Ha Long Bay in November: least cloud, a cooler sea

Yes, November is one of the better months for a Ha Long cruise on our numbers. Of the 723 reviews posted in November from 2023 to 2025, 4.4% give one or two stars, against 5.6% for all months of those three years, and only July does better. Across every review we hold, 13,074 for 76 boats counted on 28 October 2026, November’s 778 sit at 4.9% against 4.5%. Three boats whose full Google history we hold count only their 700 most recent reviews, so no single boat outweighs the rest. Ten years of weather data give November the least cloud of any month. Rain averages about 45 mm. The catch is in the trip itself: two guests posting in November 2025, on different boats, describe about 45 minutes of sailing and then a night at a crowded anchorage.

What is the weather like in November?

Dry, and the least cloudy month of the year. On ten-year averages from ERA5 reanalysis, November days reach 24.9°C and nights fall to 20.7°C, with 45 mm of rain spread over about eight days of 1 mm or more. That is roughly a quarter of October’s rain. Cloud cover averages 52%, the lowest of the twelve months, and the sun is out for 8.2 hours a day.

	October	November	December
High / low, °C	27.8 / 23.5	24.9 / 20.7	20.9 / 16.7
Rain, mm (driest–wettest year)	182 (45–487)	45 (18–80)	19 (3–68)
Days with 1 mm of rain or more	13.1	8.0	3.9
Sunshine, hours a day	8.4	8.2	6.8
Cloud cover	58%	52%	60%
Sea surface, °C	28.3	25.1	21.1

Even the wettest November in the decade, at 80 mm, stayed under half of an average October. Wind is the variable to watch. Ten Novembers produced 33 days with gusts of 50 km/h or more: 7 in the first ten days, 12 in the middle ten and 14 from the 21st. None of them ranks among the 50 windiest days of the decade, so expect a choppy afternoon now and then and little worse. Typhoons are rare this late, but when one comes, the province’s environment department asks for sailing permits to be suspended for overnight and sightseeing boats, as it did from noon on 3 July 2026, and the maritime port authority decides on permits from the weather; our Ha Long Bay weather by month covers how that works.

Can you still swim in November?

Yes, if you can take water about six degrees cooler than midsummer. The modelled sea surface averages 25.1°C across the four Novembers we hold, about three degrees below October and four above December. Pack a warm layer for the deck at night: the coldest November night in ten years dropped to 11.1°C.

November reviews barely mention temperature. One guest describes a day of rainy, cold weather, and hot comes up in five, one about a gym without air conditioning and one about hot chocolate. A guest posting in November about a Lan Ha boat found the sea too dirty to swim in.

How do November guests rate their cruises?

Well, and steadily. On the three complete years from 2023 to 2025, November sits at 4.4% one and two star reviews, second only to July at 3.1%. On every review we hold it is 4.9%, a little over the year’s 4.5%; that count favours the months that already have 2026 reviews, and 2026 has been a mild year, while November has none yet.

	November	All months
Reviews posted	778	13,074
One or two stars	38 (4.9%)	587 (4.5%)
One or two stars, 2023 to 2025	32 of 723 (4.4%)	357 of 6,330 (5.6%)
Five stars	85.0%	87.1%
Average rating	4.69	4.73

The month is thin, eleventh of twelve by number of reviews, so check it year by year. Of the years with 20 or more November reviews, November came in below its own year in 2023 (8.8% against 9.4%), 2024 (3.2% against 6.2%) and 2025 (4.4% against 4.8%). Only 2022 went the other way: 4 of 24 November reviews were low, 16.7% against 14.2% for that year. Late November looks slightly better than mid-month, with 9 low scores in 249 reviews posted from the 21st against 17 in 291 from the 11th to the 20th, though counts that small do not make a pattern.

A review appears after the trip, sometimes weeks after. A guest posting in early November may be writing about late October, so read the month’s edges loosely.

What goes wrong on a November cruise?

Often the itinerary. Of the 30 low November reviews we have classified, 13 (43%) say the trip was cut, changed or thinner than sold. The weather is rarely the reason. Two guests posting in November 2025, on different boats, describe the same pattern. On one Ha Long boat, lunch was served during about 45 minutes of sailing, then the boat moored with what the guest counted as 50 others for the rest of the stay. On one Lan Ha boat, a 45-minute run ended at a crowded anchorage with karaoke from nearby boats late into the night. Two French reviews of another Lan Ha boat, posted the same day, say it barely moved. A guest posting in November 2023 about a Bai Tu Long boat had chosen it for a fishing village stop that never happened.

On classified subjects, November looks like the rest of the year:

Subject mentioned	November	All year
The food	49.2%	49.0%
The cabin	30.0%	28.3%
Crowding	9.9%	6.5%
Itinerary changed or cut	6.7%	5.5%

A mention is not a complaint, except in the itinerary row, which only counts problems. Cleanliness is the subject that drops: it comes up in 5 of the 30 low November reviews, against a third of low reviews across the year.

How busy are the caves and anchorages in November?

A little more than average, by what guests write. Crowding comes up in 9.9% of classified November reviews against 6.5% across the year. The complaints split between busy stops and crowded anchorages. A Catherine guest posting in November 2024 found Sung Sot so packed that they skipped Ti Top Island afterwards, and an Alisa Premier guest posting the same month called Ha Long’s main stops crowded while crediting the boat’s schedule.

Bay	November reviews	One or two stars	All year
Ha Long	301	18 (6.0%)	4.9%
Lan Ha	424	19 (4.5%)	4.2%
Bai Tu Long	53	1 (1.9%)	6.2%

Bai Tu Long comes in below its own yearly rate in November, and Ha Long and Lan Ha above theirs. Ha Long’s gap is about a point and Lan Ha’s under half of one, and 53 reviews is too few to rank Bai Tu Long on. Our three bays compared sets out what each day looks like.

Which boat should I book for November?

Counted on 28 October 2026 in the reviews we count, three boats went through November without a single low review, on 50 or more each: one in Ha Long and two in Lan Ha. The table adds Alisa Premier, the Ha Long boat with the best five-star share in our ranking, recounted on 26 October 2026, and the only Bai Tu Long boat with 25 or more November reviews.

Boat	Bay	November reviews	November average	Five stars, in our ranking	From, per person, two sharing
Stellar of the Seas	Lan Ha	99	5.00	99.0% of 3,305	$366
Emeraude Classic	Ha Long	93	4.95	85.5% of 420	$118
Orchid Trendy	Lan Ha	66	5.00	96.7% of 544	$165
Alisa Premier	Ha Long	16	4.63	87.6% of 1,507	$155
Renea	Bai Tu Long	25	4.84	89.4% of 263	$130

The November columns count the reviews behind the rest of this page; the five-star column is each boat’s whole record, as our ranking counts it.

Prices are one-night trips, all read on 28 October 2026. They move with dates, so ask for the figure on yours.

For the strongest record and a bigger budget, Stellar of the Seas cruise leads our guest-score ranking, and two of its November reviewers describe rain handled well: raincoats handed out and umbrellas held over guests boarding the speedboat, and a kayak trip to the Bright and Dark caves on the last day of a longer trip. Orchid Trendy is a 20-cabin Lan Ha boat with the same clean November record, though the listing we track raised its cheapest cabin from $285 to $330 between August and October 2026. If Ha Long’s caves are the point, Alisa Premier has the best five-star share of the Ha Long boats in that ranking. Emeraude Classic, with 93 November reviews and no low score, lists $118 on its operator’s tariff and sails the Ha Long side.

What should I check with the seller first?

Ask about the route, because that is where November trips disappoint. Before you pay, get these in writing:

• How many hours the boat actually sails on day one, and where it anchors overnight.
• Which bay the overnight anchorage is in, since guests on Lan Ha boats often call the trip Ha Long.
• Whether the price quoted is for your date or a “from” figure.
• What happens if the port authority stops issuing sailing permits on your date, and what comes back if a two-night trip is cut to one.

A guest posting on 9 November 2024 says their trip was cancelled a week before departure, with an earlier typhoon given as the reason, and the refund came through the booking site. Our cancellation policy guide shows how far the ordinary terms differ.

November cruise FAQ

Is November a good month for a Ha Long Bay cruise? Yes. Of the 723 reviews posted in November from 2023 to 2025, 4.4% give one or two stars, against 5.6% for those years, and November beat its own year in each of those three years. Weather records give it 45 mm of rain, 8.2 hours of sun and the least cloud of any month. The sea is cooler than in summer at about 25°C, and the complaint to watch for is a boat that sails briefly and anchors in a crowd.

Is November too cold for a cruise? Not by day. Average highs are 24.9°C and lows 20.7°C over ten years, and only one November review in our set mentions cold weather. Nights on deck can feel cooler, and the coldest November night in the decade was 11.1°C, so bring a jumper. The sea averages 25.1°C, against about 21°C in December.

Is early or late November better? There is little between them. Low reviews run at 5.0% for posts in the first ten days, 5.8% in the middle ten and 3.6% after the 20th, on 238 to 291 reviews each. Gusty days are more common late in the month, 14 of 33 in ten years, though none of them ranks among the decade’s 50 windiest.