Ha Long Bay in September: the month to move

From 2023 to 2025, the three complete years in our set, about one review in eighteen sits at one or two stars. In September it is closer to one in twelve.

That comparison is the reason this page exists. On every review we hold, September looks like one of the best months, at 3.5%, but that figure leans on September 2026, which supplies 975 of the month’s 1,382 reviews in a year whose reviews run at 2.9% one and two stars. The three complete years are the fairer guide, so they lead here.

What the month looks like

	September	All months
Reviews, 2023 to 2025	364	6,330
Rated one or two stars, 2023 to 2025	8.5%	5.6%
Average rating, 2023 to 2025	4.54	4.67
Reviews, every year	1,382	13,074
Rated one or two stars, every year	3.5%	4.5%

Those counts use every review we hold with a date, counted on 28 October 2026. Three boats whose full Google history we hold count only their 700 most recent reviews, so no single boat outweighs the rest. The subject percentages further down come from the 991 September reviews and 10,568 across the year that have been classified by subject, so the two sets of figures rest on different denominators and we have labelled which is which.

On 2023 to 2025 September has both the lowest average and the highest bad-review rate of any month; August is next at 6.8%. Those two usually move together, so on their own they would not be worth a page. What makes September different is what its bad reviews mention.

What do September’s bad reviews talk about?

The cabin and cleanliness, more often than bad reviews across the year, and the food less often. We classified the text of reviews by subject, and a subject counts once it is mentioned, praise or complaint alike.

Mentioned in a one or two star review	September	Year
The cabin	51.4%	41.2%
Cleanliness	40.5%	35.1%
The food	40.5%	57.3%

Those rows rest on the 37 classified bad reviews from September against 490 across the year, so the cabin row is 19 reviews. Some of them praise the room while complaining about everything else. One guest posting on 27 September 2025 found the boat old and dirty and the cabin smelling bad.

Across all 991 classified September reviews the mix is close to the year’s. The crew come up in 84.6%, as they do in about four reviews out of five across our whole set, and the cabin in 27.4% against 28.3% for the year.

The storms are in there, thinly

Storms and rough water appear in 7 of the 1,190 September reviews with text, 0.6%, against 22 of 11,497 across the year, 0.2%.

Reading them, three seasons show up. In September 2024 a guest describes being taken off a boat because of Typhoon Yagi and praises the crew for staying calm. Another, three weeks later, writes that tourist numbers were down after the typhoon. In 2025 a typhoon took the last day of an Emeraude Classic guest’s three-day trip, and in September 2026 a guest booked on Rosy was moved to Victorious because of a storm.

Those seven do not explain September’s score. Four of them are five-star. Among the 31 one and two-star September reviews from 2023 to 2025, just one mentions a storm, posted on 27 September 2025.

The years run unevenly:

September of	Reviews	Rated one or two stars
2023	58	9 (15.5%)
2024	80	4 (5.0%)
2025	226	18 (8.0%)
2026	975	15 (1.5%)

The worst of them, 2023, had not one day among the 50 windiest in our ten years of weather data, and four of its nine bad reviews were posted on 8 September 2023 by three guests. September 2024, the month Typhoon Yagi hit, came in at 4 out of 80. On 2023 to 2025 September runs at 8.5%, against 6.8% for August, the next worst, and 3.1% for July.

How to read these figures

The dates are posting dates. People write reviews days or weeks after getting home, so trips from late August land in the September column and trips from late September land in October. This blunts the finding in both directions and it is the single largest weakness on this page.

The sample is smaller than it looks. Of 1,382 September reviews, 364 fall in 2023 to 2025, and only 37 of the bad reviews across all years have been classified by subject. The bad-review rate of 8.5% would still sit above the three-year average of 5.6% if it were a couple of points lower, so the direction survives, but do not treat the exact figures as precise.

September 2026 weighs heavily. It holds 975 of the month’s 1,382 reviews, with 15 of them at one or two stars. That is why the every-year figure is so much gentler than the three-year one.

What to do about it

If your dates are movable, move them. On the three complete years July runs at 3.1% and November at 4.4%, and the month by month comparison sets all twelve side by side.

If your dates are fixed, a storm is the risk you can plan around, because it can stop the trip altogether. The closure comes from Quang Ninh’s Department of Agriculture and Environment, which asks the port authorities and coastal districts to stop licensing boats from a set hour. For Typhoon Ragasa that was 10:00 on 24 September 2025, as Lao Động reported the same morning, and boats already out could be allowed until 14:00 to reach shelter. For storm no. 4 of 2026, sightseeing and overnight stays were to stop being licensed from 07:00 on 22 August (Nhân Dân, 22 August 2026). Licences come back only after the final bulletin on the storm, and no reopening time is set in advance. The catch is that your operator does not decide the closure, so what protects you is its written policy on cancellation and rescheduling.

Ask three things before you pay: what happens if the bay closes, whether that means a refund or a reschedule, and who decides. Get the answers in writing. Thirty-one operators print a closure rule on their own websites, and most say the same thing: a full refund if the bay closes before you leave Hanoi, a charge only for what you used if it closes later. Emperor and Paradise add a trap, no refund for a guest who cancels before the authority has decided, so wait for the decision. Our guide to cancellation terms sets the operators side by side. The storm stops of July and August 2026, with the hour each one began, are in what changed on Ha Long Bay in 2026. August, the month before and the wettest of the year, had its own closure on 22 August 2026; our August guide covers it.

Common questions

Is September the worst month to visit? On the three complete years, yes: 8.5% of September reviews from 2023 to 2025 give one or two stars, against 6.8% for August, the next worst, 6.5% for October and 5.6% for all months. On every review we hold it looks like one of the best months at 3.5%, but 975 of its 1,382 reviews were posted in September 2026.

Will my trip definitely be cancelled? No. Even on 2023 to 2025, more than nine September reviews in ten sit at three stars or above. Get the operator’s closure policy in writing before you pay; most print a full refund if the bay closes before you leave Hanoi.

Is travel insurance worth it for September? Twenty-five of the 139 listings we hold mention insurance as included, which means most do not. We are not licensed to advise on insurance and will not, but storm words turn up in September reviews more often than in any other month’s.