If you intend to travel to Yangshuo from Guilin by ship, you can take your luggage with you and board the ship. There is limited space on the ship for the small travel parties to place the suitcases. If you booked a tour with a local travel company, then you can ask the company to transfer the luggage to the Yangshuo hotel directly. After all, there are some steps up and down the ship docks, which is not so convenient to carry big suitcases. Usually the professional operators will help you to sort it out without any problem.

It is not recommended to carry your luggage/carry-on on the raft. Tourists have to be very careful during the raftng trip. If you drop your sunglass, camera lens cap or other belongings into the water, it is not so easy to retrieve them.