Just spent 2 nights/3 days on a junk in Halong Bay (April 2010), like some of your other reviews I to was shocked by the amount of pollution in this World Heritage area. The haze was described by the operators as mist and apparently is at its worst at this time of the year April/May. I would describe the 'mist' as smog and if the air quality in this area is as bad as the water quality in this beautiful area I would say this was a fair description. One of the days we visited a beach for a swim. The beach was so polluted by plastic bags, bottles, plastic bags filled with garbage and other flotsam and jetsam, there was no way that I would let my children swim in such polluted water. I found it amazing that the tour operator took us to this beach when it was in such a dirty state. My husband and I found it ironic that the operator didnt employ some locals to keep the beach clean - this could've been done at a minimal cost. Halong Bay needs to be cleaned up - on my return home I told people how beautiful the area is, but I also tell them about the pollution. Eventually tourists will be turned off and the main losers will be the tour operators and the locals who live in the floating fishing villages.