5° | +1.5° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
Fly into Hanoi (Soc Son) (HAN), then drive. The flights under Where to book are to Hanoi (Soc Son).
| Hanoi (Soc Son) (HAN) | the drive is not measured yet |
|---|---|
| Van Don (VDO) | the drive is not measured yet |
The drive from each airport is the road's, from openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT: typical, not a schedule.
How far Ha Long Bay is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Hong Kong
- from Bangkok
- from Ho Chi Minh City
- from Taipei
- from Manila
- from Kolkata
- from Kuala Lumpur
- from Singapore
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Ha Long Bay, flying or not.
Before you go
Type A and C and F and G plugs at 220 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the Vietnamese đồng. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise a high degree of caution. US State Department: Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions. Everything for Vietnam: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Cards work in hotels, malls and tourist places; carry cash for street food, markets and small shops. Most shops show a VietQR code, which some Asian bank and wallet apps can now scan.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Not expected, though welcome in tourist places. Carry small notes so a taxi driver cannot keep the change.
Getting around Ha Long Bay
- Apps — Rides: Green SM, Grab, Be. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: Zalo, WhatsApp. Green SM, the electric taxi and motorbike app, was called Xanh SM until April 2026, so older signs and guides use that name.
The islands can be accessed from various ports: Cai Rong, a small port serving the northeastern archipelago. Halong City, spanning a portion of the northern part of the archipelago. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Ha Long Bay, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — police 113 · ambulance 115 · fire 114. The emergency lines answer in Vietnamese only.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (21)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/getting-help
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Vietnam
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Hanoi
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City
- thanhnien.vn/sau-3-nam-hoat-dong-xanh-sm-doi-ten-thanh-green-sm-185260415170219612.htm
- lsvn.vn/green-sm-chiem-gan-55-thi-phan-taxi-cong-nghe-viet-nam-trong-quy-i-2026-a172151.html
- vietnamnet.vn/en/electric-taxis-reshape-vietnam-s-ride-hailing-market-as-xanh-sm-rises-2361690.html
- be.com.vn/en
- visa.com.vn/en_VN/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases/visa-and-hanoi-metro-mark-a-new-milestone-in-urban-mobility-with-open-loop-payments-across-the-capitals-metro-network.html
- visa.com.vn/en_VN/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases/visa-offers-seamless-tap-to-ride-experiences-for-visa-cardholders-on-ho-chi-minh-city-metro-line-1.html
- visa.com.vn/en_VN/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases/visa-to-transform-urban-mobility-with-its-renewed-partnership-with-ho-chi-minh-city-department-of-transportation.html
- metrohanoi.vn/afc-tickets/cac-loai-the-ve-3
- news.tuoitre.vn/foreign-tourists-enjoy-easier-qr-payments-across-vietnam-as-cross-border-network-expands-103260807130016786.htm
- en.nhandan.vn/zalo-named-top-messenger-app-in-vietnam-by-uk-magazine-post112510.html
- localvietnam.com/vietnam-tips/what-is-zalo
- infobip.com/blog/most-popular-messaging-apps-by-country
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- danangairport.vn/airport-guide-transport-from-the-airport
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- nipl.com/uploads/NPCI_International_Press_Release_LIQUID_GROUP_TO_POWER_UPI_QR_ACCEPTANCE_IN_10_ASIAN_MARKETS_bcb05ffeee.pdf
Ha Long Bay in pictures
i
Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
i
Steven C. Price, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
i
Thomas Hirsch / User:Ravn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
i
Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
i
Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Ha Long Bay is like
Ha Long Bay (also "Halong Bay"; Vietnamese: Vịnh Hạ Long) is in northern Vietnam, 170 km (105 mi) east of Hanoi. The bay is famous for its scenic ocean karst topography and is often included on lists of natural wonders of the world, including the UNESCO World Heritage list. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- There are a number of domestic connections, particularly to the ports of Halong City and Haiphong. Van Don International airport (VDO IATA) has flights from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- It is best to avoid beaches and swimming until you get to the islands: Depending on the winds, the beach water can be a varying combination between a garbage dump and crystal clear water. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Ha Long Bay, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Ha Long Bay
Also in Vietnam
- Da Nang best Mar, Apr, Sep
- Hanoi best Jan, Feb, Nov
- Ho Chi Minh City best Jan, Nov, Dec
- Hội An best Feb, Mar, Apr
Nearby
- Luang Prabang Laos · 524 km
- Macau Macau · 686 km
- Hong Kong Hong Kong · 727 km
- Chiang Mai Thailand · 876 km
Kind of place
Ha Long Bay is in Vietnam, Southeast Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
Check your inbox. A confirmation is on its way: open the link in it, press Confirm, and you are subscribed.
That did not go through. Check the address, or try again in a minute.
Already sent. A confirmation went to that address in the last day: look for it, spam folder included. Its link works for three days.
You are not on the list until you confirm from your inbox. The list lives with our email provider, Resend; the privacy page says the rest.
Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book through one, at no extra cost to you. That does not affect the scores on this page, which are computed from climate and fare data before any link is built.