7 March 2026
The plan for the day was to travel from Hoi An to Da Nang in the morning and then spend the rest of the day exploring Da Nang. We did not have many things planned except shopping for local products at Vincom Plaza, followed by seafood dinner and seeing the iconic Dragon Bridge at night.
The 666m long bridge shaped like an undulating golden dragon is the most famous bridge over the Han River in downtown Da Nang.
The Dragon Bridge comes alive every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings with a thrilling fire and water show at 9 PM where we could see the dragon’s head breathing fire and spraying water over the Han River.
Our accommodation in Da Nang for the next 3 nights was the Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre by IHG. This is a luxurious hotel located in the city center, near to the Han River. We could see the Han River and a bit of the Dragon Bridge from our room.
Vincom Plaza
We wanted to shop for local products and snacks in Da Nang and our friend recommended that we do this in a local supermarket in Vincom Plaza that is within walking distance from our hotel.
After a 20 minutes walk through the city and across the windy Han River Bridge, we arrived at Vincom Plaza. This is a shopping mall that is not very big and not touristy.
We saw Vinfast EV cars displayed and marketed at the atrium very much like what BYD and other automotive dealers were doing in Singapore’s malls. Few Vietnamese people were looking at the EV cars, unlike Singapore where BYD cars on display typically draws a crowd of enthusiastic shoppers.
Although Vincom Plaza has a range of stores, we spend most of our time in the Win Supermarket buying local products like cashew nuts, Vietnamese coffee, and packaged freeze-dried fruits. We also bought some local brand cup noodles to try back at the hotel.
Laden with stuff we bought, we took a taxi back to hotel. We overcame the language barrier by booking and paying for taxis using the Grab mobile app.
We rested in our hotel till it was time for dinner. My friend who planned and organised this trip told us that Da Nang is an excellent place to enjoy a value-for-money seafood feast. One of the best seafood restaurants in town was the MỘC Quán Seafood.
MỘC Quán Seafood.
It is highly recommended to make a reservation as this restaurant is often crowded with locals and tourists. My friend had a relative who lives in Da Nang and he helped made the booking for us. Alternatively, one could get your tour guide or hotel concierge to help with the reservation.
Those who showed up without reservation often has to queue. We saw many rows of plastic chairs in front of the entrance, all ready for the hordes of people that turned up without a reservation. Since we came early (before 5 PM) and also had a reservation, we were escorted into the restaurant as soon as we arrived.
We saw rows of glass tanks housing many types of sea critters on our way in. This includes lobsters, prawns, crab, mantis shrimps, shellfish, live fish and other sea critters.
Very comforting sign showing the restaurant’s commitment to providing fresh and quality seafood.
The dining hall was already bustling with diners when we sat down at our table.
We were soon back at the tanks to select the live seafood our dinner. Prices were clearly labelled and includes the cooking fees.
Live lobsters is a must at this place. The price is much cheaper than back home.
We ordered 4 lobsters, i.e. one per couple! This was to be our most expensive dinner on this trip.
After the staff picked the lobsters from the tank, he weighed them in front of us. 4 lobsters weighing a total of 3.365 kg at 230,000 VND per 100g.
The lobster could be cooked in several ways: grilled with salt, grilled with cheese, steamed or cooked with garlic & butter sauce.
For me, the best way to enjoy live seafood is to steam them so we could savour the natural taste. Two couples chose to have steamed lobsters while the other two chose to have them with garlic butter sauce.
After presenting the cooked lobsters for us to snap some photos, the staff with hands covered by plastic gloves, de-shelled the lobsters in front of us and making it easy for us to enjoy the sweet and firm flesh of the lobster.
I also had a taste of the lobster cooked with the garlic and butter sauce. Although delicious, I find the sauce a bit too thick and rich for my liking.
We also ordered a 1.1 kg live grouper. Once again, we chose to have it steamed with ginger and light soya sauce. I found the fish was slightly overcooked and the flesh turns out hard.
The other dishes we ordered includes grilled squid, pomelo salad, baked oysters and scallops. The grilled squid is fresh and delicious with the spicy dipping sauces.
Pomelo salad was refreshing and balanced out the seafood we had.
Big and juicy prawns in the pomelo salad.
There are many groups celebrating birthdays at the restaurant. We also had a birthday boy in our group. He was presented with a small cake and the staff came round to sing the birthday song with music and clapping.
After our seafood feast, we took a slow walk to the Dragon Bridge.
Son Tra Night Market
There is outdoor night market located right under the head of Dragon Bridge. The Chợ Đêm Sơn Trà or Son Tra Night Market is a very nice market selling all sorts of stuff including souvenirs, faked sports and outdoor wear. There are also lots of food stalls offering everything from fresh seafood to local delicacies.
Chợ Đêm Sơn Trà is an outdoor night market with many stalls selling all sorts of stuff.
It was quite crowded with tourists looking to snatch a bargain. Yes, you can do some bargaining to get some discounts off the quoted price. In most cases, the prices quoted is already so cheap that it makes no sense to spend time trying to negotiate and haggle for a lower price.
High quality, cheap but fake sports and outdoor wear. The fire and water show starts at 9 PM so we had some time to kill and chill. We settled down on yellow plastic chairs provided by a coffee stall very near to the head of the dragon. 
Although there are trees partially obstructing the view of the dragon’s head from our seats, we were too lazy to move. While we chilled at the coffee stall, we saw more and more people crowding round the bridge and on the bridge itself. The bridge is actually closed to vehicular traffic for the show.
I took a walk away from the bridge just to get a photo of the whole dragon. Many roadside trees obstruct the view but I was too lazy to cross the road and get to the river bank for an unobstructed photo.
At 9 PM sharp, the show began. Fire shot out from the mouth of the dragon. I think a flame-thrower was probably used. Thick, black smoke accompanied the flames.
Fire breathing dragon in Da Nang.
A few minutes of fire is soon followed by a few minutes of water. A deluge of water shot out from the dragon’s mouth. Those standing on the bridge were drenched!
The performance lasted for 15 minutes. Overall there are nice party vibes all over. After the performance, the crowd dispersed orderly while some stayed to enjoy the party atmosphere. The traffic across the Dragon Bridge resumes almost immediately.
Party mood at the riverbank. Buskers giving a performance to the bystanders.
We took a nice walk across bridge back since our hotel is located on the other side. The views of the city from the bridge were quite nice.
Road is wet from the fire and water show. Imagine standing beneath the dragon head when the water came out.
There is also a gathering and party atmosphere at the tail end of the bridge. Da Nang is actually quite a vibrant city at night.
As we walked back to our hotel, we saw many youngster were hanging out at the cafes and roadside stalls, enjoying their weekends.
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