Which harbour your Ha Long cruise leaves from

The harbour barely appears in most cruise listings, tucked below the price and the cabin photos, and it deserves more attention than it gets. Where you board shapes two things you will feel: where your driver drops you, and which stretch of water you most likely sail. All 92 boats we publish have a harbour on our records, recounted on 22 October 2026, and every one of them is listed below under its harbour.

Which harbours does the fleet use?

Mostly two. Tuan Chau Marina and the Ha Long International Cruise Port at Bai Chay take ninety-one of the 92 boats between them; the last, Venezia, starts on Cat Ba.

Harbour	Boats	Lan Ha	Ha Long	Bai Tu Long
Tuan Chau Marina	68	44	22	2
Ha Long International Cruise Port	23	1	9	13
Beo Harbour, Cat Ba town	1	1	0	0

Tuan Chau Marina is the hub by a wide margin: sixty-eight boats sail from it, forty-four of them to Lan Ha Bay and twenty-two to Ha Long Bay. If you have booked a Lan Ha cruise, you are almost certainly leaving from Tuan Chau. The two Lan Ha boats that do not are Venezia, whose operator says guests board by tender at Beo Harbour in Cat Ba town, and Ambassador Signature, whose guests check in at the Ambassador lounge inside the cruise terminal at Bai Chay.

If you want one boat per harbour, start with the highest five-star share on our guest-score ranking, run on 8 October 2026. At Tuan Chau it is Stellar of the Seas, a Lan Ha boat, at 99.4% across 499 reviews. At the Ha Long International Cruise Port it is Ambassador Signature, at 95.8% across 379, and the best Bai Tu Long boat from the same port is Renea, at 89.2% across 259.

Does the harbour decide your bay?

Largely, yes. The sharpest pattern in the table is the international port: thirteen of the fifteen Bai Tu Long boats we publish leave from it, against two of the sixty-eight boats at Tuan Chau. If a listing is vague about the bay but names the Ha Long International Cruise Port, a Bai Tu Long trip is the likeliest reading, though nine Ha Long boats use the port too. Our guide to the three bays covers what that choice actually changes on the water.

Since 1 April 2026 the Ha Long–Lan Ha crossing has its own licence for overnight boats: Quang Ninh and Hai Phong’s joint rules cover four routes, all of them overnight. The first two licensed crossings left Tuan Chau and the international port on 20 April, Bao Quang Ninh reported, and both operators planned daily departures. One was Ambassador Signature, cleared for that crossing at the Ha Long International Cruise Port, the same port its regular itineraries start from. Our guide to what changed on Ha Long Bay in 2026 covers the four routes and the sightseeing fees.

What time do you need to be at each harbour?

At about 11:30 at either main harbour, with boarding half an hour later at Tuan Chau and an hour later at Bai Chay. The figures are medians of the operators’ own timetables (run 22 October 2026), with the number of boats that print each time in brackets; Venezia’s come from its own two-day programme.

Harbour	Hanoi pick-up	At the lounge	Boarding	Ashore, last day	Back in Hanoi
Tuan Chau Marina	08:00 (40)	11:30 (55)	12:00 (62)	11:00 (55)	14:30 (22)
Ha Long International Cruise Port	08:00 (12)	11:30 (16)	12:30 (23)	11:00 (17)	16:00 (9)
Beo Harbour, Cat Ba (Venezia)	07:00	about 11:30	12:10	11:45	16:15

The late return from Bai Chay is the number to plan around. Nine port boats print a back-in-Hanoi time, from 14:30 to 16:30, against a 14:30 median at Tuan Chau, so an evening flight out of Noi Bai is safer after a Bai Chay cruise. Our guide to boarding and return times has each boat’s own clock.

Tuan Chau Marina: where most cruises start

Tuan Chau is an island within Ha Long City, and its marina is where 68 of our 92 boats begin. When the Ministry of Transport cleared it for foreign vessels in 2015, the national tourism authority described a 200-hectare artificial harbour with close to 7 km of berths, a terminal with restaurants, bars and souvenir shops, and offices for the boat companies (vietnamtourism.gov.vn, 29 September 2015).

The marina is not one building. Each operator runs its own lounge, numbered by lot: Diana’s guests meet at Lot 11B, Hermes’s at Lot 20, La Regina Grand’s and Legend’s at Lot 24, La Pandora’s at Kiosk 26, Emperor’s at 28B, Orchid’s at Lot 32, Nostalgia’s at Lot 33 and Doria’s at Lot 36. Most boats then take you out by tender. Heritage Line’s Violet is an exception worth knowing about: its embarkation guide (updated 3 August 2026) meets guests at Kiosk 06, and on Bai Tu Long departures the ship docks at the pier, so there is no tender at all.

• Lan Ha (44): Amour, Aqua Legend, Aqua of the Seas, Aspira, Aurora, Calypso, Capella, Diana, Doria, Doris, Elite of the Seas, Erina, Genesis Regal, Halora Nova, Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan, Heritage Line Ginger, Indochine, Indochine Grand, La Casta, La Casta Regal, La Pandora, La Regina Grand, La Regina Legend, La SEN of the Bay, Le Journey Elegance, Lyra Grandeur, Majesty Prime, Mon Cheri, Nostalgia, Orchid Classic, Orchid Luxury, Orchid Premium, Orchid Trendy, Orient Legacy, Paradise Grand, Peony, Rosy, Scarlet Pearl, Sena, Stellar of the Seas, Unicharm, V’Spirit, Venus, Verdure Lotus Classic
• Ha Long (22): Alisa Premier, Amanda, Amanda Legend, Aqua Classic, Au Co, Bhaya Classic, Bhaya Soul, Calista, Catherine, Cozy Bay Grand, Emeraude Classic, Hera Classic Boutique, Hera Grand, Hermes, Indochine Premium, La Regina Royal, Paradise Elegance, Paradise Legacy, Secret Halong, Syrena, Verdure Lotus Grandeur, Victorious
• Bai Tu Long (2): Emperor, Heritage Line Violet

Ha Long International Cruise Port at Bai Chay

The Ha Long International Cruise Port sits on the Bai Chay side of Ha Long City, at 9 Ha Long Road in the address Larissa gives, and 23 of our boats leave from it, including thirteen of the fifteen that sail Bai Tu Long. Ambassador’s lounge is inside the terminal itself, on the first floor. Indochina Junk, which runs Dragon Legend, Dragon’s Pearl, Prince and Red Dragon, checks guests in at its own lounge at 1 Ha Long Street in Bai Chay and takes them to the boat by electric cart.

Paloma, a Bai Tu Long boat, is one of the 23. Its shuttle collects in the Hanoi Old Quarter from 08:00 to 08:30, it boards at about 12:30, and the shuttle is back in Hanoi between 16:00 and 16:30.

• Lan Ha (1): Ambassador Signature
• Ha Long (9): Aime’e, Ambassador, Athena Luxury, Athena Premium, Oriental Sails, Sea Stars, Starlight, Victory, Victory Star
• Bai Tu Long (13): Athena Royal, Cycad, Dragon Legend, Dragon’s Pearl Junk, La Regina Classic, Larissa, Paloma, Prince, Red Dragon Junk, Renea, Signature, Swan, Treasure Junk

Cruises from Cat Ba or Hai Phong

One boat in our set starts on Cat Ba, and none starts from the Hai Phong mainland. Lan Ha Bay belongs to Hai Phong, yet 44 of the 46 Lan Ha boats we publish begin in Quang Ninh at Tuan Chau and cross over. None of the 92 names Gia Luan on Cat Ba or Got at Cat Hai as its harbour.

The exception is Venezia: the operator says guests board at Beo Harbour in Cat Ba town. Its 2-day programme collects in the Hanoi Old Quarter at 07:00, reaches Beo at about 11:30 and tenders guests out at 12:10. The return leaves the port at 12:00 and reaches Hanoi at 16:15. Against the Tuan Chau medians (08:00 pick-up, 11:30 at the lounge, ashore 11:00, Hanoi 14:30), that is an hour more on the way out and three quarters of an hour more on the way back. The operator’s limousine cost US$10 a person one way or US$20 return when we read its page on 10 October 2026. If you are already staying on the island, our guide to Cat Ba and Ha Long City covers what else is there, and the Lan Ha Bay cruises page compares the boats that sail it.

You may see the Got ferry at Cat Hai named in older material about these boats. That ferry has been replaced: since 1 March 2024 the Dong Bai ferry has carried people from the Cat Hai mainland to Cat Ba in its place, VOV reported.

How do I get to the harbour from the airport or Ninh Binh?

By car or shared van, at fares the operators publish (pages read between 10 August and 15 October 2026). La Regina, whose boats use both Tuan Chau and Bai Chay, charges US$95 a car each way for a private four-seater from Hanoi or Noi Bai and US$65 from Cat Bi, the airport at Hai Phong. Cycad sells a shared seat from Noi Bai to its Bai Chay boat at 850,000 VND each way, and Genesis Regal arranges cars from Noi Bai, Van Don and Cat Bi. Our guide to the airports for Ha Long Bay sets out which airport suits which harbour.

From Ninh Binh, several operators run a shared seat: Doris at US$18 each way, La Regina and La Pandora at US$20, Cycad at 500,000 VND. Hermes quotes US$130 to US$150 for a private car. The Ninh Binh to Ha Long guide covers that road.

Does the harbour change the drive from Hanoi?

Very little between the two main harbours. Both sit in Ha Long City, about 160 km and two and a half hours from Hanoi by car on the expressway, by the distance and time that operator and agency sites state. A shared van takes longer because it collects from hotels first: at both harbours the median pick-up is 08:00 and the median lounge time 11:30, three and a half hours door to lounge. What the harbour changes is the last stretch and the meeting point. Give the driver the lot number at Tuan Chau, or the lounge address at Bai Chay. Our guide to getting there from Hanoi covers the transfer in full. Several companies sell boats with near-identical names, and which Paradise, Bhaya, Orchid or La Regina boat is which is set out in our guide to the companies.

The catch

The catch is that a harbour can move. Our records rest on the operators’ own pages, and 73 of the 92 harbours are confirmed by the operator and at least two other sources that agree; the rest are worth checking on your confirmation. La Regina announced that La Regina Royal would leave the Bai Chay port for Lot 24 at Tuan Chau from 20 April 2024, and a listing can lag behind a change like that by a season. Hon Gai, in central Ha Long City, still appears in older listings as a pier for Bai Tu Long boats, but Thanh Nien reported in September 2022 that the Ha Long Bay Management Board had stopped the overnight-boat business at the Hon Gai passenger port after the pandemic; no boat of ours names it now. Routes change too. Ao Tien port in Van Don, on the Bai Tu Long side, opened a set of sightseeing routes into the bay on 29 March 2025 (Bao Quang Ninh, 29 March 2025), yet none of the overnight boats we track names it as its harbour. If yours does, ask exactly where the car should stop.

Common questions

Does the harbour change how far I drive from Hanoi? Not by much. Tuan Chau and the Bai Chay port both sit in Ha Long City, about two and a half hours from Hanoi by car and three and a half by a shared van that collects from hotels first. What changes is the exact meeting point, so give your driver the lounge address. Cat Ba is the outlier: Venezia’s van leaves Hanoi at 07:00 and reaches Beo Harbour about 11:30.

If I want Bai Tu Long, what should I look for? A boat sailing from the Ha Long International Cruise Port at Bai Chay. Thirteen of the fifteen Bai Tu Long boats we publish leave from it. Nine Ha Long boats use the same port, so check the bay on the itinerary as well. The other two Bai Tu Long boats, Emperor and Heritage Line Violet, start at Tuan Chau.

Where exactly do I meet the boat at Tuan Chau? At your operator’s own lounge, and the marina has many. Diana’s is at Lot 11B, La Regina Grand’s at Lot 24, La Pandora’s at Kiosk 26, Nostalgia’s at Lot 33 and Orchid’s at Lot 32, and most boats then take you out by tender. Give your driver the lot number, not just the marina. At Tuan Chau the usual time to be at the lounge is 11:30, the median across the 55 boats there that print one; our guide to boarding and return times has each boat’s clock.

Can I start a cruise from Cat Ba or Hai Phong? From Cat Ba, yes, on one boat we publish: Venezia’s operator boards guests at Beo Harbour in Cat Ba town and sails Lan Ha Bay. None of our 92 boats leaves from the Hai Phong mainland. Most Lan Ha cruises, 44 of 46, start at Tuan Chau on the Quang Ninh side, and the Hanoi pick-up for those drives to Ha Long.

Is Tuan Chau better than the others? In our view the harbour matters less than the boat; Tuan Chau is simply the biggest. Sixty-eight of the 92 boats we publish use it: 44 to Lan Ha, 22 to Ha Long and 2 to Bai Tu Long. Its lounges are spread along the marina by lot number, so the useful question is which lot your boat uses, and the lounge times match the Bai Chay port at about 11:30.