Where the Wild Things Are - A Sneaky Trip to Hue's Abandoned Water Park

Hello everyone, welcome back to another travel post from Viet Nam. Today I will take you all to a fascinating little gem in Hue, a central Vietnamese city with a rich history. There are many historical landmarks to be explored in Hue, but those will have to wait for another day. Today, I will take you to a lesser-known or historically significant place, but still fascinating in its own right, and that is the abandoned waterpark.

This waterpark was abandoned shortly after opening in 2004 and has been left to fall into ruin ever since. The park is conveniently located, a few minutes' ride from the old city, just on the outskirts of town. There are multiple unofficial entrances to this place, but I found it easy enough to just enter through the main gate.

When I came, there were two security guards at the entrance gate. In Viet Nam, it is common for security to be employed to watch over stores or bike parking, even on large empty pieces of land, to watch over them and prevent dumping. Security in Viet Nam is usually older guys, many of whom are ex-military, and they spend most of the day relaxing in hammocks and smoking thuoc lao (local pipe tobacco). Many of the security guys I have come into contact with have been very chill and usually happy to share a quick chat. These guards were no different. My friend and I pulled up to the gate, they asked for 20k (less than a dollar) for both bikes, and proceeded back to the hammock.

Before coming, I had read that people had been kicked out of here by a security man who drives around on a motorbike. Considering how I was expecting to have to sneak about, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get in. We parked our motorbikes in a shady spot and made our way into the park on foot. Looking back, I realize that the guys at the gate never explicitly said we couldn’t just keep driving, but at the time, going by foot seemed like the best option. One reason was that we had no idea just how big the park would be (it was big), and also, I was worried we would run into the rumored roaming security man, who might either kick us out or require an additional bribe.

When you get into the park, you will first walk down a short road that leads up to a hill. The hill has some random art pieces around, but none of them felt deserving of a photo. From the top of the hill, you can see the famous dragon head statue on the far side of a central lake. It seems like the place can be best explored by doing a loop around the lake, so we set off toward the nearest point of interest, a stadium just a short walk from the base of the hill.

This photo is taken from halfway up the stadium seats, looking down at what would have been a stage and a pool that likely had some kind of fountain or water show.

Near the stadium was this cool simulator machine. Unfortunately, it was super moldy and trashed inside, so I did not go in.

Continuing around the lake, the path gets narrow and overgrown in places, but then you will suddenly come to a clearing with many large pools and waterslides.

Finally, the main attraction. The dragon sits above what was once an arcade, snack bar, and boat dock, but now it is just a collection of musty rooms and broken glass.

We hear the other security man driving around on his motorbike, but we go into stealth mode and successfully evade him.

Overall, this is a nice little break from the history and culture that Hue is typically known for, and a cool stop for anyone looking for something a little off the beaten path.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my visit to the abandoned water park in Hue.

All photos are my own. Have a great day!