Ha Long Bay with 7 Kids - Kayaks, Monkeys, Rain & a Floating Village.

Today we went on our first boat cruise as a family ever and honestly this turned into one of the best days we've had in Vietnam so far. 6 45 in the morning we are right outside of a school year so it's super busy right now and we are heading to a day cruise on how long days so are you excited everybody's a little bit tired you're not okay they're only half tired but we're excited because it's gonna be super fun you're not half tired are you tired jesse all right here we go we booked this halong and lanha bay day cruise last minute through get your guide it was super easy all on the app and they handled everything pickup boat food activities all of it all right levi go careful okay we took an early morning taxi ride to a boat dock where we split up into two groups and hopped onto speed boats that took us to catba island our crews left from catba but once we were on the island i was really wishing we had more time to explore the island itself it was beautiful with hiking and cave exploring and small villages everywhere when we arrived at the marina we were greeted by ryan our guide for the day who spoke amazing english and had the best energy which is exactly what you want from a guide who you will be spending the whole day with there we go yep here we go okay hold the rail what you love monkeys is that the first time you got to see a monkey in real life yes yeah was that so cool our first big activity was kayaking they dropped us into the water right in the middle of these massive cliffs and we paddled straight into caves carved through the rock it felt unreal i was a bit nervous with all of us being split up into separate kayaks but everyone did great and had so much fun oh that's also where we saw the monkeys unfortunately i brought the gopro for the kayaking and if it has a zoom feature i haven't figured it out yet so you'll just have to trust me that they're there they were climbing all up in the trees totally wild and completely unbothered by us our whole group just paused and watched quietly the baby monkeys actually have blonde hair crazy hey yeah the cave was awesome did you see did you guys get to see bats i didn't i didn't see any either i couldn't see yeah but it was still fun hey yeah and i got ice yeah yeah that's awesome like i gave him a cuddle and then like one minute later he gave it back do you want me to carry your life jacket on then you can go but i don't want you to trip on the strings back on the boat they served lunch and not just a snack like a full-on hot vietnamese meal with spring rolls fish rice everything it was seriously the best meal we've had in vietnam so far and we're still talking about it weeks later there's just so much here yeah is it good as we started heading to our next stop the rain rolled in it wasn't cold it was a warm tropical rain instead of hiding inside most of the group hung out on the deck and just let it rain well i mean in my life on the water i saw only one camel well only one times in my life so well but yeah we'll also have dolphins around the rain cleared up just in time as we arrived at this tiny little beach in the middle of the bay surrounded by cliffs on every side hey you guys bethany's gonna jump in because the boat couldn't get too close to the beach we all had to swim and every one of our kids swam the whole way go where dad is go where dad is there you go go swim with life jackets of course but still it was a workout toby was the only one who didn't swim to the beach because he ended up cutting his hand while helping a kid climb back onto the boat but he was pretty sorry he missed out thankfully just before that he got to be the first one to jump off the boat so he did get to have some fun can you imagine having a whole beach to yourself no buildings no roads just water sand and rocks okay is it aiming my way yeah can you see yourself can i put it under ready watching michael and toby jump off the boat was fun but watching bethany build up the nerve to do it herself made me so proud you think you can do it you can do it good job those are the moments you remember forever as a parent later we visited a floating fish hatchery that supplies fish to the nearby floating villages that was an experience all its own as we balanced with all our kids on the planks between the fish pools while our guide told us which ones would find our toes or fingers off if we fell in um so right here yeah she's right underneath you on the corner i think you might be hitting that one she's right next to you yep that one yep you're gonna be like crushing it the kids got to take turns feeding the fish still balancing on the planks as they got splashed by the hungry fish fighting for scraps lastly we cruised slowly through a real floating village homes boats everything just drifting on the bay want to see my house in there yeah our guide grew up in the floating village we went through so his insight into what it was like to live on the water was amazing and so eye-opening he encouraged us to ask any questions we had to get a better idea of what life is like for the people that live there and make a living on the water seeing how people actually live out there is one of the biggest reasons we travel with our kids so even us found the clams or found the fish we're not going to make any money for the first couple of years today was one of those days that reminds you why you travel not just for the places but for the way your kids experience it the fear confidence joy exhaustion excitement and so much learning all in one day if you're coming to Vietnam and even thinking about Ha Long or Lan Ha Bay we honestly couldn't recommend this kind of day to her more it was so down to earth and so personal and if you want to make it easy we'll drop our get your guide link in the description it's still only our second week in Vietnam and we've had so many crazy experiences we hope you'll come back and see what else we get up to in the next couple of months as we explore more of Southeast Asia thanks for coming along with us we'll see you next week