Halong Bay Tours, small group tours to Halong Bay, Travel to Ha Long Bay, Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island tours, Tours to Halong Bay with Griswalds Vietnamese Vacations

Our Halong Bay tours are great & the facilities on our boats are of the highest standard in Halong Bay. You'll see lots more real pics of our boats, further down the page too ! Our group sizes are a maximum of 16 people & that's that. No monkey business about 3 or 4 different groups sharing the 1 boat, no trying to squeeze 35, 50 or 80 + people onto a boat & no doctored pics on our site either, makes for a nice change we think. Our cabins are of a very generous size (but it's still a boat don't forget) & have all night, reverse cycle, air conditioning, the beds have clean cotton sheets, & all rooms have private en-suite bathrooms. The en-suites have Euro style toilets (well the starting blocks just aren't going to get a start with us), wash basins & shower units with hot & cold running water.

Ha Long Bay is just one of the many highlights of Vietnam. It was Viet Nam's 1st world heritage listing & its often referred to as the 8th wonder of the world. You'll see why !

We make the whole thing of booking your trip, getting there & back again easy, simple & enjoyable but these days, unfortunately, there's any number of dodgy buggers who try their hardest to convey this incredible sense of urgency in order to sign you up & get your money over the net, before you get to Viet Nam.

They employ the corniest of old lines like .......... it's all gotta go, Ha Long bay is closing down soon, selling out fast, this is a 1 time offer, the worlds ending soon, this time of year it really busy, it's going to be hard to get a spot etc, etc, bla, bla ........................

These nuts are using some of the oldest & most stupid lines as if we haven't heard any of them before ! We have no idea who's doing the sales courses in Viet Nam but we think it could be that bloke with the crook teeth & spandex fetish from the late night tele at home in Oz.

The main reason they do this however is because they're terrified you'll find out what's really on offer & in our case, a better boat, at a much better price & with a much, much smaller group size.

The nastiest thing of all about this "fake" urgency to book is that they charge prices that are through the roof & of course if you fall for this scam, you'll pay & not just a few dollars more but usually 50 - 200% more for a trip that's not even close to the quality of ours.

So last, but not least, relax & take your time & it's no busier in Ha Long now than it's ever been & please check very carefully before parting with your hard earned money.

In the past, tourists had to go back to Ha Long town for the night and venture out again the next day because the boats weren't properly equipped to cater for overnight stays.

Never mind the rave you see in some of the guide books or on various travel forums, if you end up stuck on one of those tubs with 35 - 100 other people just imagine trying to get some quiet time to yourselves or what meal times will be like.

It's supposed to be a relaxing trip to the World Heritage listed Ha Long Bay not a remake of Ben Hur or like that running with the bulls thing in Spain !!!!

In the lounge/recreation areas we have CD music & DVD systems, so feel free to bring along your favourite music &/or films. There's always plenty of room to get away, if you wish, or join in the fun with the other guests, it's up to you.

When we started our small group tours to Ha Long Bay we realised that the small group concept was very important not just to our guests, but to the integrity of Ha Long Bay itself !

Sure we'd make a lot more money taking the 35, 40, 60 & 80 + people out into the bay but it's not fair to the environment, to our customers or the Vietnamese people who's country has been brutalised by foreign invaders probably more than any other country in the world.

When considering a tour to Ha Long please be very careful that you check on just exactly how many others will be on the boat with you.

Our groups are up to a maximum of up to 16 people & that's that !

We have private charter available too so if you'd like a fabulous Junk style boat for yourself, your family or a group of friends please let us know & we'll give you our very best price.

One of the most pathetic scams is the mob that promises the group size will be 12 & then takes nearly 40 people on their tub. When fronted about it (which is on every trip) they come back with the old Oh didn't we tell you ...... there's 3 groups on the boat".

What's next, 10 groups of 4 or 20 groups of 2 on the 1 boat ? We think the worst part of scams like this is the being treated like an idiot bit.

Before you decide who to go with it's unfortunate, but essential that you do your homework.

Our commitment to your safety as well as your fun is 100%. Our boats are fitted with life jackets, maritime radios, fire extinguishers & 1st aid kits just in case.

After the success we've had with our Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island Tour we didn't just sit back and think how clever we were. Tourism is just not that kind of industry and, as a truly independent tour operator, we don't have the luxury of being part of one of the big state owned companies to take care of us.

We've got 2 boats leaving nearly every day. One is a 14 Person boat & the other a 16 person boat and our guests couldn't be happier with them. Our guides & crews are great & the food they cook on board is fan-tas-tic! The prawns, squid and fresh fish are delicious but we even have vegetarian food too.

Below are some pics from our Ha Long tour. There's pics of the trip up there, the Agent Orange Victims workshop where we stop along the way & even where we have lunch in Ha Long city before we get on the boat.

Some pics of our 16 person boat & it really is 1st class all the way !

Some dinner pics !

Various other Ha long Bay pics. Some recent & some from years ago.

We often wonder why the other companies use the old generic boat shots or the heavily altered pics number & why they aren't willing to put photos of their own boats on their web sites ?

Our sleep on the boat tours are all about having fun & the lilo's (inflatable air beds) have been a big hit with our guests too.

Of course the real attraction is the bay itself and one of our nicest ever guests, Larry the lawyer, said this on returning: "Nothing really could have prepared me for the magnificence of Ha Long." Well put, we thought.