Busan 2019: Haeundae Beach (해운대해수욕장)

After spending a couple hours up at Beomeosa Temple in the mountains just north of Busan, I decided I wanted to hit the beach so I caught a bus back down to the city and then transferred to the metro network. After a long metro ride I arrived at Haeundae Station and stepped out into the sun. (As a side note let me mention that when visiting Busan you really need to budget time for transit because most of the sights are spread far apart across the city.) Haeundae is one of the glitzier parts of Busan and seems to be home to a sizable chunk of the city’s foreign population, but more importantly it is the neighborhood with Busan’s most famous beach. From Haeundae Station it’s about a half-kilometer walk straight down to the beach, passing by a lot of restaurants, bars, and other businesses marketed to visitors.

At the end of the street Haeundae Beach stretches out before you in both directions. It’s a really nice sand beach and during the summer it’s absolutely packed with visitors, but I was there in October so there weren’t so many beachgoers that day. Towards the eastern end of the beach there are three glimmering skyscrapers. In 2017 these towers were still under construction but in 2019 they have finally been finished and all three had a brilliant blue color that looked really good in the sunshine. I walked down towards the water and took a seat on the sand. For ten or so minutes I just sat there and rested, taking in the sounds of the beach and the gentle rhythm of the waves. Once I was ready I got up and slowly worked my way west along the beach. At times clouds would block the sun but only for a short while. I had chosen a good day to visit Haeundae and taking a slower pace at the beach was a good change of pace after the hiking I had been doing previously in the mountains.