Abandoned Water Park

In 2004, Ho Thuy Tien was built by a Hue tourism firm for over 3 million USD. It was designed in the shape of a powerful open-mouth dragon. If you go inside the dragon, you can see a ticket stall. Besides, the dragon belly consisted of a 3-layer- aquarium with various types of sea animals, a music stage can also be used for water shows upstairs, a dining area for more than 200 people, etc. In addition, you can also find a water park with different types of enjoyable slides for both adults and kids. Unfortunately, despite the high investment, Ho Thuy Tien operated only for several years.

There was no clear explanation of why it was shut down. The attraction was forgotten for the whole 15 years until a reporter from Huffington Post made a documentary about it in 2016. Surprisingly, Ho Thuy Tien started to become appealing worldwide for adventurous foreign visitors. At first, the majority of visitors are international tourists who were curious about the famous article.  Later on, because lots of different travel bloggers and fan pages shared the reviews, Ho Thuy Tien Water Park became the hot new check-in spot for people who have brave hearts.

Abandoned Water Park

You will experience animals running around in a collapse background, muddy water tanks, slides that were covered in moss, overgrown gardens, etc. like you are actually in a horror movie. There was a rumor that there were some crocodiles inside the lake earlier, but PETA interfered so crocodiles were moved into a healthier and more suitable living environment.

How To Get There

The bad news is that you can’t book a tour to take you to visit Ho Thuy Tien Water Park. On the plus side, thankfully, after 2019, tourists can be able to detect the exact location of the water park on Google Maps under the name Thuy Tien Lake. Before that, it was impossible to search for the location online, tourists had to ask locals for the routes and it was quite frustrating. If you travel from Hoi An or Da Nang to Hue, first you have to take a train or a bus.

Traveling on a sleeper bus will cost you from $5 and up for almost 4 hours. If you decide to take the train, you will have to pay the price ranges from $7 to $11. From Hue to Ho Thuy Tien Water Park, Grab (Vietnamese version of Uber) is one of the popular options. If you book a taxi, you need to bargain the price, and it’s difficult to track the routes while if you use the Grab app, the fee will show up before the trip.

Hence, you can track all the essential information like the estimated time of departure and arrival, the name of the driver, the license plate, and the estimated fee, which makes it a lot more convenient and safer. On the other hand, many tourists found it exciting to explore the way on their own. As a result, renting a bike is another solution that you can consider. It is definitely a lot cheaper (around $13 to rent for the whole day) and you can also do some sightseeing on the way. However, please remember to be cautious of the bumpy road, drive slowly and safely is the key. It might be harder to figure out the road, so if you feel like your GPS is not doing a good job, you can always ask the local.

Visit Thuy Tien waterpark

Travel Tips

First of all, you should prepare some cash ready in your hands. It will become useful for the entrance fees, food, and beverages. Also, if you are afraid of getting dirty, wear some closed-toed shoes to avoid mud. Last but not least, if you just want to get check-in photos and are not super excited about finding the thrills, it’s highly recommended that you should not go too deep inside the gardens for safety purposes. It is pretty dark, slippery, especially in the evening. Always keep in mind “Safety First”.

Joy Pham

Source: Internet