Secret Halong Cruise

Secret Halong Cruise puts a new boat on the classic one-night route through Ha Long Bay. Its operator, Bien Ngoc Cruises, gives June 2025 as the launch date and lists a jacuzzi, a sauna, two bars and a 130 m² restaurant aboard. You board at Tuan Chau at noon, see Me Cung Cave and paddle at a pearl farm that afternoon, and swim or climb at Titop Island the next morning.

What are you booking on Secret Halong?

A newer boat under an older name: Secret Halong today is the boat its operator says began sailing in June 2025. The operator’s own photos show a white hull with a green sundeck, “Bien Ngoc” lettered on the bow and the registration QN-9386 beside it. If a photo you are sent shows a wooden hull and a red sail, it is the boat that carried the name before.

The operator calls the trip a boutique journey, and we file the boat with new boats and small boats. The dining room has wide glass windows on the bay. Rooms come in two classes, Standard and Superior, and the operator’s Vietnamese page says the air conditioning in each heats as well as cools, which counts on a January night.

How does the two-day trip run?

Secret Halong boards at 12:00 and docks at 11:00 the next day, with three stops between. These are the times on the operator’s own itinerary.

Time	What happens
12:00	Board at Tuan Chau International Harbour
13:00	Lunch in the restaurant
15:00	Me Cung Cave; the operator points out sea shells fixed to the walls and traces of prehistoric life
16:30	The boat moves to a pearl farm area, where you can take a kayak out
17:30	Sundeck time, and a spring-roll cooking class
19:00	Dinner, with fresh seafood
20:00	Music in the bar, or night fishing off the boat
06:00	Thirty minutes of Tai Chi on the sundeck
07:00	Pastries, coffee and tea
08:00	Titop Island: swim, stay on the beach, or climb the steps to the summit viewpoint
09:00	Back on board
09:30	Check out of your cabin
09:30 onward	Brunch while the boat sails back past Fighting Cock and Stone Dog islets
11:00	Off the boat at Tuan Chau Marina

The weak point of the Secret Halong programme is the second morning. Titop is the one stop, you leave your cabin at 09:30, and the last ninety minutes are brunch on the move. The kayak outing on day one is an hour at most before the cooking class starts; our kayaking in Ha Long guide covers what a pearl farm paddle is like. The itinerary names Tuan Chau International Harbour for boarding and Tuan Chau Marina for the return; both point to Tuan Chau’s passenger port, so ask which gate your driver should use. Our guide to which harbour you leave from explains the Tuan Chau options.

Which Secret Halong cabin should you ask for?

The Superior, which sits on the upper floor. The operator’s English and Vietnamese pages give both classes a balcony and a panoramic sea-view window; one agency lists the balcony on the Superior alone, so if you book a Standard for the balcony, have it written on your quote.

Cabin	Size	Beds	Window	Balcony
Standard	12 m²	Twin	Panoramic, sea view	Yes
Superior (upper floor)	12 m²	Double	Panoramic, sea view	Yes

Sizes and beds are from halongbaycruisedeals.com, which gives both classes the same 12 m². The operator’s room list gives each its own air conditioning and power sockets. For how these sizes sit against the rest of the fleet, see what your cabin gets you.

What does a night on Secret Halong cost, and what is included?

Price on request. The operator takes bookings through a reservation form, so ask for the total per cabin for your date, with the cabin class named. Our guide to what a Ha Long cruise costs shows the two-day rates other boats publish.

The itinerary covers lunch, dinner and the morning meals, the kayaks at the pearl farm, the cooking class and the visits to Me Cung Cave and Titop, and the agency lists kayaking as complimentary. Have the quote say whether cave and island tickets, drinks and the road from Hanoi are in the price; our guide to what is not included lists the usual extras.

Is Secret Halong right for a first Ha Long trip?

Yes, for couples. They get the classic stops on a small boat, with a sauna and a jacuzzi for a cool evening and sundeck time set aside after the kayaks. You are back on the quay by 11:00.

Who should book a different boat?

Anyone who needs a price on the table first, or a stack of reviews about this boat. Anyone after a second night: Secret Halong sells the one-night trip. Families of four should look elsewhere too, as both classes are 12 m² cabins for two.

Which reviews are about this boat?

Before the 2025 launch, a wooden boat with a red sail sold as Secret Halong from Lot 27 at Tuan Chau. The Google reviews under the name were written before June 2025, bar one rating with no text, so they describe that older boat. The operator’s site links to a Tripadvisor listing whose award badges date from 2020, before this boat sailed.

Get the registration, QN-9386, on your confirmation, so the boat you board is the 2025 one. For what a launch year tells you, see our guide to how old your boat is. Ask for the cancellation terms in writing before you pay; our cancellation policies guide says what to ask.