Haeundae Beach

Haeundae Beach

Haeundae Beach is a beach in Busan, South Korea. Haeundae beach is 40 minutes away from Busan's main railroad station (in the Downtown area), and less than one hour from Gimhae International Airport. Along the 12 km of coastline is Busan's most popular beach, and with Seogwipo's, it is one of the most famous beaches in South Korea. Because of its easy access from downtown Busan, the beach is busy year round with several kinds of beach festivals. Most visitors are domestic. Dongbaekseom (Dongbaek Island), at the south end of the beach, is a popular fishing area. Oryukdo (Oryuk Islets), a symbol of Busan to many Koreans, can be seen in the distance from Dongbaek Island. During the hot summer months (late July to early August when most Koreans take their summer vacation), Haeundae beach becomes heavily crowded into a virtual human wall with thousands of people and parasols packed into a mile of sand. Visitors to the beach come from all over South Korea as well as outside of Korea. Haeundae is home to most of Busan's expatriate population.

There are many beach-related cultural events in Haeundae. Along with Geumjeongsan and Dalmaji (Greeting of the Moon) Gogae, Haeundae is one of the most popular spots in Busan to view the New Year sunrise, with around 1000 people gathering before dawn. Also, a popular beach event occurs in the first week of January when the temperature is around 0°C, the "Polar Bear Club." This event has occurred annually at the Choseon Beach Hotel since 1988. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup match between South Korea and Togo, more than 50,000 spectators filled the beach to cheer for the Korean team on a giant projector screen. The Nurimaru, pure Korean meaning for Nuri (World) and Maru (Peak or top) was developed in preparation for the 17th APEC(Asia pacific Economic Cooperation) summit on Nov 18-19 in 2005, as the conference hall for APEC. The building is three stories high and is located at the tip of Dongbaek Island. The ceiling of the Nurimaru is modeled after Seokguram, a Buddhist temple in Gyeongju.