I was in Vietnam Deep Water Soloing back in Nov. and had a great time. I went with Mr. Tung and his company Cat Ba Ventures, see website: http://www.catbaventures.com/?act=news&macat=7&masub=38
Beware, everyone in Hanoi will try to book you into their tour group to go to Ha Long Bay, it's a very famous tourist destination. Just follow the instructions on the Cat Ba Ventures website and get yourself to Cat Ba town, ignoring everyone along the way who'll try to sell you a package tour. There's only two operators who cater to climbers, Cat Ba Ventures is the more rustic company that basically gets a boatman and a cook to cruise around with you, they'll point out routes they've seem other climbers do but aren't climbers themselves. The other company http://www.slopony.com is run by Americans and they're climbers themselves but they're trying to charge climbers to climb sport routes they they themselves didn't even bolt, so I couldn't give them money on principle. But they will get you gear to rent and a guide to show you the bolted routes in the area.
Camping is non-existent, I wouldn't even try, but lodging is so cheap there's no reason to bring a tent. I think I paid $5 per night for a double room with A/C. Hope this helps.
