Khao Sok National Park and Halong Bay are both incredibly beautiful places and I would highly recommend them to anyone. They are wonderful slices of Thailand and Vietnam respectively – you won’t be forgetting them in a hurry.

While they both have their own charm, they are similar in many ways. I won’t tell you that one is better than the other because that would simply not be possible and the hope is that you’ll actually want to visit both by the end of this post! But, if you’re trying to choose between them, read on for some factors to consider.

For this post, I’ll be comparing the Cheow Lan Lake trip (which is within Khao Sok National Park) with the Halong Bay cruise. Note that things will always change so some details may be different when you’re planning your trip.

It’s a long post but I promise you’ll have all the information you need to know by the end, where I’ll also share what tour companies I used. So sit back with a nice cuppa, take a deep breath and get comfortable. If there are still some unanswered questions, ask away in the comments!

What’s the appeal?

The main similarity between the two places is the limestone pillars or islands that spread across a body of water, and the reason for visiting them both is to see this in person. They’re incredibly tall and sailing through them does make you feel like you’re in a movie. Many films have in fact been filmed in both of these places, so go ahead, let the wind throw back your hair as the sun shines on your face.

Spoiler alert – it doesn’t always feel quite so picture perfect when the wind is actually blowing your hair into your face and the sun hides behind heavy clouds. You can read more about my wet ‘n’ wild ride through Khao Sok here.

Popularity

One seems to be more popular than the other but, I wouldn’t read too much into the fact that one is more well-known than the other.

Halong Bay seems to be pretty popular and almost everyone I met in Vietnam had been there. In fact, the people I had initially met on the Halong Bay cruise were the people I kept on bumping into as I travelled from north to south in Vietnam.

Khao Sok National Park, on the other hand, seems to be less well known by travellers and not on the top of the hit list for many visitors to Thailand. However, this doesn’t make it inferior in the slightest.

Getting there

I’m going to be honest, both of them are right hassle to get to but you just have to see it as part of the adventure. It took about half a day to get to both, so you’d better buckle up (with plenty of snacks) for either journey.

Halong Bay

Sometimes I do have a little chuckle to myself when I think about how ridiculous this five hour journey was. From Hanoi (most Halong Bay tours have a pickup point from Hanoi) we took a bus and then a boat. Then we got on another bus. Then another (not so glamorous) boat. Then we finally arrived at the big boat – the cruise. It involved a lot of hauling our backpacks around so at least we did a bit of a workout while we were at it.

Khao Sok

The journey from the meeting point to our bungalows took, all in all, about five hours. Gasp. I know it’s the same as getting Halong Bay but it’s a lot of hours to travel to a place that’s meant to be part of the same park. However, there was a major hold up due to the weather. The wind was wild and the waves were too choppy for them to take us across so we were simply sat waiting for goodness knows how long. At least we were on an iconic Longtail boat when we finally set off. If you’re fortunate enough to go when the water is calm it will no doubt be a shorter overall journey time.

Accommodation

This is one of the biggest differences between the two experiences. There’s a whole plethora of options available, but my experiences were both at the lower end of the price ranges.

Halong Bay

Most overnight tours in Halong Bay are on a cruise. The one I went on was more luxurious than I had been expecting with two to a room, a small balcony and a bathtub overlooking the water. They even had one of those fun toilet seats which heats up and sprays at you from various angles. Walking through the corridor to our room felt like walking through a hotel and even the dining room had lovely views.

Khao Sok

Definitely the other end of the luxury spectrum / not really on the spectrum at all. An overnight experience at Khao Sok bags you a night in a lake bungalow. The whole, shall we say village, is one giant raft so you can feel it all moving from time to time, and the ‘floor’ sometimes moves under your feet when you’re walking along to your bungalow. It’s also two to a room but the bed was a mattress on the floor. The shower is very basic but as it’s all kind of outdoors, it’s not the warmest place if the weather is bad. I know I’ve made it all sound a bit dreary but I want you to know what you’re getting yourself into. It’s really not that bad and the simplicity can sometimes be freeing (if not, humbling).

Itinerary

This will vary depending on what tour company you use but most of them tend to have similar elements on the itinerary. It’s also good to know that activities are generally optional, so if you’d rather just chill on the cruise or hang out by the lake the whole time, you can totally do that too. Usually, activities are quite weather dependent so they will sometimes change the plan on the day. I believe the specific tours I booked have also changed slightly since I went, so it’s always worth checking out the different options but not getting too attached to anything.

Halong Bay

After lunch on arrival, the main event of the day was jumping off the boat and swimming to a little beach where we could play volleyball. Our second day was cycling and walking on Cat Ba Island which was slightly traumatising (you can read about here) but overall a fun day. On the final morning, we went kayaking before heading back to land. There was also a party every night!

Khao Sok

At Khao Sok there were kayaks tied up by the bungalows so you could go for a paddle whenever you fancied. There was an evening boat safari on the first day but it will always be down to luck as to whether or not you see many animals. Either way, it’s lovely to simply float around and enjoy the nature around you. Our second day also consisted of walking and was also slightly traumatising (read more here) but we went into a cave so that was fun. The last day was another safari but this time in the morning.

Price

A common deciding factor and everybody’s favourite topic – money. Sigh.

For both experiences, I’ve included the prices for a three day/two night trip. It included all travel and transfers, food, accommodation and activities.

As previously mentioned, there are endless options of tours but the ones I chose were some of the most budget-friendly ones I could find.

Halong Bay

I paid 5,000,000 NVD (5 million for those of you who don’t like counting zeros) which equates to around £160. For the budget traveller, that’s quite a large chunk of cash but it will most likely be the most expensive thing you do in Vietnam. When you consider that everything you need for those three days is included in the price, it’s not too bad.

The only extra you would need to pay for is alcoholic drinks if you want them. As mentioned in the section about accommodation, it was definitely nicer than your average backpacking hostel so that bumps the price up a little more.

Khao Sok

I paid 2500 BHT, but there was also an entry fee to the park of 200 BHT and a 20 BHT lake fee, totalling at around £60. In the UK, a 5 hour train journey alone would probably cost you around the same amount, if not more (let’s be real, it’s probably more). This is obviously much cheaper than Halong Bay but the accommodation is much simpler so you get what you pay for.

Noise

Halong Bay

Sometimes I didn’t notice this and other times it was actually rather annoying, but you can hear the engine on the cruise and the first few times that they let the anchor down, I thought the chain was about to break through the wall next to me. The location of your room can also change how much you notice this but during the night it’s much quieter. No one else seemed phased though and I did get used to it so I wouldn’t say it was enough to put me off the experience.

Khao Sok

Being on the lake was incredibly peaceful and I truly felt so far removed from civilisation. There was no phone service or wifi, which is obviously the ultimate way to sever connections with the real world. A valid excuse to ignore messages for three days… what more could you want?

Nights

Halong Bay

This will be very dependent on the tour but if you go to one that targets, shall we say, ‘younger’ travellers, they may have parties on the boat at night. It’s a great way to continue meeting and chatting with people but can also potentially mean later nights and a little more noise.

Khao Sok

I ended up sleeping much earlier in the lake bungalows. I felt slightly more immersed in nature, so I think my body naturally wanted to follow the early sunrise and sunset, but you can still expect plenty of time for socialising and maybe even a game of cards or two.

Other considerations

Weather

The thing that you must always bear in mind, and this is true for all travel, is that the weather is never ever guaranteed. This can greatly affect what is possible on your tour and my tour guides for both trips made decisions about our activities on the day.

On Cat Ba Island (part of the Halong Bay tour), we hiked a different route than usual because it was so foggy, so the viewpoint was lower. Then on the Khao Sok lake tour hike, we almost couldn’t go to the cave as it had rained so much in the previous days.

Despite this, I still had an unforgettable time on both trips so if you just embrace whatever weather comes your way, you can still have a great time.

How long to stay

This depends on your reason for going.

If you simply want to see the limestone pillars, a quick day trip will be sufficient.

If you want to spend a night on the water and maybe have a boat party or get involved in some water-based activities, then one night be the way forward for you.

The full 3 days/2 nights experience means you get a whole middle day where you’re not travelling. It’s also very calming to be on the water so being out there might be a nice way to recharge if you’ve been on the road for a while.

How to book

I’ve booked both of my tours ahead of time through each company’s website. This meant I could be in direct communication with them ahead of time. However, before arriving in Southeast Asia, I hadn’t realised that you have the option of booking activities and excursions the day before from your accommodation (sometimes even on the same day!). Each hostel either runs its own tours or is associated with a tour company, so if you’re not too fussed about what trip you end up on you can simply show up and book it the night before like plenty of other people do.

Does it work with the rest of your trip?

You may want to consider how easy it will be to fit each tour into your travel itinerary.

Halong Bay Tours tend to run from Hanoi and if you’re doing Vietnam from north to south, you’re most likely to fly into Hanoi, so it’s easy enough.

Khao Sok National Park on the other hand, is in the south of Thailand but it’s not particularly close to anything. They run airport transfers but they are all a good few hours away. If you’re planning to go anywhere near Phuket then I’d say it’s well worth the diversion, but if your trip is focusing on the northern areas of Thailand, it might not work so well.

Aaaaand that’s it. Deep breath. If you made it all the way through, you’re a real trooper so hats off to you and hopefully you’re all the more knowledgeable for it.

Both Halong Bay and Khao Sok are definitely worth visiting and I hope this has helped you get to know more about them.

Let me know your experience if you’ve been to either or both!