An Afternoon in Ocean Park 2 and 3, Hung Yen, Vietnam

Some friends of my wife recently purchased some houses in the 3rd phase of the Vinhomes Ocean Park project, which is part of the Ocean City project.

The 1st phase, known simply as Ocean Park, is located in Hanoi, albeit a bit out of the central Hanoi area. Google maps says it’s about a 30-minute drive from Hoan Kiem lake to Ocean Park, so it’s not that far, but also not quite central.

The 2nd and 3rd phases however are slightly outside Hanoi, in the Hung Yen province. With decent traffic, you’re talking about a further 10-15 minute drive from Ocean Park to get to the Ocean Park 2 and Ocean Park 3 developments.

As far as I’m aware, the 3 phases of this “Ocean City” project are all part of the same development, but the 1st phase (located in Hanoi) is on it’s own, while the 2nd and 3rd phases (in Hung Yen) are connected by a main street and are side-by-side.

Vinhomes Ocean Park Developments

I recently wrote about another Vinhomes project, Vinhomes Smart City, located in another part of Hanoi. While the Smart City complex is much larger than I initially realized, it pales in comparison to the size of the Ocean Park project. It’s freakin massive!! And I mean like MASSIVE massive.

What’s Actually There?

There are variations in the types of buildings and houses/apartments in Ocean Park 2 and 3 - each somewhat contained in their own little neighbourhoods.

Ocean Park 2

In Ocean Park 2, I mostly noticed a lot of shops, restaurants, businesses, and homes/townhouses. But there was also a nice looking park we passed while being shuttled through, and a Vincom Mega Mall that’s currently under construction. There’s probably quite a bit more, but we spent most of our time in Ocean Park 3, since that’s where my wife’s friend’s house is being built.

Ocean Park 3

In Ocean Park 3 there is a water park, which includes an indoor 4-seasons pool, a tropical salt water lake for canoeing and kayaking (with beautiful soft white sand beaches), several children’s play areas, and of course a bunch of water slides that look pretty awesome.

There’s also a separate water “wave” park, an olympic swimming pool (which I didn’t have a chance to see), and a ton of restaurants, shops, and businesses in each of the little neighbourhoods, as well as a sort of “downtown” like area filled with cafes, restaurants, and shops that run along both sides of a canal, connected by a bridge.

On weekends, a light, water, and pirate boat show featuring pirates fighting “the Kraken”, followed by a quick 5-10 minute fireworks display keeps you entertained from about 8:30pm to ~9:15pm. I believe they might do nightly shows on the canal as well (but I need confirmation on that).

You can see some official pics and details on the Vinhomes Ocean Park 3 website.

The Water Park

I didn’t realize there was a water park in Ocean Park 3, and my wife forgot to mention it before hand, so we only entered to have a look around and didn’t get to actually go on any of the slides or pools.

That said, it looks pretty damn awesome! I haven’t been to a water park in over 10 years and can’t really recall what the last one I went to was like, but this one looks like it has a lot of fun slides and pools.

The Pools and Slides

I think I spotted 4 different pools and slides, with 2 or 3 of the slides being the kind you have to climb up multiple stories to get to the top of.

The Salt Water Beach and Indoor Pool

After a quick look at the slides, we headed over to the salt water beach area.

The sand, which must have been imported from another country, is super soft, white, and clean!! It’s not like the sand or beaches you generally find in Vietnam, which are usually a bit more coarse, and quite dirty.

Right next to the salt water beach is the 4-seasons indoor pool. I only had a quick look from the outside though, and didn’t go in.

The Children’s Play Area

After a quick look at the beach and kayaks, we headed over to the children’s play area so our son could play for a bit.

The play areas are really nicely done, and there’s a bunch of structures for younger and older children to play on.

We had arrived at the water park a bit later in the day, so by the time we were done at the children’s play area, the park was actually closing and we had to leave.

I believe there were a few inflatable structures for children further down, as well as a few more water slides, but we didn’t get a chance to see them unfortunately.

So next up, we made our way to the central “downtown” part of the development to grab a shuttle so we could have a quick tour of Ocean Park 2, before heading back to walk along the canal in Ocean Park 3.

The Streets

There was street after street after street, in both Ocean Park 2 and 3, filled with rows of houses, townhouses, and businesses.

There were also apartments being built, but only in the initial stages of construction, so I’m not sure what those will end up looking like.

The houses and townhouses though looked pretty decent, with several styles being built. The issue I have with these types of developments in places like Vietnam is that the “neighbourhoods” all have only a single design that’s just repeated over and over and over again. It’s like living in a cookie cutter neighbourhood, which I’m not a fan of.

So while the different neighbourhoods in Ocean Park 2 and 3 all have their own unique designs, the houses and townhouses within each neighbourhood are all the same.

I can’t imaging stumbling home drunk and trying to find your house in one of these neighbourhoods, because they all look identical! 😂

The Wave Park

As we made our way through Ocean Park 2, we passed by the wave park, which is a separate area from the water park.

It was quite dark by now, and the wave park was closed, so we were only able to get a quick glimpse from the outside.

You can’t tell from the pic above, but it’s massive, and spans quite a long distance.

The Vincom Mega Mall

There’s also a Vincom Mega Mall being built, but it’s all under construction at the moment with tons of scafolding covering it up, so I didn’t bother taking any pics of it.

The Canal and Shops

After our quick tour of Ocean Park 2, we headed back to the central “downtown” area of Ocean Park 3 to walk along the canal and wait for the fireworks to start.

The canal is really quite beautiful, and the buildings and shops here seem to be of a mixed design, which is nice.

When we first arrived at the canal, we saw a pirate ship in the water. We only later realized that it’s used in a pirate show that happens on weekends, before the fireworks start.

You can even stop off in some of the cafes to have a drink or a bite while sitting and relaxing along the canal.

Quite the beautiful setting I think!

The Pirate Show and Fireworks

After walking along the streets and canal for a bit, we found a spot to sit and watch the pirate show that was about to start, followed by the fireworks a bit further away…

My Thoughts on the Actual Build Quality of the Homes

I just recently posted about my thoughts on the Vinhomes Smart City complex, and how I feel about the forethought (or lack thereof) and layout of the apartments.

And after seeing some of the homes in Ocean Park 3 up close, I feel like my view of Vinhomes is justified.

From a distance, the homes look pretty decent…

But up close reveals a different story…

The workmanship is very shoddy, and despite being entirely brand new, there are cracks all over the facade of the homes (visible in the above 1st/left and 3rd/right pics), and the paint is already peeling off or bubbling in some areas.

I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt and say those cracks might only be superficial, and not structural, but it’s still not a good look - new builds should never have visible (or any) cracks immediately after being built as far as I’m aware. There’s also no excuse for the horrible granite and stone work. I mean come on now!

Final Thoughts

Despite my issues with the build quality of the homes, I think the Vinhomes Ocean Park 2 and 3 developments are really quite beautiful and have a lot to offer.

I like the idea of having everything you need within walking distance, and the water park and other amenities are a nice touch.

The canal is also quite beautiful, and having that “downtown” area with cafes and shops along the canal, and so close to the homes, is really convenient - and fun!

And finally, like the Smart City complex, I really appreciate the walkability of the development - something that is sorely lacking in most of Vietnam.

I think I might even consider living in a place like this if I were to ever move to Vietnam full-time, but I’d be curious to first see how this developement looks in 5-10 years time, and if the build quality holds.