Haeundae Beach, Busan, South Korea

Similar to Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, Haeundae Beach is a famous, must-visit destination in South Korea. We stayed four nights, which was enough time to enjoy our hotel, the beach, Blue Line Park, Gunam-ro, and of course some dishes special to Busan. There are many fancy hotels on Haeundae Beach. We stayed at Paradise Hotel because we love its sister branch, Paradise City, in Incheon, and because my gamblin’ husband has points with Paradise Casino. A quick tangent - Korean natives are not allowed to gamble in South Korea’s casinos, and foreigners must show their passport to enter. We had an incredible ocean view from our hotel room balcony, which also served as a great place to dry our swimsuits. Perhaps a risky thing to do however, because it can get very windy in Busan! Paradise Hotel has a 5-star rating so its amenities are exceptional. We enjoyed their pool, outdoor ocean spa named Cimer, and the Kids Village. In the mornings we ate at the Paradise Lounge to take advantage of our breakfast-included reservation. We also enjoyed cocktails and mocktails at the hotel’s Crystal Garden lounge. The soft sand, shallow shore, and loads of ready-to-rent beach chairs with umbrellas make Haeundae Beach an easy place to spend your entire day. Nearby are many convenience stores that sell all the snacks and beverages you need plus beach toys for the kids. One thing that may make you leave however, are the lifeguards and their whistles, especially if they think the surf is too high. In fact, one afternoon when the lifeguards felt the ocean was too dangerous and too crowded, they stopped people from entering the ocean, except for one tiny area! The surf was good enough to boogieboard that afternoon, but true to Korean culture which was heavily impacted by the 2014 Sewol Ferry Disaster, these lifeguards took every precaution to prevent drownings. We also explored sights off of the beach including Blue Line Park and Gunam-ro. Blue Line Park is home to the Instagram famous sky capsules. Riding the sky capsules is a cute and romantic activity, but a little too slow for my kids’ liking. Gunam-ro is a lively downtown area with shopping, carnival games, restaurants, and street performers. Right off Gunam-ro is the Haeundae Traditional Market that is lined with a wide variety of street food vendors. Busan is of course known for its seafood, as well as 돼지 국밥, pronounced dwaeji gukbap which translates to “pork soup with rice”. We tried 2 places that served dwaeji gukbap. One on Gunam-ro, and one near Busan station, which is about 30-40 minutes away from Haeudae Beach by car. Which one was better? For sure the one near Busan Station which is called Bonjeon Dwaeji Gukbap. It has over 10,000 reviews on Naver! Don’t let the line deter you from eating at Bonjeon. It’s worth the wait! To my readers - I feel so fortunate to cross Busan off my bucket list. 부산이 많이 재미있었어요! Busan was very fun! There was still so much that I didn’t get to see, so I plan to visit again! As always, thanks for reading my post! 안녕 안녕! Bye bye!