Castaway Tour: Two crazy nights in Halong Bay

Written by Andrew:

Halong Bay is one of the 7 new wonders of the world. The bay is dotted with over 1,000 limestone islands and caves and is a sight to be seen.

Through our prior travels, we heard a lot of good things about the castaway tour through the Hanoi Backpackers hostel and decided to sign up. The next 2.5 days were essentially one long wild booze cruise. Upon boarding our boat, our tour guide Ollie (a 22 yr old Brit) told us the two mandatory rules of the trip. 1) If you say the words TEN or MINE you have to do 10 pushups. 2) The Buffalo rule - if anyone caught you taking a drink of anything while using your right hand (beer, mixed drink, large warm thing of water) you have to chug the rest of the drink and get a new one. 

Drinking games on the boat

Our private is,and in Halong bay for two nights

(I said Mine and Ten way too much and could barely move my arms by the end ofthe trip)

There were a little over 40 backpackers on the trip, and we spent the boat ride admiring our surroundings, playing drinking games, and getting to know each other. We arrived at the private castaway island around 7 and were greeted by the group that had started the trip the day before us. With the bar open 24/7, the party lasted late into the night. According to our tour guide, if you ever needed a drink and no one was maning the bar, just yell ‘beer beer’ and a Vietnamese man would magically appear. 

When we weren’t drinking the next day, there were a lot of activities available to keep us busy, including kayaking, tubing, wake boarding, rock climbing, and beach volleyball. Another highlight was the late night swims. There is a lot of plankton in the water that glows at night when disturbed, so our bodies were completely illuminated by their glowing light (think life of pi / the beach).



All in all, the trip was a big party and a lot of fun.However, it all comes at a cost, and at $200 for the trip + all the money you spend on drinks, the 3 days were definitely pricey. Also for that price, the sleeping quarters were really shitty. Bare bunks with fans (although ours didn’t work) and no pillows. The only way to guarantee falling asleep was partying late enough to the pt where you could pass out everywhere.

Huge spider near our bunk

Check out the Andrew's Tumblr  for some more pictures.