What Closed in Da Nang, and What Every Other Guide Still Gets Wrong
Two of the attractions still recommended by most guides ranking for this city do not exist any more. Da Nang Downtown — the old Asia Park, with the Sun Wheel — closed permanently on 3 September 2025 and is being demolished for a 70-storey tower. Helio Center and its night market have been suspended since 5 September 2025. Cocobay is an abandoned $450M+ ghost complex that people still drive to. Two more errors are everywhere: APEC 2027 is in Phu Quoc, not Da Nang, and the Golden Bridge is 35km west inside Ba Na Hills, not on the Han River. If a guide is telling you otherwise, its prices are stale too.
The fastest way to tell whether a Da Nang guide is worth reading
Check whether it still recommends the Sun Wheel. Most of them do.
Two of the attractions still listed on most Da Nang guides do not exist any more. Da Nang Downtown — the old Asia Park, with the Sun Wheel — closed permanently on 3 September 2025 and is being demolished for a 70-storey tower. Helio Center and its night market have been suspended since 5 September 2025 for renovation, with only the Metiz cinema still running. If a guide is recommending either, it has not been updated in a year and you should not trust its prices either.
This is not pedantry. Attraction closures are the single easiest freshness test there is, and the content ranking for "things to do in Da Nang" fails it in large numbers — which means the same pages are also quoting you 2019 ticket prices, pre-merger addresses and a Cham Islands season that does not exist. The register below is what is actually true in August 2026, including the entries where the honest answer is "unverified".
Every Da Nang closure, suspension and open question
Status checked August 2026. Where a source conflicts or a reopening has been announced but not confirmed, this table says so rather than guessing.
| Place | Status | What actually happened | Go? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Da Nang Downtown / Asia Park / the Sun Wheel | Closed permanently, 3 September 2025 | The Sun World park on the city side, with the big wheel that appears in half the photographs of this city, shut for good on 3 September 2025. The site is being redeveloped as a 70-storey tower — set to be central Vietnam's tallest — under a 79.79-trillion-đồng master plan running to 2035. There is nothing to visit and nothing to photograph. | SKIP |
| Helio Center and Helio night market | Suspended since 5 September 2025 | The indoor entertainment complex and its night market were suspended for renovation on 5 September 2025. The Metiz Cinema inside it is still operating. A reopening was floated for the end of 2025 and has not been confirmed — treat the reopening date as unverified and check locally before making a trip of it. | SKIP |
| Cocobay | Abandoned | A $450M+ condotel complex on the Da Nang–Hoi An coastal road that collapsed financially and was never finished. Every revival announcement since has fizzled. It is the emblem of the central coast's condotel hangover, it is not a ruin-tourism attraction, and people do still drive out to it. Do not. | SKIP |
| Bai But cove, Son Tra | Unverified — reports of fencing | A small cove on the Son Tra peninsula that appears on older lists. There are reports of fencing for resort construction and the accounts conflict. Nobody should send you there with confidence in 2026; check on the ground before committing a morning. | DEPENDS |
| Con Market | Open — redevelopment is chatter only | Central Vietnam's best food hall is open and operating. Redevelopment talk surfaces periodically and nothing has been confirmed or scheduled. Worth watching over the next few years; worth visiting this week. See the markets guide. | WORTH IT |
| Da Nang Museum | Open — current fee unverified | The new museum in the restored French colonial city hall at 42–44 Bach Dang opened on 29 March 2025 and was free through 31 December 2025. The fee charged since then is unverified — anyone quoting you a number for 2026 is guessing, and this site will not either. Ask at the door. | WORTH IT |
| Bach Ma National Park | Open with restrictions | 2025 typhoon damage means vehicles stop at Km12 and the rest of the climb is on foot or by summit shuttle, and motorbikes are banned on the summit road. Entry is 65,000₫ / 25,000₫. Restrictions are damage-related and may change seasonally — the Bach Ma page has the current picture. | DEPENDS |
| Cham Islands | Seasonal, not closed | Not a closure but constantly reported as one. The islands run March to August or September; from October to February the sea state cancels 40–60% of departures. Treat the winter as closed, the summer as open. Detail here. | DEPENDS |
Status verified August 2026 against news reporting and operator listings. Where this table says unverified, that is the finding, not a hedge — the site's rule is that an honest gap beats an invented number.
APEC 2027 is in Phu Quoc, not Da Nang
This one is everywhere, including in AI answers and in a fair amount of Vietnamese-language promotional content that has been mistranslated into English. Vietnam's APEC 2027 summit is being hosted in Phu Quoc. Da Nang hosted APEC 2017, which is where the confusion comes from — the city built the Ariyana convention complex for it and still trades on the association.
Why it matters practically: if you are reading a page that says Da Nang is "preparing for APEC 2027", it is wrong about that, and you should assume it is wrong about the rest. There is no APEC-related construction, disruption or price surge coming to this city in 2027.
The Golden Bridge is not on the Han River
The Golden Bridge (Cầu Vàng) — the 150-metre walkway held up by two giant stone hands — sits at about 1,414m inside Sun World Ba Na Hills, 35km and 45–60 minutes west of the city. The only way to reach it is the cable car, and the only ticket is the 950,000₫ (about $37) Ba Na gate ticket. There has never been a separate Golden Bridge ticket.
The bridge people confuse it with is the Love Bridge (Cầu Tình Yêu), a short pedestrian pier on the Han River in the middle of town, hung with red heart lanterns, free, and about ten minutes' worth of a visit. Hotel desks, tour touts and half the internet merge the two. If someone offers you a cheap "Golden Bridge tour" that stays in the city, they are selling you the Love Bridge or a river cruise. The full explanation is here.
The July 2025 merger, and what it broke
On 1 July 2025 Da Nang absorbed Quang Nam province. The city went from about 1,285 km² to 11,860 km², and Hoi An and My Son are now legally inside Da Nang — two UNESCO World Heritage sites within the city limits. Districts were abolished for a city–ward system, so the old names (Hai Chau, Son Tra, Ngu Hanh Son) survive colloquially and on Google Maps but not on paperwork. Practical consequence: any visitor statistic quoted for 2025 or later covers the merged city and cannot be compared with pre-2025 figures.
Three practical consequences for anyone reading older content. Addresses: administrative addresses now use city–ward rather than district, so the paperwork name and the Google Maps name for the same place can differ. Statistics: the 2025 figures of 17.3 million visitors and 7.6 million international arrivals cover the merged city including Hoi An and My Son, and cannot be compared with pre-2025 Da Nang numbers — anyone doing so is producing a nonsense growth rate. Geography: guides describing Hoi An as "a day trip to another province" are describing something that stopped being true on 1 July 2025.
None of this changes how you actually travel here. Bus No. 1 still costs about 30,000₫ and still takes 40–55 minutes. It changes what the numbers mean.
Where the closed attractions' visitors went
The Asia Park and Helio closures left a real hole in this city's evening and family entertainment, and it will stay open until the tower district delivers. Three things absorbed most of it.
Da Nang closures FAQ
Is Asia Park in Da Nang still open?
No. Da Nang Downtown, the Sun World park formerly called Asia Park and home to the Sun Wheel, closed permanently on 3 September 2025. The site is being redeveloped as a 70-storey tower under a 79.79-trillion-đồng master plan running to 2035. Any guide still listing it has not been updated in a year.
Is the Sun Wheel in Da Nang still running?
No. The Sun Wheel was part of Asia Park and closed with it on 3 September 2025. It appears in enormous numbers of photographs of the city skyline, which is why it keeps being recommended. There is no ride to take.
Is Helio Center open in Da Nang?
It has been suspended since 5 September 2025, along with its night market. The Metiz Cinema inside the complex is still operating. A reopening was floated for the end of 2025 but has not been confirmed, so the reopening date is unverified — check locally before travelling out there.
Can you visit Cocobay in Da Nang?
There is nothing to visit. Cocobay is an abandoned $450M+ condotel complex on the Da Nang–Hoi An coastal road that was never completed, and every revival announcement since has come to nothing. It is not a ruin attraction and there is no access.
Is APEC 2027 being held in Da Nang?
No — APEC 2027 is in Phu Quoc. Da Nang hosted APEC 2017, which is where the confusion comes from. There is no APEC-related construction or disruption coming to Da Nang in 2027, and any page claiming otherwise should be treated as unreliable throughout.
How much does the Da Nang Museum cost now?
Unverified, and this site will not invent a number. The new museum at 42–44 Bach Dang was free through 31 December 2025 and a fee has applied since, but no reliable published figure exists for 2026 — confirm at the door. The Museum of Cham Sculpture, by contrast, is a firm 60,000₫.
Is Bach Ma National Park open?
Yes, with restrictions from 2025 typhoon damage: vehicles stop at Km12 and the rest is on foot or by summit shuttle, and motorbikes are banned on the summit road. Entry is 65,000₫ for adults and 25,000₫ for children. The restrictions are damage-related and may change, so check before you go.
Why do Da Nang addresses and statistics not match?
Because on 1 July 2025 Da Nang absorbed Quang Nam province, growing from about 1,285 km² to 11,860 km² and taking Hoi An and My Son inside the city limits. Districts were abolished for a city–ward system. Any 2025 or later visitor statistic covers the merged city and cannot be compared with earlier Da Nang figures.