The Abandoned Water Park in Hue – How to Get There + TIPS

Hue is located in central Vietnam and is the former imperial capital. The city is therefore rich in history and culture† Hue has a beautiful location next to the river, many tombs, a beautiful Citadel, a beautiful environment and you will find it here abandoned water park (aka Ho Thuy Tien).

How to get to Hue

A big pro of Hue is that it is a airport has a railway station and a bus station† So you can get to this city in any way you want. When you follow our travel route through Vietnam you will travel from Tam Coc to Hue. The easiest and cheapest is to cover this distance by bus. Are you traveling from south to north and are you coming from Hoi An? Then you can also choose to take the bus, but the best (and most beautiful) is to take the Hi from Pass can be covered with an easyrider or on a motorbike or scooter. This route is an experience in itself!

Also read: Top 10 | What are the best backpacking destinations in Asia?

How to get to the water park

From Hue city center you reach the entrance of the abandoned water park in about 30 minutes on the scooter. When we were here in April 2018 it was forbidden to visit at the abandoned water park (turned out afterwards). I did not enter through the official entrance myself, so everything went smoothly for me. However, my travel buddies were chased by security. Once you're at the abandoned water park, they'll leave you alone anyway. So park your scooter somewhere nearby (not at the official entrance) and walk onto the site. Just to be sure. There also seems to be an unofficial guard walking you between the 20.000 VND to 50.000 VND can pay to enter the site. Are you coming by scooter? Then you also pay parking costs.

Tip:: There is a walking route along the 'water park stadium' and 'water park space simulator'. When you walk on this site, the chances are the greatest that it will be successful.

History of the water park in Hue

The best thing is to delve a little into the history of the water park in Hue beforehand. The park was built around 2001 with the goal to attract tourism to Hue† Partly thanks to financing from state-owned companies (which benefited from attracting those tourists), it became possible to build this water park à 70 billion Vietnamese Dong† So a decent investment. Despite the fact that a lot of money was invested in the water park, it was never finished. As a result, it is now known as the abandoned water park. By the way, it is not that well known, because it is not advertised as a to-do when you are in Hue. So you really have to read it before on blogs if you want to know that this abandoned water park exists.

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A look at the water park in Hue

Once you arrive at the water park you will be amazed by the 'vibe' that reigns here. This place is surreal and quite exciting. Especially if you go early in the morning you will not encounter many other tourists and that gives the whole adventure that little bit extra.

Crocodiles in the amphitheater

At the beginning of the abandoned water park you will come across an amphitheater. In this theater a swimming pool has been built in the middle where the plan was to water shows to give. However, of course this has never been the case. The pool has not been completely unused because a few years ago they discovered that crocodiles settled in this pool. There is even a sign saying 'beware the crocodiles'. Don't worry though when you're here, it's said that all crocodiles have been removed from the water park by January 2016.

The swimming pool'

Next to the amphitheater is the swimming pool with slides and children's pool. The whole thing looks quite creepy and I think this is one of the few pools you wouldn't want to fall into for any money. The water is of course super cloudy so you can't see what might be living in the pool. Being by the pool 3 slides built that you can also view from above when you walk up the stairs. Strangely enough, this one has remained intact.

Also read: The most beautiful swimming pools in the world

The figurehead: the dragon

The figurehead of the abandoned water park in Hue is the giant dragon and very impressive to watch. You can already see the dragon when you have been to the 'swimming pool' and when you enter the abandoned water park through the normal entrance, you will immediately see the dragon. This dragon is the main attraction of the abandoned water park that was once supposed to be a success. The coolest thing about this attraction is that you can go all the way into the dragon's mouth by stairs. From the mouth you have a view over the river and the climb to the top is of course nice and creapy.

More travel tips for Vietnam

Vietnam has a lot more to offer besides the beautiful nature. Earlier, for example, I wrote about 10x things to do in Hoi An, Vietnam† Have you read it yet?!