Paloma Cruise

Paloma is advertised with cabins of 13 m². Hold onto that number, because the cheapest per-person figure anyone lists for this boat is $510, and the two do not sit comfortably together.

The hull is wood, and that part is verified rather than claimed. Fourteen cabins, though the operator is the only source for the count. Every cabin has a balcony, verified across sources, and on a room that size the balcony is doing real work: 13 m² is tight for the money being asked, under half the floor area some Lan Ha boats publish for a standard double. The 13 m² comes from the operator alone. Treat it as their measurement, not one anybody has checked.

Nobody publishes the capacity. Nobody publishes the deck count or the length either, and we looked for all three. A spa is verified, and so is kayaking, which is worth stating because it is the inclusion listings most often quietly drop. The operator mentions a jacuzzi and no other source does. Nothing we read mentions a pool or a gym, which is not proof there is neither, but it does mean you should not book expecting them.

What a cabin costs

We cannot tell you. There is no rate sheet for Paloma, no cabin-by-cabin pricing in anything the operator publishes, and that gap is the largest single problem with this page. What exists instead is a set of listing prices collected on 7 August 2026, running from $510 to $860 per person for the two-day trip. Uncorroborated. Per person, not per cabin.

$510 a head is a high number for this bay, and it is high enough that we do not believe it describes a room on its own. Listings at that level often carry transfers, a private guide or a three-day itinerary folded into the same figure, and we have no way to unpick which. Ask for the price of a cabin, for your dates, in writing. Compare that against boats that publish a sheet you can read.

The score, and the launch year

Google shows 9.3 from 176 reviews. We have read none of them: no English review for this boat reached our collection, so what we hold is a number with nothing behind it. That matters more here than it usually would, because the operator gives the launch year as 2026. A boat that entered service this year could have gathered 176 reviews already. A score that belongs to a fleet or a booking office rather than to this particular hull would look exactly the same from outside. We cannot tell which of those is happening.

The route, and the pier

Departure is from Hon Gai Pier, not Tuan Chau Marina. Only the operator says so, so confirm it when you book. The two piers sit on opposite sides of the Bai Chay bridge, and a driver who takes you to the wrong one does not cost you twenty minutes. He costs you the boat.

The itinerary stays inside Bai Tu Long: the cave at Thien Canh Son, the water around Cap La, and the fishing village that floats at Vung Vieng. Three named stops, with the bay itself as the fourth entry in the route data, which is a shorter list than the Cat Ba boats manage on a second day. That is normal for this bay rather than a failing on Paloma’s part. There is less here, and quiet is the point. If you have not settled which bay you want, the three differ more than the brochures let on.

Who it suits

Couples who want the emptier bay for a night and are relaxed about a wooden hull. The condition is that you extract a per-cabin quote first.

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone who needs a price before deciding, and anyone who would be unhappy to discover the room is 13 m² after paying $510 a head for it. The other Bai Tu Long boats and the wider small-boat list include several operators who publish rates, which makes them easier to judge even where the boat itself is no better.