Getting around Ha Long

1. Cruise boat

The bay is only accessible by boat, and the cruise is the transport as much as the experience.

2. Bus or limousine van from Hanoi

The expressway has cut the journey to about two and a half hours.

• Cost: 200,000–350,000 VND

3. Cat Ba ferry and cable car

Ferries to the island, plus a cable car with the world's tallest passenger cable-car towers.

4. Kayak

Hired from cruise boats or Cat Ba, and the only way into the smaller lagoons.

5. Seaplane

Scenic flights over the bay from Tuan Chau — expensive and genuinely spectacular.

• Cost: From ~USD 300

Grab

The most widely used ride-hailing app in Vietnam, covering cars and motorbike taxis.

• Coverage: All major cities; thinner in rural provinces.
• Why it helps: Fare is agreed in the app before the trip, and the route is recorded — which removes the refused meter, the tampered meter and the fixed 'foreigner price' in one move.

Be

Vietnamese ride-hailing operator with cars, bikes and intercity coach booking.

• Coverage: Strong in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.
• Why it helps: Fare is agreed in the app before the trip, and the route is recorded — which removes the refused meter, the tampered meter and the fixed 'foreigner price' in one move.

Xanh SM

All-electric taxi and ride-hailing fleet, metered and app-bookable.

• Coverage: Expanding across the major cities.
• Why it helps: A metered fleet with fixed rates, which avoids the tampered-meter problem common in street taxis.

12Go

Books trains, sleeper buses and ferries including the Hanoi–Hue–Da Nang corridor.

• Coverage: Nationwide.
• Why it helps: Removes the street-agent middleman who sells downgraded or non-existent seats.