Routes to visit Ha Long Bay 2

– Visiting duration: 06 hours (travel by boat).
– Destinations of the route: Soi Sim island, Titop island, Sung Sot cave, Bo Nau cave, Luon cave, Ho Dong Tien cave, Trong cave, Trinh Nu cave, Me Cung cave.

– Itinerary: departing from Tuan Chau International Marina, the boat will take you to visit Soi Sim island, Titop island – the only island to be named by President Ho Chi Minh. Continuing the trip, the boat will pass you by Bo Nau cave, Trong cave and Trinh Nu cave. Coming to Bo Hon island, you will visit 02 famous beautiful caves in Ha Long bay: Sung Sot cave and Luon cave. The last destination of the trip will be Me Cung cave.

Soi Sim island is located in the Southwest of the World Heritage Site and Natural Wonder with the area of about 66.300m2¬. Soi Sim island is one of large soil islands in Ha Long bay where there are a lot of “Sim” tree (Rose myrtle) – a shrub with purple flowers. Located in the center of the heritage’s core zone, with natural and unspoiled landscape, Soi Sim island is an ideal destination for tourists with experiences of exploring the island ecosystem, playing water sports, organizing games on the beach and sea bathing.

Titop island is the only island in Ha Long bay to be named by President Ho Chi Minh to commemorate his visit with Soviet cosmonaut hero, Giec Man Titov in 1962. The island is covered with the rich vegetation, clear water and a crescent-shaped golden sandy beach at the foot of the island. You will experience the unique feelings of surfing on waves with jet skiing, flying with parasailing, kayaking through limestone islands, swimming with small waves, organizing group sports on the beach such as football, beach volleyball, tug of war… climbing to the top of the mountain to overlook the majestic landscape of Ha Long bay, walking around the island under the trees…

Sung Sot cave is located on Bo Hon island. This is the largest cave which has been detected in Ha Long bay so far. The cave is about 20m high above the sea level. The way to Sung Sot cave is steep but shady; stops along the way are places where you can take photos with the romantic and majestic beauty of Bo Hon island.

Sung Sot is one of typical karst caves and has a high geological value. Deep inside the cave are shimmering and fanciful stalactites and stalagmites which are embodied in countless strange and unique shapes. Walking in a dream-like world makes tourists passionately watch and imagine. The highlight of the cave is a freshwater lake in the first chamber and a stalagmite in the shape of Guan Yin blurry in the mist in the last chamber of the cave. There will be a lot of interesting things in the cave waiting for your exploration and experience.

Luon cave is a notch cave formed by the biochemical corrosion process of seawater and the collapse of limestone ceiling. The cave is located in a large area surrounded by islands in unique shapes. Nature created Luon cave as a tunnel through the mountain with hanging stalactites on the ceiling. This area gathers a number of endemic plants of Ha Long bay as Cycas tropophylla, Livistona halongensis, Chirita halongensis … Going through the cave, the scenery is more open due to a green lake surrounded by steep cliffs. Coming here, you will have chances to row boats, go kayaking, experience the unspoiled and peaceful beauty or play with golden monkeys (Macaca mulatta) which are funny and friendly to tourists. Luon cave is also one of archeological sites of Soi Nhu culture dating back 18.000 – 7.000 years ago. On the wall inside the lake, about 3 – 4m above the sea level, are sediment layers of shells of mountain snails and freshwater mollusks. This is a precious material to study the prehistoric climate and environment in Ha Long bay.

Ho Dong Tien cave has wild and mysterious beauty of a cave and peaceful scene of the karst lagoon. It was named “Ho Dong Tien cave” because the legend has it that next to a mysterious small cave was a pure lake surrounded by limestone islands, this was supposed to be the place where fairies descended for bathing. With a small torch, you can explore Ho Dong Tien cave with sparkling natural bright white stalactites, some of which are still in the process of formation. Especially, Ho Dong Tien cave is the place with many curtain-shaped stalactites – traces of water flows during cave formation.

Trong cave and Trinh Nu cave are located on Bo Hon island. They are associated with the moving love story of a couple of Ha Long fishermen. In cave is named Ha Long fishing people named because when standing in the cave people can hear the winds through the rocks. Trong cave was named like this because when standing in the cave, people could hear the sound of wind blowing through rock slits and bouncing back the wall which creates sounds like drum sounds. The cave was determined as an archeological site dating back from 18.000- 7.000 years ago. Trinh Nu cave has natural beauty with an open space, the natural landscape is unspoiled, mysterious and antique. You will see right at the entrance a horizontal stalagmite, looking like an image of a girl lying with her hair down and turning her face to the sea.

The area of Trong cave and Trinh Nu cave is one of overnight stay places for cruises in Ha Long bay. Joining an overnight stay in the bay, you will have fantastic experiences with fishing, squid fishing or watching sunrise, sunset in the bay. The most interesting thing is that you can do yoga or Taichi in the early lights of sunrise on the deck. These experiences will be unforgettable memories in your mind.
The pearl farming area at Tung Sau is the place to cultivate, implant, harvest, process pearls and provide products made of pearls. This is one of the first places in Vietnam to cultivate and implant pearls that owns all complete stages of the pearl cultivation process. Visiting this area, aquaculture engineers or guides of Ha Long Pearl Company will introduce you cultured species of pearl, methods of pearl farming, implanting; you will visit farming cages, watch pearl transplanting and harvesting of workmen. You can choose satisfactory products made of pearls with affordable prices.

Me Cung cave is located in the Southeast of Lom Bo island. It is the relic of an underground cave, about 20 – 30m above the sea level, formed by the progress of karst erosion, dissolution and crack expansion. The cave is divided into 4 main chambers and determined as one of archeological sites of Soi Nhu culture, dating back 18.000 – 7.000 years ago. Me Cung cave is also regarded as a place with high biodiversity value with typical ecosystems of Ha Long bay, especially the lagoon ecosystem. Me Cung lagoon has a peaceful landscape.

After visiting Me Cung cave, the boat will take you back to the mainland and finish the itinerary of route 3 in Ha Long bay.