In reply to lifeofphild:
I'd recommend getting yourself to Cat Ba Island (Bus, Bus, Boat, Bus) from Hanoi, and speak with the guys at Asia Outdoors. They run DWS day trips which if you're on your own is probably going to be the most cost effective method. They'll take you out on the big boat and use basket boats to get you onto the Rock.
Hawai 5-0 is the wall they'll probably start you off on, which has some great lower grade routes on good rock and above deep water. 3 brothers crag and Unemployment wall (near Polish Pillar) is also good, and is another favourite of theirs.
If you're feeling strong, ask Vu (climbing guide about 'Dark Horse Crag'. One we developed over two trips in the past 4 years.
Hang ka Cave is a beautiful place though full of tourists kayaking, again we've done some new routing here.
You could speak to Dave Lucas (google expedition consultancy) as he has a metric s*&t tonne of info on the climbing there. He has all the notes from our two expeditions to the area. He can certainly point you in a good direction.
Kit wise, if you're happy to be taken to the crags Asia Outdoors use daily, take your shoes, liquid chalk and a bag of loose chalk to keep on the boat (spare bags without lining work and dry well) in between attempts - just put a pinch of loose chalk in each time. Water and food. Towel and think long sleeve jacket.
If you want to find some new routes, or climb on some of the crags we begun to develop, take a 3m length of Bamboo (available on Cat Ba) for about $5 and check the depth. 2m is a good minimum depth to work to. Make sure you sweep the entire crag for submerged spikes the fishermen tie their houses to, which only reveal themselves at low tide. The tides can come out quite quickly, so keep checking the depth. The tide swing can be quite high, so some crags we walked beneath angle keep in water at low tide were climbable at high tide.
As ever, be cautious of loose rock on new routes and be aware of the boat driver beneath you. Most are quite good, others get high and sleepy and require shouting at!
Oh and say hi to Vu. (Watching him climb is a delight - 8a barefoot....)
