Ha Long Bay in March: mist and weaker reviews

March is a mild, grey month on Ha Long Bay, with the calmest water of the year. Ten years of modelled weather give days of 23.1°C and nights of 19.0°C, about three degrees warmer than February, with 39 mm of rain and fewer gusty days than any other month. The catch is in the reviews: 64 of the 1,006 posted in March sit at one or two stars, 6.4%, the highest share of any month, with December close behind at 6.3%.

Review figures come from those 1,006 March reviews, of 13,074 dated reviews for 76 boats counted on 28 October 2026. A review’s date is the day it went up, which can be days or weeks after the trip.

What is the weather like in March?

Mild and damp, and brighter towards the end. These are March averages for 2016 to 2025 from ERA5 reanalysis, a model grid about 25 km wide that smooths out the extremes.

March, 2016–2025	Average
Daytime high	23.1°C
Night-time low	19.0°C
Coldest night in the ten years	12.6°C (7 March 2025)
Warmest day in the ten years	30.2°C (5 March 2024)
Days with any rain (0.1 mm or more)	18.9
Days with 1 mm of rain or more	8.9
Rain in the month	39 mm (8 mm in the driest year, 65 mm in the wettest)
Relative humidity	86%
Sunshine	5.7 hours a day
Sea-surface temperature	21.0°C (three Marches)

Set against February, March is 3.1°C warmer by day and 3.0°C at night, and the rain total is about the same, 39 mm against 41 mm. What changes is the air. March’s average humidity of 86% ties with August for the highest of the year, and in an average March the daily mean reaches 90% or more on 15 days. Of the 18.9 days with any rain, 10.0 register under a millimetre in the model. Heavy rain is rare: an average March has 0.7 days of 10 mm or more.

The middle of the month is the greyest stretch. From 11 to 20 March cloud averaged 80% and the sun showed for 4.8 hours a day over the decade; from 21 to 31 March those figures were 66% and 6.7 hours, and days averaged 24.1°C against 22.1°C in the first ten days. If your dates can move, the last third of March has been the brightest. Our April guide covers the month after, when days average 26.5°C and the sun shows for 8.2 hours a day.

Five March text reviews mention fog or mist, out of nine across the whole year. All five gave five stars. An Orchid Classic guest posting on 13 March 2025 had a cloudy, misty day and wrote mostly about the crew, who dressed their dinner with balloons for birthdays and a wedding anniversary. A Nostalgia guest posting on 20 March 2024 found that cloud and fog cut into the views at times.

Can you swim in March, and is the water rough?

Some guests swim in water of about 21°C, and the sea is calm. It averaged 21.0°C over three Marches, from 18.6°C on the coldest day to 25.0°C on the warmest, and April warms to 25.7°C. A Stellar of the Seas guest posting on 10 March 2026 swam in the sea and spent time on a beach; another on the same boat, posting on 22 March, found its pool warm even on chilly days.

Waves stay small. Across four Marches the highest wave of an average day was 0.33 m on open water, the lowest monthly figure in our marine record, and the biggest of the 124 days reached 0.78 m. Gusts of 50 km/h or more came on 20 March days in ten years, 2.0 a year, fewer than in any other month, and none of the decade’s 50 gustiest days fell in March. Our weather guide explains who decides whether boats sail on a rough day.

Is March busy, and is Tet over?

Busier than winter, and Tet is well past. March ranks sixth of twelve months by reviews posted, after October, August, September, April and July, which tracks guest numbers only loosely. Crowd words turn up in 2.6% of March text reviews against 2.3% across the year, and crowding as a subject in 7.6% of classified March reviews against 6.5%.

Lunar New Year 2027 falls on 6 February. On the fifteen boats whose halongbaytours.com reseller listings carried 2027 Tet dates when we read them on 16 October 2026, every surcharge window ends by 8 February; our February guide has the figures.

Why are March reviews worse than average?

Two Marches account for most of it, and food is the subject that comes up most. As posted, 64 of the 1,006 March reviews (6.4%) sit at one or two stars, against 587 of 13,074 (4.5%) across all months. No month is higher; December, at 6.3%, comes closest. March’s average rating is 4.65 against 4.73 for the year.

March posted in	Reviews	One or two stars	That whole year
2023	39	3 (7.7%)	9.4%
2024	82	10 (12.2%)	6.2%
2025	446	15 (3.4%)	4.8%
2026	413	30 (7.3%)	2.9% (to 25 October)

Six thinner Marches, 2017 to 2022, add 26 reviews and six low scores.

March 2024 and March 2026 together hold 40 of the 64 low scores in 495 reviews, 8.1%, though March 2024 rests on only 82 reviews. The other Marches add 24 in 511, 4.7%, close to the yearly average, and March 2025 came out better than its own year. March 2026 ran at more than twice the rate of 2026 so far, with its 30 low scores spread over 14 boats.

Food is the subject that moves. The rows below compare the 50 low March reviews whose text we have classified with the 490 low reviews across the year. A subject counts once it is mentioned, praise or complaint alike.

Mentioned in a one or two star review	March (50)	All year (490)
The food	37 (74.0%)	57.3%
Extra charges on board	18 (36.0%)	31.0%
Crowding	11 (22.0%)	13.3%

Fifty reviews is a small sample, but the food row, 37 reviews where the yearly rate would give about 29, is the one to plan for.

Vegetarian meals come up in six of the 64 one and two star March reviews, counted on 28 October 2026, against 18 of the 587 low reviews across all months. Six is a small number, and all six were posted in a single month, March 2026, on five boats. One guest travelling with a vegetarian wife had flagged her diet weeks ahead; she was asked five or six times whether chicken or lobster would do, then served a frozen pizza. The next day a new menu was agreed, but it never reached the staff serving her, so it was not what she got. Another, posting on 20 March 2026, advised other Indian travellers to bring their own vegetarian food.

Weather rarely drives a low March score. None of the 64 matches our keyword lists for rain, fog or cold. One guest posting on 11 March 2025 says weather cut a paid two-night trip to a single night, and another, writing in Hebrew in March 2024, complains that when there is fog the boat has no other programme to offer. Our guide to what guests complain about covers the year as a whole.

Which boats did well in March?

Of the boats with 100 or more reviews, these two are among those with the most March reviews and not a single one or two star score, counted on 28 October 2026.

Boat	March reviews	One or two stars in March	Reviews counted	Five stars, reviews counted
Stellar of the Seas	95, all March 2026	0	700 most recent	99.4%
Orchid Trendy	33	0	544	96.7%

None of the 700 most recent Stellar of the Seas reviews, posted between 29 August 2025 and 23 October 2026, gives one or two stars. Those 700 reach back only to August 2025, so its March figure covers a single March. Orchid Trendy’s 33 March reviews are thin for one month, so read them alongside its 544 reviews overall. On the food question, the Stellar of the Seas guest who found the pool warm does not eat pork and had separate dishes cooked every time, and another, posting on 13 March 2026, singled out the Indian dishes. An Orchid Trendy guest posting on 14 March 2025 had poor weather and still saw the islets.

What should you ask before booking a March cruise?

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

1. If anyone in your party is vegetarian or keeps another diet, what will they be served at each meal? Ask the seller to pass it to the boat and confirm that it has.
2. Can you send the bar’s price list, and is drinking water free at meals? In our policy file, last updated 15 October 2026, 98 of the 138 boats exclude drinks from the fare.
3. Is the pool heated, and at what hours? The sea averages 21.0°C in March.
4. If mist or weather changes the programme, what replaces the stop, and what happens to my money if the boat cannot sail?

Our vegetarian and dietary needs guide covers dietary requests, and the cancellation policy guide shows how much the ordinary terms differ.

March cruise questions

Is March a good month for a Ha Long Bay cruise? In our view, yes for calm water and mild days, at 23.1°C by day and 19.0°C at night, if you can accept grey skies. Its share of one and two star reviews, 64 of 1,006 counted on 28 October 2026 (6.4%), is the highest of any month, just above December; most of the low scores were posted in March 2024 and March 2026, and food is the subject they mention most. The month by month comparison ranks it against the other eleven.

Is Ha Long Bay foggy in March? Mist is possible. Average humidity of 86% ties with August for the highest of the year, and cloud covers 71% of the sky on an average March day. Five March reviews mention fog or mist, out of nine across the year; all five gave the trip five stars. From 21 to 31 March the sun has averaged the most, 6.7 hours a day.

What should I pack for March? Light layers and a waterproof. Average nights are 19.0°C and the coldest in ten years reached 12.6°C, on 7 March 2025, so a jumper is enough for the deck after dinner. Days average 23.1°C and reached 30.2°C at the warmest. The sea averages 21.0°C, so pack swimwear if you swim in cool water or your boat confirms a heated pool.