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If you’ve done even a little bit of research on Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay cruises in Vietnam, you’ve probably already realized that most of the options out there are impossible to distinguish from one another.
Big boats. Dozens of cabins. Dinner buffet. Stock itinerary.
Very shortly after we started our own northern Vietnam trip planning, we almost cut Ha Long Bay from our itinerary. As we discovered how much one boat felt like the next, felt like the next, felt like the next, we knew this mass market experience just wasn’t what we were looking for in Ha Long Bay.
So we decided to dig a little deeper and finally came across Indochina Junk. Specifically their one-cabin wooden junk boat: L’Amour Junk.
We were sold instantly.
“Magical” doesn’t quite begin to describe our experience cruising Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay on L’Amour Junk, but I’m here to give you all the nitty gritty details of our experience onboard anyway. If it wasn’t clear already, I definitely think you should book this cruise.
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Delve into Vietnam
Don’t forget to check out the rest of my Vietnam posts and guides if you’re still planning your perfect trip!
TL;DR: Our Experience on L’Amour Junk in Ha Long Bay
If you’re trying to decide whether L’Amour Junk is worth it, here’s the short answer:
Yes—L’Amour Junk is worth it if you want a completely private, off-the-beaten-track Ha Long Bay experience.
On the other hand, L’Amour Junk is likely not worth it if you’re perfectly happy sharing a boat with 40+ other people and sailing in more crowded parts of the bay.
We spent 3 days and 2 nights aboard L’Amour Junk, a single-cabin wooden junk boat operated by Indochina Junk, cruising through the quieter reaches of Bai Tu Long Bay.
Instead of the typical “big boat, fixed schedule” cruise, our trip felt like having our own floating boutique hotel:
We paid just over $1,400 total for 2 nights, compared to roughly $600–$800 for two people on a high-end shared cruise. It’s a significant jump—but it’s also a completely different kind of trip.
Biggest Highlights of Our Private Ha Long Bay Cruise:
Downsides of L’Amour Junk:
Bottom Line:
If you care about privacy, atmosphere, and doing Ha Long Bay properly, L’Amour Junk is absolutely worth it. It’s not just a nicer cruise—it’s a fundamentally different experience from every other option.
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Why We Chose Indochina Junk (and L’Amour Junk Specifically)
What We Were Looking For in a Ha Long Bay Cruise
To our knowledge, L’Amour Junk is just about the only private Ha Long Bay tour that exists.
We were pretty confident ahead of our trip that this was the vibe we were after for the Ha Long Bay portion of our Vietnam trip, and boy were we right.
From the hectic cruise departure terminal to the party boat vibes we witnessed out on the bay during our 3-day, 2-night cruise, we quickly became very satisfied with our decision to opt for the more boutique experience offered by Indochina Junk’s 1-cabin vessel.
We also knew from the start that a 3D2N cruise would be the bare minimum for us. We already tend to, as a personal rule, stay one night longer on each stop of any trip than the internet tells us we should. And we’re basically never disappointed.
We had done our homework ahead of time and learned that those looking to get off the beaten path will almost always appreciate a Bai Tu Long Bay tour, as this slightly farther part of the bay is far less crowded. (It is really all one continuous area, and you wouldn’t know you had moved from Ha Long Bay to Bai Tu Long Bay unless someone told you).
The internet was correct by the way: each night, we moored alongside Indochina Junk’s other L’Amour vessel (there are two of them), and basically no one else. All of the 1-night cruises have to stick closer to the cruise port, meaning it’s really quite special to be able to drop anchor a bit farther out where light and noise pollution are less of a thing.
Waking up to an empty cove and watching the sunrise over the karsts was pretty special too.
In fact, we’d have loved one more night, and Indochina Junk does offer 4D3N itineraries on L’Amour Junk as well, but the boat unfortunately wasn’t available for this itinerary when we booked.
Why L’Amour Junk Stood Out
As I’ve mentioned, if you’re looking for boutique Ha Long Bay cruises, it’s pretty likely you’re going to come across L’Amour Junk at one point or another, as it’s really one of the only small wooden junk boats that sails to Bai Tu Long Bay (if not the only one).
But it wasn’t just the intimate scale of the experience, or the off-the-beaten-track itinerary, that stood out to us.
It’s also difficult—like, basically impossible—to find bad reviews of Indochina Junk online. This was huge for us. Scouring Google Maps, Tripadvisor, and Reddit, we pretty much only heard wonderful feedback about parts of the Indochina Junk experience.
This made it easy to pull the trigger and book our cruise.
Finally, we were genuinely impressed by the value for money Indochina Junk offers, even on the comparatively luxurious L’Amour Junk.
For essentially the same nightly price of a nice (but not luxury) hotel in London or New York, we were able to book a 5-star, butler-led service that let us live our best Below Deck fantasies for 48 hours.
Who We Think Should Book L’Amour Junk
Obviously, with only one cabin, L’Amour Junk is best suited for solo couples, or friends who don’t mind sharing a bed.
Of course I can imagine this experience being perfect for you if you’re on your honeymoon or maybe celebrating a new job or retirement. But tbh, I wouldn’t write it off if you’re someone who just wants to prioritize an excellent value-for-money once-in-a-lifetime experience on your northern Vietnam trip. That was certainly the category we fell into.
If you happen to be travelling in a group but still want a similarly boutique, luxury experience on Ha Long Bay, I’d recommend checking out Indochina Junk’s other small wooden cruise vessels: Prince Junk (4 cabins) and Red Dragon Junk (8 cabins).
Anyone who cares about an authentic, quiet Ha Long Bay experience and is willing to pay a small (but IMHO extremely reasonable) premium for those non-touristy vibes will undoubtedly love an Indochina Junk cruise.
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Booking with Indochina Junk
How the Booking Process Works
As a small, independent tour operator, Indochina Junk operates direct bookings only.
That means you won’t find L’Amour Junk (or any other Indochina Junk vessels) available to book on the usual booking sites. Not Booking.com, not GetYourGuide, not Klook, and not Trip.com.
Instead, everything is done via email.
We started by filling out a booking form on Indochina Junk’s website, and then confirmed our boat selection, dates, itinerary, etc. over the course of several emails.
It took about four days to confirm everything. (Unfortunately, the one downside of this booking system if you’re in Europe or the U.S. is the large time difference with Vietnam!)
We guaranteed our booking with a 50% deposit paid via credit card, with the rest to be paid at the cruise terminal before boarding.
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What’s Included (and What’s Not)
Our L’Amour Junk package was all-inclusive, except for drinks onboard (both non-alcoholic and alcoholic) and tips for the boat crew.
That meant our tour price covered all of the following:
Price & Value (Was It Worth It?)
We paid just over $1,400 USD for a 2-night private charter on L’Amour Junk.
Exact pricing isn’t published online and varies quite a bit depending on season, vessel size, group size, etc.—but there’s no way around the fact that L’Amour Junk is firmly a premium experience.
For context, a 3-day/2-night cruise on a high-end shared boat with around 20 cabins will typically run around $700 USD for two people.
Yes, our private charter on L’Amour Junk cost quite a bit more—but it’s also a completely different kind of experience.
Not only do these smaller vessels get to anchor in more secluded spots overnight, but the cruise is also completely customizable.
We were able to tell the steward our preferences at any point (a bit longer to swim here, skipping an activity we weren’t particularly interested in doing there), and he was more than happy to oblige.
One thing we hadn’t even considered before our trip, but certainly found ourselves enjoying during the experience, was having the boat’s lounge chairs and deck totally to ourselves at golden hour.
No competing for space, no wishing it was just a little quieter while we cruised along reading our books after lunch, and no politely taking turns as we got our pictures at sunset.
For us, that privacy was priceless, making the L’Amour charter completely worth it.
Getting to Ha Long Bay from Hanoi
Timing & Logistics
On the day of our departure, one of Indochina Junk’s 5-seat vans picked us up at our hotel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter at 8:15am, right on schedule.
We travelled to Ha Long Bay with another couple who was bound for a different vessel, I assume because their hotel was close enough to ours (they were picked up first and we didn’t really speak).
The drive from Hanoi was just about two hours, and I had absolutely no complaints about the van itself. It was a comfortable, quiet journey and I even had a chance to nap a bit after our early wake-up call.
I will say that I didn’t absolutely love traveling with another party, just given how personalized and curated the rest of the experience was. This is a tiny, tiny gripe that I hesitate to even mention, but if I’m going to sit here recommending such an expensive experience, I feel like I’ve got to be 100% honest about all these tiny details.
Insider Tip
We had planned to stay at our hotel in Hanoi on both ends of our Ha Long Bay trip. We booked this as two separate stays, but the hotel was more than happy to store our bigger suitcases for us during the Ha Long Bay portion of the trip, at no extra cost.
If you’re changing hotels on either end of your Ha Long Bay cruise, Radical Storage is an excellent option for cheap and secure luggage storage!
Pit Stop En Route to Ha Long Bay
As I mentioned above, we stopped for a bathroom break at a jewelry shop called Legend Pearl just about 20 minutes outside of Ha Long itself.
I’ll be honest here as well: we weren’t entirely enthused by the experience, being as tired as we were at 10am after such an early morning.
There were dozens (literally dozens) of other tour buses and vans in the parking lot, to the extent that it seems any and all tourists headed for Ha Long Bay absolutely will be stopping at this spot.
Mainly, the whole place just felt a bit gimmicky in that tourist trap kind of way where you just kind of know you’re paying a premium, while also being acutely aware that there’s very little “authentic” about the experience.
On the other hand, pearls are farmed and harvested in Ha Long Bay. It’s worth acknowledging that—for better or worse—tourism is a huge part of the local economy, and this kind of shop exists to help locals participate in that economy.
If you’re in the market for pearl jewelry, by all means this is a solid chance to get something good!
Arrival in Ha Long & Boarding L’Amour Junk
Our experience really started the moment we stepped out of the van at Indochina Junk’s office just a few hundred meters from the cruise terminal.
We were greeted immediately by Harry, our boat’s steward. He welcomed us warmly and brought us inside the office to complete payment.
It was at this point that we realized just how lucky we were to be embarking on a totally private experience. The office was completely packed, and it seemed like most people were part of very large groups being herded from place to place.
On our end, though, no sooner had we paid our remaining balance than Harry put us in a golf cart and sped us down to the cruise terminal.
Unsurprisingly at that point, the terminal was ten times more crowded than the Indochina Junk office. Like, giving what I have to imagine were serious Ellis Island vibes. Absolutely packed.
However, Harry led the two of us right through the throngs of people, down the dock, and straight onto L’Amour Junk. Again, we felt fortunate to have chosen the premium option, as the priority boarding wasn’t a perk we were told about in advance… but was very welcome. And then, we were off!
First Impressions of L’Amour Junk
Our Cabin
Right away we were pleased to find that, in real life, L’Amour Junk looks exactly like the photos that our contact at Indochina Junk had shared with us during the booking process.
The cabin was spacious, clean, and honestly super comfortable. We also found that the A/C worked well throughout our stay.
Above and beyond the bedroom, though, we were extremely impressed by the bathroom. The shower had good water pressure and warm water, and the whole space felt just as usable as any nice hotel.
Maybe it’s just me, but I always worry that bathrooms on boats are going to smell bad, not work the same as those on land, and just generally be stressful and disappointing. Not the case here.
Randomly, we also fell absolutely in love with the porcelain cups on the vanity in the bathroom, to the extent that we (somewhat manically) noted the name of the manufacturer and hunted down their showroom in Hanoi after the cruise—but that’s a story for another time!
The Dining Area & Observation Deck
As a private boat with a single cabin, there’s really not much more of L’Amour Junk to talk about to be honest!
The boat has a small indoor dining area (really, though, this is just the corridor between the deck and the crew area at the back), directly outside your cabin’s door.
Luckily, the weather cooperated with us very nicely, and we had the opportunity to eat in the much more spacious outdoor space towards the bow for every meal. This area is entirely covered, meaning that we found lunches and dinners to be perfectly shaded. In the morning, as the sun was coming up, one of us inevitably had the sun in our eyes, but what can you do!
Possibly our favorite part of L’Amour Junk was the boat’s upper deck (basically, the roof of our cabin), where there were two lounge chairs we enjoyed laying out on with books as the sun started to go down each night.
I will note that this area is also directly in front of the captain’s helm, meaning you can’t exactly expect privacy here. The captain was extremely gracious about letting us sit there (despite the fact that he was indeed working each time we did), but we were in almost comically close proximity to him.
The Overall Atmosphere Onboard
So who else is on board?
Well, we were quite surprised to discover (but actually it made total sense once we thought about it for two seconds) that in order to run a 3-day cruise for two people, there are actually four crew required onboard.
Of course you’ve got your captain, in charge of calling the shots regarding weather, routes, etc. That part becomes relevant later in the story.
Then there was the steward, Harry, who at least in our experience was the only other English-speaker on board. For this reason, he was essentially the only customer-facing crew member.
We never directly met the chef or the engineer, but they rounded out the crew.
Despite the fact that six of us were onboard for the duration of the trip, L’Amour Junk absolutely does not feel crowded in the slightest, and the staff were incredibly discreet.
Sure, lounging on the upper deck put us in direct sight of the captain, but otherwise, we were totally left to ourselves whenever we wanted to be.
That said, we also really enjoyed chatting with Harry between meals, and found his excellent insight and sense of humor to be one of the absolute best parts of the whole experience.
Eating Onboard L’Amour Junk
What We Ate for Three Days Onboard
We had exactly three lunches, two dinners, and two breakfasts over the course of our 48-hour cruise.
You will not be going hungry on this trip. Every meal was at least six courses. No plate was too huge, but the food was ample.
I won’t bore you with the details of every meal, but here are a few of the standouts:
Quality & Variety
Put simply, we were really impressed by every meal we had onboard L’Amour Junk. I don’t think a single dish was ever repeated… and at 6-9 courses per meal, that meant a lot of unique dishes.
If we hadn’t gotten a quick peek at the chef’s preparation area, we probably wouldn’t have fully appreciated just how much he was able to achieve. At no point did his relatively tight quarters feel like they limited the possibilities of what he was able to serve up.
In fact, for our final dinner, he even ended with an elaborate carved fruit arrangement in the shape of flying birds. It was presented to us as if we were special, and we later found out that this is a standard offering on Indochina Junk’s boutique cruises, but we were wowed nonetheless.
Dietary Flexibility
Upon securing our booking a few months before the trip, we were asked to fill out a “pre-check-in” form with personal information including specific dietary needs.
Neither of us has any dietary restrictions, so I can’t speak to the quality of any meal alternatives on offer, but given we were so impressed with everything we did eat, I’d say you’re in good hands with the Indochina Junk team.
I can say for certain that Indochina Junk’s food & beverage policy will accommodate special dietary requests up to four hours prior to departure (although, I’m sure they would appreciate as much notice as you’re able to give them).
Drinks & Extras
It is worth noting that just about the only thing not included in a L’Amour Junk cruise package are drinks.
We spent $90 USD on drinks across seven meals. We’re not huge drinkers, so we never had more than about two alcoholic drinks per day.
I’d say just over 5 USD per person per meal isn’t bad at all, especially considering we asked for additional coffees, juices, etc. several times while lounging around as well.
The only other additional cost we incurred was a tip for the crew at the end. We tipped quite generously given how personalized the experience was.
Know Before You Go
You can pay for your drinks with a credit card onboard, but you’ll need the physical card. For tipping, you’ll need cash. Make sure to obtain whatever cash you’ll need for this ahead of your departure from Hanoi, as you won’t have another chance on the day of your departure.
The Itinerary: What We Did Each Day in Bai Tu Long Bay
Day 1: Vung Vieng Fishing Village
After departing from the main Ha Long Bay cruise terminal, we were almost immediately served lunch, which was extremely welcome after our rushed breakfast and the hectic admin hour before boarding.
This was possibly the most stunning moment of the entire cruise. As the limestone karsts began to glide past on either side, and course after course made its way out of the kitchen, we really were speechless. It was one of those “Woah, we’re really here” moments.
While we ate, Harry filled us in on the itinerary. We were headed immediately for Vung Vieng fishing village, and when we asked if there’d be any opportunity to swim that day, he promised to ask the captain for permission.
At Vung Vieng, we had a few minutes to stroll around, looked at their very tiny museum, and met one of the most adorable puppies I’ve ever seen, who admittedly seemed extremely out of place in this setting. But I was not complaining!
We then opted to pay a few hundred thousand dong (Daniel asked Harry how much was appropriate and I think we settled on 500k) for one of the local fishermen to take us out for a tour in his rowboat.
It’s hard to explain just how awe-inspiring we found each moment of the whole “marvel at karsts” part of the cruise experience. Which is to say, we were equally, if not more, impressed by the view from the rowboat as we were during our initial lunchtime departure from the port.
If you wonder whether the enjoyment or novelty wears off, I can confidently say that it absolutely did not for us.
After the rowboat tour, we were once again invited (in a way that felt like we could not really say no) to check out the village’s pearl jewelry shop, which we politely explored for a few minutes before regretfully leaving empty handed. Pearls just really aren’t our thing!
We then returned to L’Amour and settled into some lounge chairs with juices and our books as we continued cruising towards our anchorage for the evening, which would be squarely in Bai Tu Long Bay itself.
At this point, Harry let us know that the captain was happy to let us take a quick dip that evening, although they seemed relatively concerned about making sure we didn’t miss the sunset onboard the boat itself.
So we got suited up and jumped right in almost as soon as they dropped anchor. And let me tell you, despite the entire crew watching anxiously, we enjoyed every second of our golden hour swim. It didn’t last long, but it was worth it.
Finally, after the sun had disappeared over the horizon we returned to our room, showered up, and returned to the deck for an early dinner. The sun sets relatively early in Vietnam year round, and it’s worth noting that Bai Tu Long Bay—with its general lack of boat traffic—gets dark. Like, really pitch black.
I think we were finished with dinner by 8pm and, I will admit, being the only guests on the boat, there wasn’t much more in the way of entertainment, so we turned in for the evening (no complaints about that here, though).
Day 2: Kayak Tour & Beach BBQ
Daniel, ever the early riser, woke up just after sunrise on our full cruise day determined to enjoy the peaceful morning. I slept in, fully in vacation mode and luxuriating in the early morning sun rays streaming in through the window of our cabin.
We ate a Western-style breakfast and, relatively early, Harry let us know the next item on the agenda was kayaking.
Neither of us love kayaking, but we were game for whatever activities Harry had planned for us and ended up having a good time. We encountered a few local fishermen coming in from their morning haul, and then stopped at a secluded beach to take another quick dip.
Unfortunately, the sun wasn’t yet all the way up and we stopped in the shade where it was a little bit chilly, but we were still awestruck by the karsts so we really weren’t bothered at all.
When we got back to the boat, we enjoyed lounging and drying off in the sun as the captain headed for our beach picnic spot. This part of the cruise, midmorning on our full day, was one of the most special moments as we really were almost completely alone on the bay for a few hours, aside from a few more fishermen here and there.
The picnic was one of the activities we were most excited for, and it really did not disappoint.
The crew pulled out all the stops at this point. The captain hoisted the sail (which, sadly, they weren’t able to use at all while cruising as there was no wind during our cruise) to give us a photo op, and when we arrived on the beach there was an umbrella, a fully set table, and everything waiting for us to enjoy.
Aside from being our favorite meal of the whole cruise, we also loved that L’Amour itself became the view while we ate, and of course we couldn’t resist taking one final swim in Bai Tu Long Bay.
After lunch, we once again took the opportunity to just soak in the wonderful feeling of having the full boat to ourselves: napping in the shade, finishing our books, and really taking more photos of karsts that I know what to do with even now. It was just… so, so stunning.
As we arrived at our final anchorage spot and prepared to go get ready for dinner, Harry let us know that the captain was concerned about the next day’s weather. The first two days we had really lucked out with weather in the mid-70s Fahrenheit (20s Celsius), and just scattered clouds in the sky. Apparently, a storm was on the way.
This meant the captain was eager for us to return to port as quickly as possible the next morning, and Harry said it might jeopardize the cave tour that was meant to be our main activity the next day.
While Daniel was a bit bummed by this, I am not a cave girlie and felt perfectly fine skipping out.
The news of the storm did put us slightly on edge and, on top of that, we’d both eaten way too much at lunch. I also had a migraine, and we generally just felt a bit meh physically, so we took it easy this night, and went to bed early again.
Day 3: Thien Canh Son Cave & Yen Duc Village
Given the coming storm, Harry had us up and moving quite early on the final day.
He let us know that, if we were willing, the captain was willing to take us to visit Thien Canh Son cave very early (like, rushing through breakfast to get there early enough), so we could still be on our way back to port on a schedule the captain was comfortable with. Daniel was all for this; I opted to stay in bed.
From what he told me afterwards, it did sound like the cave was quite interesting, if you’re into that kind of thing (especially with Harry’s expert narration, which Daniel said he appreciated).
They also lucked out because they briefly had the cave to themselves after beelining up the incline to its entrance. By the time they were leaving, they met an entire cruise ship’s worth of tourists at the entrance to the cave and basically had to fight the stream all the way back down.
In fact, being briefly anchored here during the cave visit, we finally got a glimpse of what your typical Ha Long Bay cruise is probably like.
Dozens of huge (20+ cabin) ships. Like, everywhere. In a way, this was its own picturesque sight to see, but it was definitely louder, more congested, and far less serene than the previous 36 hours had been. Needless to say, we were feeling quite satisfied with our decisions.
Finally, we set sail for the port. We were quite happy to have finished the books we’d brought with us by this point, because we were genuinely emotional for the experience to be coming to an end.
After packing our bags, I think we spent the entire two or so hours that it took to reach land completely absorbed in taking it all in one final time.
As the captain had predicted, the clouds started rolling in and the bay got a bit rough just as we sat down to our final lunch on board. By the time we made it back to our van, loaded up our bags, and got in, the rain had begun.
We drove through quite literally torrential rain on our way to Yen Duc Village, the final stop on our itinerary where, miraculously, the rain stopped just long enough for us to sit and enjoy a traditional water puppet show.
And with that, it was back to rainy Hanoi.
What We Loved About L’Amour Junk (& What We Didn’t)
Highlights of Our Private Ha Long Bay Cruise
As I hope you can tell if you’ve made it this far, the entire L’Amour Junk cruise was itself a major highlight of our northern Vietnam trip.
We felt like our experience was very, very close to (basically almost exactly) what we were promised: off the beaten track exploration of Ha Long Bay (by spending most of the time in Bai Tu Long Bay), personal and thoughtful care from the boat’s crew, amazing food, and—as cheesy as it sounds—an experience that we’ll both value for the rest of our lives.
Specifically, we loved being able to spend the night in such isolated spots, especially because it meant we were able to wake up to such peaceful mornings.
We also loved getting to know Harry, who gave us an exceptionally fun time and really made us feel like valued guests. It felt like he enjoyed chatting with us as much as we did with him, which made for especially unique memories of our time on the boat. To be fair, maybe he was just really good at his job and found us super annoying, but you’d never know it!
Finally, I have to say once again that I cannot stress enough how special it was to do what we wanted, when we wanted on a ship with no tight schedules (other than our final, storm-influenced morning) that was completely catering at any given moment to our experience. This became especially apparent on the final night when my migraine meant I wanted a quiet night and there was literally no barriers to me being able to do that. No need to deal with the live music or after dinner activities we’d have had to dodge on a larger boat.
Downsides of L’Amour Junk
We did wish that there would have been more opportunities for swimming. While we did get to jump in the water on three occasions, each was relatively brief and it would have been lovely to get another hour or two of unstructured beach time. That said, it was a cruise so I do understand why, with the rest of our itinerary, that just wasn’t in the cards.
If I had to nitpick, I would also say that the dining chairs weren’t particularly lounge-worthy, which might be another reason we weren’t particularly compelled to hang out after dinner. Luckily, during the day, we could make for the actual sun loungers on the upper deck, but if we wanted to sit in the shade, we were sort of confined to the uncomfortable dining chairs.
Finally, we did feel quite wasteful with just how much food we were served and how much we struggled to keep up with it. We’re not exactly light eaters (we usually go ham when traveling and order quite a lot of food on purpose sometimes), so I do think this is a somewhat unavoidable problem, and is a bit of a shame.
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P.S. When you book using my links, you help support Rachel IRL at no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!
Is L’Amour Junk Worth It?
Yes! If you’re even lightly considering a customizable, off-the-beaten-track, boutique visit to Ha Long Bay, L’Amour Junk is the option for you.
I’m honestly not aware of a single other Ha Long Bay cruise option that even comes close to offering this level of personalized experience, and frankly there’s no need to look any further.
I wouldn’t hesitate to send my loved ones on this cruise themselves, or to do it again myself if the opportunity ever presented itself.
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