Aurora Cruise

Aurora is a Lan Ha Bay boat with 18 cabins by the owner’s count, and its owner puts the smallest cabin at 35 m². The grades run up to a 55 m² Suite with a bathtub and a 70 m² Family Connecting unit for six adults and a child. Every size on this page is the operator’s own figure, read on 10 October 2026; we have not measured a room.

Check-in is at a waiting lounge at No. 28A in Tuan Chau harbour, around 11:30. A small tender takes you out to Aurora where she lies at anchor, and brings you back before 11:00 the next morning. Three guests describe it; plan for two short boat rides with luggage; see which harbour you leave from.

What do you get on an Aurora overnight?

A busy programme. The owner’s two-day schedule fits kayaking and swimming at Tra Bau, a sunset happy hour, a spring-roll class, dinner, squid fishing and an early tai chi session into roughly 22 hours on board, before a bamboo-boat trip through Dark & Bright Cave on the second morning. One guest caught the first squid of their life and rates the morning tai chi as a highlight. The owner includes a herbal foot soak for one guest per cabin, and a Spanish guest in March noticed exactly that limit: one foot bath for a room of two. A vegetarian guest found plenty to eat.

Opinion on the food is split. A French guest gave three stars and called the meals poor in quality and quantity, while the German guest on the three-day trip rated the multi-course dinner very tasty.

More on this water: our Lan Ha Bay page and the other Lan Ha Bay cruises.

What does the two-day timetable look like?

The owner’s 2-day, 1-night schedule:

Is the Aurora programme rushed?

Some guests think so. A guest in August 2026 who was given two connected rooms wrote that the advertised activities felt hurried to keep to the timetable, and found the rooms average. A Spanish guest in March felt pushed along too, even with time to spare, and wrote that drinking water was not included for them and cost $2 for each 33 cl bottle. The owner lists one free bottle per guest per day, and a German guest found free water in the room, so ask how many bottles your cabin gets. That German guest timed the kayaking at 40 minutes, found each activity a mass outing at stops shared with many other boats, and on day one felt they were paddling through floating rubbish.

The owner calls Aurora “new-generation”. A guest in August 2026 found her quite old and in need of maintenance, and said one night was enough; a guest in March found the Suite very well maintained and the boat very clean. If the owner runs two boats under the name (its site has galleries for “Aurora Cruise 1” and “Aurora Cruise 2”), they may not have been on the same one. See how old your boat is for questions to ask.

How big are the cabins, and what does Aurora cost?

The owner lists four grades from 35 m² to 70 m², and publishes no prices.

The owner’s ship page names its two smaller grades Deluxe Balcony and Executive Balcony; it does not say whether the Suite or the Family Connecting unit has one. Guests in an Executive room and elsewhere describe a private balcony, one in April with a huge day bed on it; if a balcony matters, get it on the confirmation.

The owner publishes no rate table and we had collected none from any listing by 10 October 2026, so this ship is price on request. One guest wrote in April 2026 that they paid $120 each for the overnight, without saying which cabin class or who they booked through. We would not budget on one booking. When you enquire, ask for the cabin grade, the vessel name and a written total that states whether VAT is included. Our cruise cost guide has the fleet picture.

What is included, and what costs extra?

The owner’s two-day package includes four meals (seven on the three-day trip), a welcome drink, in-room tea, coffee and bottled water, kayaking and swimming at Tra Bau, the cave visit, the cooking class, Wi-Fi and sightseeing tickets. Excluded: the Hanoi shuttle, tips, VAT, massage and any further drinks. A guest in August called the drinks overpriced. See what is not included for the usual extras.

Children under five share their parents’ room free, five to six pay half, seven to ten pay 75%, and from eleven they pay the adult price. One room can take one child at those rates.

How does the three-day version work?

The second day leaves Aurora early. At 06:45 a transfer boat carries you across to Cat Ba for a 5 km bike ride to Viet Hai village, lunch is served on that transfer boat, and the afternoon is a swim at Ba Trai Dao beach before you rejoin Aurora around 15:00. The German guest who did it was moved onto another vessel for them while the two-day passengers stayed behind, yet counted the oyster farm, Viet Hai and swimming off the boat among the good parts, though the village struck them as very touristy. See two days or three.

Weather can end it early. A guest writing in July 2026 had a three-day cruise called off on the afternoon of day two by a storm alert. Get the weather and refund terms in writing before you pay (cancellation policies).

Who will get the most from Aurora?

Groups and families who value floor space, provided the operator’s sizes hold, and anyone who wants the evening filled with something to do. A Suite for four, or a Family Connecting unit for a party of six, is where the owner’s numbers work hardest.

Who should look elsewhere?

Travellers who want a slow, empty schedule will find the timetable tight. If you want to book from a published price, Aurora gives you nothing to compare against, and the small-boat list has ships with rate tables.

Where the owner’s site contradicts itself

• Cabin count. The owner’s overview, ship page and home page say 18 cabins (the overview adds 4 decks). Its class pages add up to 22 (6 + 6 + 6 + 4), and its ship page gives ranges (Executive Balcony 6 to 8, Suite 4 to 6). A Family Connecting unit is 70 m², exactly two 35 m² rooms, and the August guest who had one describes two connected rooms. The likeliest reading is that the four Family Connecting units are pairs of standard cabins counted twice, which leaves 18 rooms. A reseller’s room list puts two connecting pairs inside the Deluxe count and two inside the Executive, which fits that reading. The owner has not confirmed it.
• One boat or two. Every page of the owner’s text describes a single ship, but the photo galleries are split in two. We treat it as one; get the vessel name on your confirmation.
• Launch year, length, passenger capacity. Nobody publishes these. The owner describes a wooden boat.
• Which reviews we used. Guest detail here comes from the Google listing for the Aurora lounge at Tuan Chau. We set aside one review describing a different boat and one written by a trade partner.