Review Author: Trish

Review Date: 08 Jul 2025

Review Body: The staff were friendly and really helpful, they went out of their way to make the trio enjoyable. The kayaking was beautiful and we enjoyed all the activities. We enjoyed the small group that were on the tour and B our host was delightful as he shared info and engaged with us. He did a great job of looking after us all from the time we arrived until we were safely on our way again after the trip. I would highly recommend this trip if you are looking for a fun filled but low key cruise that is family friendly.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Julie alvarey

Review Date: 03 Nov 2025

Review Body: Brilliant experience of another world Excellent adventure kayaking through the bay between limestone monuments, going through spectacular caves into hidden lagoons!! We spent the night floating on the water The most serene tranquil experience Our guide Mocha was super friendly and helpful as were all the staff

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Niall Lumley

Review Date: 01 Dec 2025

Review Body: Fantastic small tour. Just the right pace and mix of activity and rest. Guide was really informative and so helpful with everything

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Georgie

Review Date: 01 Feb 2026

Review Body: Our guide Moka was lovely - super happy, helpful and informative. The boat was a nice size for 11 people who were on our trip and The rooms were spacious and clean though the sundecks are a little dated and could be more comfortable. Overall we really enjoyed our trip and activities (kayaking, bioluminescence, cooking class, cave, viet hai) were fun but could do a little better organisation.

Review rating: 4

Review Author: Ingrid

Review Date: 22 Nov 2025

Review Body: The sleeping boat is great and the room very Big. Moka, our guide, was amusing and enthusiastic about all the activities. A bit overpriced for just 1 day!!

Review rating: 4

Review Author: Britt S

Review Date: 20 Oct 2019

Review Body: Today we went with Cat Ba Smile Tour on a boat trip through lan ha bay and halong bay and it was amazing. We were promised a small group of maximum 10 persons but we got even more lucky as it was only the 2 of us. The weather was great and on the deck we could enjoy the beautiful landscape and islands around us. Because we left earlier than the other boats at 7.30 am, it was like we were the only ones on the water! The first activity was kayaking which was amazing because we didn't have to wait on a large group like others who were already on the platform. The guide Tar is very friendly showing us around the caves and telling us about the islands. After that we could swim in the water around halong bay and everything feels very easy. The staff is very enthusiastic to take pictures and the meal with seafood was super tasty and varied ! Tried some new things we didn't have before in Vietnam and it tasted very fresh. The next stop was monkey island and Tar showed us the best way to climb the mountain ending with some beautiful scenery! We also stopped in a fishing village and the staff was very patient. We were not in a rush at all making it a perfect and relaxing day with a lot of new experiences. Definitely recommended and thank you so much for everything !

Review rating: 5

Review Author: brayatans

Review Date: 29 Nov 2019

Review Body: I had a wonderful experience with Cat Ba Smile Tours on the one day boat tour. Our guide Tar lead us all the way during the whole day. Lots of the credits go to him. It also helps a lot that they only take small groups. We were 7 in a boat for probably 20 or more. Te day started by visiting the sea village just after departing from the harbour in Cat Ba, then went for some canoeing through some tunnels and reaching isolated lagoons in the middle of the islands, to later stop in the middle of the small typical Ha Long Bay islands for lunch which was an experience for itself. Incredible food and lunch. Really well cooked (credits to the cooker and capitan of the boat. In the same place we could dive to the sea from the boat which was a big fun. We ended travelling back to monkey island where we did some climbing to reach an awesome viewing spot of the islands. Unreal experience and totally recommend you take this tour with them, you won’t regret.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: dreamcometrue4u

Review Date: 18 Nov 2019

Review Body: I want to say big thank you to our tour guide Johnny :) Before choose this tour .i compared all different tour program about price and activities . Cheaper than other agent . And specially Johnny was amazing !:) Highly recommend this place .no need to waste time to research any more . This in the one :) And ship captain trung was amazing too. He always try to help us. Food was amazing as well!!:) Smile tour run accommodation as well in cat ba. The name is The Ireland hotel. It’s cheap price and great location . Everything do together in one place made our trip so easy n smooth . Plus Moto bike rent and bus tickets organized with good price as well. I want to thank you to Ireland hotel staffs as well. Warm Welcome from TAR and TEP. Lovely staffs ,they try to help anything to you. We didn’t want to leave at all this place. I think Owner has good philosophy that make all customer SMIlE when they leave . They truly make that happen!:)

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Muellkriicha

Review Date: 01 Dec 2019

Review Body: We started at 7:30 and were brought to the boat by bus. Then went past an old fishing village to a place to Kayak, it was beautiful and you even had the chance to go through a few small caves. After Kayaking you get to swim a little in the water but it was pretty exhausting cause you had to constantly swim against the stream. Food was freshly cooked on the boat and was ready to be eaten shortly after, also very delicious. Last but not least we visited the Monkey Island where you, indeed, are able to see some monkeys and feed them and especially hyke up the path. (good shoes recommended) The path can sometimes be pretty hard the further you get but it's worth it and if you can't do it you can always go down again. You arrive home at around 5pm and even get one free beer (which is what I'm doing right now) so all in all great experience, can recommend. Price: 500k

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Mika2410mika2410

Review Date: 29 Oct 2019

Review Body: We wanted to do a boat tour in cat ba and as we arrived there, we found out that there are many companies, which provide more or less the same tour. A few friends, that visited cat ba 2 weekes bevor us recomanded us Smile Tour and we gave it a try. BEST decision ever. It was even better then described. Like noted, there where a lot of tourist who wanted to do the same tour. A huge advantage of the Smile Tour was that we started early (so bevor the others) and in a small group (up to 12). We where able to enjoy the awesome tour in a relaxed atmosphere. Tar, our guide, took very good care of us. Actually the hole crew was really, really nice. Honestly, I do not have any tips on how the tour can be improved. It was just great. All in all, the view was amazing, the crew awesome, the food very good and the atmosphere could not have been better.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Nomad687744

Review Date: 01 Nov 2019

Review Body: My favourite thing about this tour is the fact that it was a small group (only 11 people), while other tours had as many as 30 people. You really got to enjoy and relax all the activities without them being too noisy or busy. It was also amazing that we got to the kayak section before any other group, due to the earlier start of the tour. You get to enjoy all the magnificent views without having to struggle with all the other tourist groups for space and quiet. Finally the tour guide Tar was amazing! So helpful answering any of our questions and making sure everyone was well accommodated (he attended to my shrimp allergy and another girl's dietary restrictions by providing a special lunch). He also was super friendly and always smiling. Cannot recommend this tour enough!

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Ulo92

Review Date: 20 Oct 2019

Review Body: My girlfriend and I ,we did a day trip with them, kayaking , swimming and monkey island.The price is on the average in the area but the kindness of the crew was impressive.We begin early in the morning to don't be in the crowd of the kayaks and actually was the best choice cus on the way back it was really busy and probably the other groups get anoyed by the long lines to pass through the caves.The boat really nice with grass on the roof top, members of the crew always smiling and our guide Tar was always taking care of of all of us.At the end of the trip we come back in the agency and the owner offered us beers and we stayed for a while talking about the trip like in family meeting ,it was so nice.I would recommend this agency to everyone.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Paul_Kavla

Review Date: 10 Nov 2019

Review Body: My Girlfriend and me booked the 2 Days and 1 Night Tour in November 2019. We had a really good time with Cat Ba Smile Tours. The size of the group's is very small (under 12 people). In fact at the first day we were 9 people and at the second day it was only the two of us. Which was pretty great and in my opinion pretty uncommon. We also saw ships with around 30 people on it. The lunch on the boat was also really good and tasty. And the guides are quiet interested in showing you the bays. We did spontaneously Kayaking tours at the evening and in the morning and the guides were giving us company and Info about the area. We even saw luminescent plankton in the water. All in all it was a great trip. Thanks a lot again.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: juicyjuth

Review Date: 29 Oct 2019

Review Body: The tour provides everything to spend a perfect day to discover the region around cat ba and the halong bay. The whole crew (the guide tar, the captain and the chef) took really good care of us and did everything to make this day for the whole group a nice and relaxing experience. We started earlier than a lot of other tours so that we could enjoy kayaking without anyone around - when we got back to the place where we got the kayaks it was very crowded. On board of the boat we had a good time enjoying the beautiful view, very delicious food and later on also jumping and swimming next to it. Especially the small group made this experience very comfortable. I would definitely recommend this tour!

Review rating: 5

Review Author: 343teriw

Review Date: 22 Nov 2019

Review Body: We had a tour with our tourguide Tar around the Halong Bay. He showed us the beautiful Halong Bay early in the morning with the beautiful floating village. Good that we get up so early for the trip, the silent was incredible! To boat was really small, just a maximum of 12 person can join the tour. On the sundec you can enjoy this nature with the thousands of rocks in the sea. We had a great and super delicious lunch, cooked by themself! We also made a stop in a quite place to jump from the boat in the sea. Last stop was the monkey island, also worth for a visit with a fantastic view and to observe the monkeys. Tar takes care of us and introduced us in the different places! Great job!!!

Review rating: 5

Review Author: llw19, New Zealand

Review Date: 15 Nov 2019

Review Body: Look no further for your day trip, such a great tour! Our guide Jonny was fantastic and looked after us so well, as did the other guys on the boat. I’m a vegetarian and had plenty of yummy food. Because we started early we were ahead of the crowds for most of the day, it was so beautiful. Some of the other boats can have close to 40people packed on whereas this tour has a max of 10-12, for us it was smaller! Jonny also asked us to be respectful of the monkeys and take photos from a distance which I was really happy about (some tourists get far too close to them). Jonny took heaps of great pictures of us too. thanks again Cat Ba smile tours :) :) :)

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Shan5001, India

Review Date: 20 Nov 2019

Review Body: This is definately must watch place. Starting from Cat ba to monkey island is just amazing n incredible. I did hiking also in monkey island. But I reckon one should be little careful n even a slightest hesitation should not try to climb. Its seems easy but when u reach the middle part, you will feel why the hell I decided to do this? It was scary. I think I did it because of Tar. A genuine person n amazing guide. Truely, a gem of a person. Many thanks to him because when I was very scared while coming back from hiking in monkey island he not only helped me but he himself put him in danger to finish it. Overall, amazing trip. Thanks

Review rating: 5

Review Author: AndiAvramAnghel

Review Date: 11 Oct 2019

Review Body: My friends and I decided to do a tour atound Cat Ba island snd decided to book the tour with Smile tours. We really had a great time the tour started 1 hour earlier than most other similar tours so when we were arriving at the attractions we were almost alone there. Also the group is small for the tour a maximum of 12 which made the tour more cozy. The guides Johnny and Tar and all the staff were very nice and friendly and they reccomended us many other attractions we should visit. The lunch was really great with a big varity. Would definetly reccomend this tour to anybody. Thank you Smile tours team for the great experience.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Magdalena K, Poland

Review Date: 16 Nov 2019

Review Body: This was an amazing day, that we did not expect. We are sceptical about tours like that, but this one was different. We started half an hour before any others groups who were going to Ha Long Bay, so we was not in all this crowd. Also we took other, non-touristic ways to avoid other ships. What is more important, our group was really small, only 6 people, so we felt like we had a private tour. Our guide, Tar was really nice and gave us a lot of interesting facts about the region. Also the lunch on the boat, after we came swimming in the middle of Ha Long, was amazing and delicious (with the wege option). Highly recommended.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Y347JKsarahs

Review Date: 19 Nov 2019

Review Body: We really had a pleasant journey. The group size was small with only 12 people in total. (Other tours were much bigger, up to 30 people). The tour was really cool and the sea was pretty much empty because we started about half an hour before most of the other tours. We visited the floating village, went kayaking and swimming, and visited monkey island where we had a hike up to the viewpoint. The lunch was absolutely amazing!! Our tour guide Johnny and his crew were great. They told us a lot about the bay and vietnamese history. All in all we really had a great day and we recommend Cat Ba Smile tours :)

Review rating: 5

Itinerary Day 1

Itinerary Summary: Cruise Lan Ha Bay, kayak through caves, swim in Cam Lagoon, bike in Viet Hai & see plankton.

Itinerary Description: 7:30 AM Our bus will pick you up at our office (210, 1/4 Street, Cát Bà Town) or at your hotel, then transfer you to Bèo Harbour, about 1 km away. 7:45 AM - 11:30 AM Our trip begins with a cruise through the Floating Fishing Village (one of the oldest villages in Vietnam). Our tour guide will share many interesting details about the life of the fishermen and their families. Visit and enjoy hundreds of different and amazing limestone island landscapes, such as Turtle Islet, Toad Islet, and Candle Islet, in Lan Hạ Bay. The scenery is truly fascinating. Continue cruising to the border between Hạ Long Bay and Lan Hạ Bay, where you’ll enjoy one and a half hours of kayaking through caves named Bright Cave, Dark Cave, and Bat Cave to explore the beauty of hidden lagoons—a wonderful experience. Move to a private swimming area in the middle of Hạ Long Bay called Cam Lagoon, a less touristy spot where you can swim for half an hour in clear blue water and even jump from the deck of the boat—a perfect experience. 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Enjoy lunch on the boat with a selection of Vietnamese dishes, including seafood and vegetarian options. 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Relax by taking a nap on the boat or sitting on the deck to sunbathe and take photos as we return via another route to take you to Việt Hải Harbour. 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM From Việt Hải Harbour: Cycle across rice fields to Việt Hải Village—a fascinating experience. Stroll around the village to meet friendly locals and learn about their life and culture. You can also farm with them if you like (seasonal) and experience the unique feeling of a fish massage—a truly special experience. 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM Dinner will be served on the boat with traditional Vietnamese cuisine. You can experience squid fishing or kayaking to see bioluminescent plankton. Enjoy the fresh night air on the bay before going to sleep.

Itinerary Day 2

Itinerary Summary: Lan Ha Bay exploration: Ho Ba Ham lagoons, Dau Be Island, kayaking, swimming.

Itinerary Description: 08:00 AM Wake up and have breakfast. Enjoy the sunrise and breathe in the fresh air on the bay. 09:00 AM Head to Ho Ba Ham for another day of exploring Hạ Long Bay. 11:00 AM Visit Dau Be Island and relax on a deserted beach. Kayak to discover Ho Ba Ham (three hidden lagoons). 12:00 PM Have lunch prepared in a local cooking style. 01:00 PM Return to Lan Hạ Bay. Enjoy kayaking around limestone islands, swimming at private deserted beaches, sunbathing on the boat, and more. 03:00 PM Return to Cát Bà Town. * You will finish your trip at 3:30 pm at our office, you can book bus tickets to Ha Noi, Ninh Binh, Ha Giang, Sapa ….. at 4pm