Ha Long Bay in February: Tet, drizzle, surcharges

If your February cruise touches 5 to 8 February 2027, you will be on the water for Tet, the Lunar New Year, and boats charge extra for those nights. Fifteen boats’ listings on halongbaytours.com, a reseller, read on 15 and 16 October 2026, already name 2027 dates: twelve ask between $15 and $60 a person, and three add 20% to the rate. Away from that week, February is cool and damp. Ten years of modelled weather give days of 20.0°C and nights of 16.0°C, with some rain on about 16 days, more than half of them too light to reach a millimetre.

Review figures come from the 576 reviews posted in February, of 10,058 dated reviews for 74 boats counted on 16 October 2026, dated by posting day.

When is Tet in 2027, and what does it change on a cruise?

Tet falls on Saturday 6 February 2027, and its eve on Friday 5 February. Vietnam’s Ministry of Home Affairs has set the public-sector holiday at seven days in a row, Thursday 4 to Wednesday 10 February 2027, as CafeF reported on 10 October 2026. It changes the price of those nights, whether your boat sails, and the drive from Hanoi. Of the 138 boats in our policy file, last updated 15 October 2026, 115 list a peak-season surcharge and 68 of those name Tet.

One operator has stood its boats down over Tet. Indochina Junk, which runs Dragon Legend and Dragon’s Pearl, posted Tet notices for 2024 and 2026 saying its office and tours would close from Tet eve to the third day of the new year: 9 to 12 February 2024, and 16 to 19 February 2026, reopening the following day. If you want one of its boats in early February 2027, check first.

The first day of Tet is kept for close family, and Paradise, which runs three of the boats we list, advises its guests not to travel that day because many transport businesses shut. In 2027 that is the Saturday. If you rely on a boat’s shuttle from Hanoi, get the pick-up time for your date in writing; our Hanoi to Ha Long guide covers the other ways down.

A Peony guest posting on 20 February 2026, three days after that year’s Tet, sailed over the holiday and says the crew marked it with fireworks at midnight and lì xì, the lucky money handed out in red envelopes at the new year. A V’Spirit guest who was on the bay over Lunar New Year, posting on 22 February 2026, counted at least 50 other boats among the islands and warned against expecting nature undisturbed. Across the month, February has the fewest reviews posted, even per day, which tracks guest numbers only loosely, and crowd words turn up in 1.9% of February text reviews against 2.9% across the year.

How much is the Tet surcharge for 2027?

Between $15 and $60 a person on the twelve 2027 lines that give a dollar figure, and $45 is the middle of them. Three more boats add 20% of the rate. Each line is the reseller’s, from the boat’s halongbaytours.com page, read on 15 October 2026 and unchanged on 16 October; get the figure confirmed in writing.

Boat	Tet 2027 surcharge	Child	Nights
Athena Premium	$25 a person a night		5 to 8 Feb
Athena Royal	$15 a person		5 to 8 Feb
Elite of the Seas	20% of the cruise rate		5, 6 and 7 Feb
Halora Nova	20% of the room rate		6 to 8 Feb
Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan	$40 an adult	$35	5 to 8 Feb
Larissa	$45 a person a night		5 to 8 Feb
Mon Cheri	$60 an adult	$50	5 to 8 Feb
Nostalgia	$30 an adult a night	$20	5 and 6 Feb
Orchid Classic	$45 a person		5 to 8 Feb
Orchid Luxury	$50 a person		5 to 8 Feb
Orchid Premium	$50 a person		5 to 8 Feb
Peony	$60 a person		5 to 8 Feb
Renea	$30 a person		5 to 8 Feb
Stellar of the Seas	20% of the cruise rate		5, 6 and 7 Feb
Victorious	$60 an adult a night	$30	5 to 8 Feb

For two adults on a one-night cruise over Tet, that adds $30 on Athena Royal, $90 on Orchid Classic and $120 on Peony. Two adults and a child on Mon Cheri add $170. Nostalgia’s line names only 5 and 6 February, so a boarding on 7 February falls outside it as written; get that confirmed when you book.

None of the thirteen listings that price both holidays charges more at Tet than at Christmas: eight ask the same, five ask less. Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan is $80 an adult on Christmas Eve against $40 at Tet, and Athena Royal $45 against $15.

Two operators state a Tet charge on their own sites, read on 16 October 2026. Aqua of the Seas charges $25 a person for the eve and the first three days, on the page that carries its rates from 1 October 2026 to 30 April 2027. Doria charges $35 a person under one holiday surcharge that covers Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Tet. Another 33 halongbaytours.com listings, read on 15 October 2026, still show only Tet 2026 dates, mostly at $15 to $50 a person; ask for the 2027 figure.

What is the weather like in February?

Cool and cloudy, with little heavy rain. These are February averages for 2016 to 2025 from ERA5 reanalysis, a model grid about 25 km wide that smooths out the extremes.

February, 2016–2025	Average
Daytime high	20.0°C
Night-time low	16.0°C
Coldest night in the ten years	7.4°C (20 and 21 February 2022)
Nights below 12°C	2.7 a year
Days with any rain (0.1 mm or more)	15.9
Days with 1 mm of rain or more	7.0
Rain in the month	41 mm (5 mm in the driest year, 97 mm in the wettest)
Sunshine	5.3 hours a day
Sea-surface temperature	18.6°C (three Februaries)

Most of February’s rain is drizzle: of the 15.9 days a year with any rain, 8.9 register less than a millimetre in the model. Set against January, February is about half a degree warmer by day and night, has fewer days of a millimetre or more (7.0 against 8.5), and is cloudier, at 70% against 65%. March runs about three degrees warmer by day and night.

Over the last ten Tets, from the eve to the third day, the days were brighter than February’s average and the nights a little colder. Those 50 days averaged 19.8°C by day and 15.1°C at night, with 55% cloud and 6.8 hours of sun. The catch is that those holidays fell anywhere from 22 January to 16 February, and in 2027 Tet lands in the first ten days of February, the greyest stretch of the month over the same decade. From 1 to 10 February cloud averaged 75% and the sun showed for 4.8 hours a day; from 11 to 20 February those figures were 63% and 6.0 hours, with days 1.7°C warmer.

A Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan guest posting on 24 February 2025 spent 30 minutes in a speedboat back from an excursion, ice cold and without a blanket, so pack a warm layer for the boat transfers as well as the deck. The sea, at 18.6°C, is too cold for us to swim in, though calm: across four Februaries no day’s highest wave reached a metre. Gusts pick up after the 20th, which holds 15 of the decade’s 31 February days at 50 km/h or more. Our weather guide explains who decides whether boats sail on a rough day.

Are February reviews worse than average?

No, slightly better on low scores. As posted, 27 of the 576 February reviews (4.7%) sit at one or two stars, against 520 of 10,058 (5.2%) across all months, which makes February the fourth best month on that measure, after July, June and April. The average rating is 4.66 against 4.69 for the year.

Where February stands out is money on board. Of the 20 one and two star February reviews whose text we have classified, nine mention extra charges, 45.0% against 28.3% of low reviews across the year, though nine reviews is a small sample. A Catherine guest posting on 26 February 2025 found coffee at $10 AUD and more, with no free coffee or juice at meals and no water to pour for yourself at the table. The Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan guest says cappuccino cost extra and that bringing your own drinks carried a fine. A Doria guest posting on 19 February 2025 called the drinks very overpriced and suggested bringing your own liquor.

In our policy file, 98 of the 138 boats exclude drinks from the fare, so ask for the bar list before you board.

What should you ask before booking a February cruise?

Five questions, by email, so the answers are in writing.

1. Does my night fall in your Tet window for 2027, and what is the surcharge in dollars for each adult and each child? Is it already in the price you quoted?
2. Is the boat sailing on my date, and does your shuttle from Hanoi run that day, at what time?
3. Can you send the bar’s price list, and is drinking water free at meals? May I bring my own drinks, and is there a charge?
4. Does the cabin air conditioning heat, and are there blankets on deck and on the transfer boat?
5. If a cancelled flight or the province’s weather rules stop me sailing, can I move the date, and does the surcharge come back?

See our cancellation policy guide, what is not included, and the Christmas and New Year guide for the December surcharges on the same boats.

February cruise questions

Is February a good month for a Ha Long Bay cruise? In our view, yes, if you accept cool, grey days: 20.0°C by day, 16.0°C at night, and drizzle on many of them. Its share of one and two star reviews, 27 of 576 counted on 16 October 2026 (4.7%), sits below the 5.2% average, and the month by month comparison ranks it against the other eleven.

When is Tet 2027, and do Ha Long boats charge more for it? Tet falls on Saturday 6 February 2027, and the public-sector holiday runs from 4 to 10 February. Fifteen halongbaytours.com reseller listings, read on 15 and 16 October 2026, add a surcharge, mostly for 5 to 8 February: $15 to $60 a person, or 20% of the rate on Elite of the Seas, Halora Nova and Stellar of the Seas.

What should I pack for a February cruise? Warm layers, a light waterproof and something for the wind. Average nights are 16.0°C, two or three a year drop below 12°C, and the coldest in ten years reached 7.4°C; two guests, in February 2024 and 2025, felt it on a windy balcony and in a speedboat back from an excursion. With the sea at 18.6°C, swimwear is only worth packing if your boat confirms a heated pool.