16 private and small-group options · per group or per person
Halong Bay Private Day Cruise – Which Private Boat to Book
Book From Hanoi: Private Ha Long Bay Full-day Trip: from $189 per person, ★ 4.9 from 22 reviews, with your own driver and guide from any Hanoi hotel and a private-cruise option for about 4 hours on Route 1. A whole boat costs $740 per group of two, but that listing has 1 review so far.
Short answerOn GetYourGuide a private Halong Bay cruise is one of three things: your own boat, priced per group, $740 for two; your own car and guide with a private-boat option, from $189 per person; or a shared boat with a small group. Only the first keeps other guests off the boat. A private balcony in a title is a cabin, not a boat.
$740per group of up to two for a whole boat from Hanoi
The whole-boat listing we compare: 1 review so far
One listing we compare sells the whole boat for a day: the bespoke cruise with the Amazing Sails fleet, from Ha Long International Cruise Port in Bai Chay, not from Tuan Chau. It costs $740 per group of up to two. Pickup at your Hanoi hotel is between 7:00 and 7:45, the boat leaves at 10:30 and is back at about 17:30, and you reach Hanoi between 19:30 and 20:00.
GetYourGuide also sells whole-boat cruises into Bai Tu Long, for a day or with a night on board, but they have no reviews yet, so we don't list them. If Bai Tu Long is what draws you, the bespoke boat sails through it on the way to Ha Long Bay.
The bespoke cruise has 1 review so far, below the five we ask for before we recommend a trip. That is why the first row below is the private trip that has a record behind it, the next two are private boats from the cruise port, and the bespoke boat comes last.
From Hanoi: Private Ha Long Bay Full-day Trip is the only private trip from Hanoi we compare with five reviews or more. Your driver collects you at your hotel in any of 19 Hanoi districts, and the day follows Route 1 from the Halong tourist wharf: lunch on board, Thien Cung Grotto, and 40 minutes by kayak or bamboo boat around the floating village. The listing gives about 4 hours of cruising, more than the 2 hours we estimate on its card.
Read the options before you pay. The listing sells a private or a shared cruise and a private or a shared guide, depending on the option; the from-price is per person and the calendar shows each option for your group size. Lunch is seafood, vegetarian on request; drinks and tips are extra, and the drive stops for 30 minutes at a pearl farm.
If you want fewer people rather than a boat of your own, a small group costs a fraction of a charter. The Lan Ha Bay full-day cruise and kayak from Cat Ba caps the group at 30 and costs $32 per person. The boat is out from 8:20 to 17:00, with kayaking at K.A Cave and Bats Cave, lunch on Ong Cam islet and a swim at Ba Trai Dao Beach.
For a night on a small boat, the two-day Lan Ha Bay cruise with meals and activities takes at most 15 guests, and the two-day Lan Ha cruise from Ninh Binh at most 20. Renea Cruises sells itself as a small boat in Bai Tu Long; its listing states no guest limit, a $75 solo surcharge and $30 per person for the Hanoi transfer.
Most titles with the word private are one-night cruises on shared 5-star ships, and private means the balcony of your cabin. You share the sundeck, the restaurant and the kayak stop with every other guest. That suits a first night on the bay; it is not a private cruise.
The 2D1N Luxury Ha Long, Lan Ha cruise with private balcony costs $159 per person for a departure on 7 October 2026, and the 2-Day Luxury Lan Ha Bay 5★ cruise with private balcony and bathtub $181. Two three-day cruises with private balconies are priced per person on their listings, $358 and $364; the second adds $170 for a single cabin and a $20 peak-season charge from 1 October to 30 April.
The same word covers six different products on GetYourGuide. Before you compare prices, check which one the listing sells; the price basis under the number tells you most of it.
Private boat
The whole boat for your party, with its own crew and guide. Priced per group; $740 for up to two guests on the listing we compare.
Private car and guide
Your own transfer and guide from Hanoi. The boat may be shared unless you choose the private-cruise option.
Private shore excursion
A private boat for passengers of a cruise ship in port, from the port and back, priced per person.
Private balcony
A cabin with its own balcony on a shared overnight ship. The boat is not yours.
Private cabin
Your own cabin with an ensuite bathroom. Every overnight cruise sells these; alone, you pay a single supplement.
Small group
A shared boat with a cap on guests: 15, 20 or 30 on the listings that state one.
The word also turns up in web addresses. The review page for the Halong Day Tour with cruising, kayaking and caves still carries private cruise in its address, but the tour runs on the shared Deluxe Traditional Dragonfly boat from Tuan Chau at $40 per person, with a private group arranged on request.
Halong Bay Private Cruise Price per Group and per Person
A private boat is priced for the group, and GetYourGuide shows the price for the smallest group the partner sells. Read the line under the price: per group up to 2 means two people share $740; a listing priced per group up to 1 shows the price for one guest, and the calendar prices a bigger party. The private boats from the cruise port are priced per person.
Whole boat, one day, up to 2$740
About $370 each, Hanoi transfer included
Private car and guide$189
Per person; private cruise is an option
Private boat from the cruise port$150
Per person, 4 hours with lunch
Shared day cruise from Hanoi$39
Per person, the most booked day cruise
Small group from Cat Ba, at most 30$32
Per person, full day with kayaking
Small boat for a night, at most 15$124
Per person, meals and a cabin
For two people, the whole boat at $740 costs about 9 times the most booked shared day cruise at $39 each. The extra buys the route as much as the privacy: the bespoke boat sails through Bai Tu Long to the floating village of Cua Van, away from the Tuan Chau day-boat loop.
Not in the private price
Drinks, tips for the guide and driver, travel insurance
Pickup outside the Old Quarter on the bespoke cruise: 490,000 VND per group
On the overnight ships: cabin upgrades, single supplements and holiday surcharges
This is the day on the $740 bespoke cruise as the listing sets it out, from a Hanoi hotel to Bai Tu Long, Ha Long Bay and back, with no other guests on board.
7:00Pickup at your hotel or address in Hanoi, until 7:45
10:00Arrival at Ha Long International Cruise Port
10:30Boarding; the boat heads through Bai Tu Long towards Ha Long Bay
11:30Lunch on board while the boat sails
13:00Tien Ong Cave
14:00Cua Van floating village by kayak or rowed bamboo boat, and its museum
15:00Free time on the sundeck
17:00Sunset tea on deck
17:30Back at the port, by 18:00
19:30Drop-off in Hanoi, by 20:00
About 7 of 12.5 hours on the water, one more than a typical shared day boat from Hanoi, and no other guests at the cave or the village. The listing includes the guide, the limousine, lunch, a welcome drink, two bottles of water per person, all entrance fees and the kayak or bamboo boat.
If you arrive on an ocean liner, the private 4-hour cruise with lunch meets you at the main entrance of Ha Long International Cruise Port, with a guide holding a sign with your name. It visits a limestone cave, adds a bamboo boat or kayak ride and serves lunch on board, from $150 per person with ★4.5 from 8 reviews. Drinks and tips are extra; the title says 4 hours, the itinerary counts 5.
The 4-hour boat tour from the same port lets you start at 7:00, 7:30, 8:00 or 12:00, visits Thien Cung and Dau Go caves and gives 40 minutes by kayak or bamboo boat at Cua Van floating village, for $155 per person. Its 4.48 stars are just below the 4.5 we ask for, so we list it without recommending it. A longer private shore excursion to Sung Sot Cave is also on GetYourGuide, with no reviews yet; we don't list it.
Choose a whole boat for an anniversary, a proposal or a family that wants its own pace, and when Bai Tu Long matters more to you than a verified rating. Ask for the price for your group before you book: the listing shows two guests, and the calendar gives the rest.
Choose the private car and guide when the transfer is the part you care about: a pickup at any hotel, not a meeting point, and a guide who talks only to you. Pick the private-cruise option if you also want the boat to yourselves.
Choose a small group when the aim is simply fewer people. From Cat Ba, a group of at most 30 costs $32 per person; for a night, a boat capped at 15 guests costs from $124.
On GetYourGuide the whole boat we list costs $740 per group of up to two for a day, with the Hanoi transfer included, which is about $370 each. Other whole-boat cruises on GetYourGuide have no reviews yet, so we don't list them. A private car and guide from Hanoi starts at $189 per person, and a private boat from the Ha Long cruise port at $150 per person.
is a private halong bay cruise worth it?
For a couple, a whole boat costs about 9 times a shared day cruise, and the one whole-boat listing we compare has 1 review so far. It is worth it for a celebration, for a family that wants its own pace, or to reach Bai Tu Long and the floating villages without other boats. If you only want fewer people around you, a small group of 15 to 30 does that for a fraction of the price.
does a private cruise include pickup from hanoi?
The bespoke whole-boat cruise includes a transfer from Hanoi, but charges 490,000 VND per group for a pickup outside the Old Quarter. The private car and guide collects you at your hotel in any of 19 Hanoi districts. The private boats for cruise-ship passengers meet you at Ha Long International Cruise Port and bring you back there; they do not come to Hanoi.
what does private balcony mean on a halong bay cruise?
It means your cabin has its own balcony. The ship is shared: you eat in the same restaurant and use the same sundeck and kayak stop as every other guest. On GetYourGuide most titles with the word private are overnight cruises of this kind, from $124 per person for one night. A private cabin is standard on every overnight cruise; a solo traveller pays a single supplement for it.
where do private boats leave from?
The bespoke whole-boat cruise boards at Ha Long International Cruise Port in Bai Chay, about 2.5 hours from Hanoi, and sails north into Bai Tu Long Bay before turning into Ha Long Bay. The private boats for ship passengers start at the same port. The private car and guide trip boards at the Halong tourist wharf for Route 1 and Thien Cung Grotto. Most shared day boats leave from Tuan Chau Marina instead.
can we choose our own itinerary on a private boat?
The bespoke cruise is sold as a flexible itinerary, but the listing sets a route: Bai Tu Long, lunch on board, Tien Ong Cave, Cua Van floating village by kayak or bamboo boat and a sunset tea. Ask the operator by message before booking if you want a different stop, such as a beach or a longer swim. The shared boats keep a fixed route.
what happens to a private cruise in bad weather?
The same as a shared one: when a storm warning is issued, the Quang Ninh port authority stops issuing departure permits and no tourist boat leaves, private or shared, and the trip is cancelled. All the private listings we checked allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before, so you can move the day if the forecast turns. From late May to early November keep a spare day in Hanoi.
