Haeundae Beach

Haeundae Beach is the first name that probably pops up in your head when talking about the beaches of Busan. The beach became even more popular thanks to the film “Haeundae” and is one of the beaches in Busan that attracts the most visitors.

The name, “Haeundae”, comes from Choe Chiwon, one of the geniuses from the Silla Dynasty, who built a stone platform here and engraved “海雲臺 (Haeundae)” in Chinese characters. One of the pen names used by Choe Chiwon was “Haeun (海運)” but the character “Un” is different when it comes to the name and place. But, because they are both pronounced as “Haeun”, people theorize that one of those two names was created here. The letters known to have been engraved by Choe Chiwon are located on the southern rock face.

Haeundae Beach spans broadly between Dongbaekseom Island and the Dalmaji-gil cliffs, and thanks to the cool sea breeze that continues to blow, no matter how hot the day is, it has the advantage to letting you enjoy yourself in the water. Parks and trails are nicely set up around the beach making it great to go for a walk to warm up.

Haeundae is most known for its view at night; fancy hotels and high-rise apartments near the beach allows for an urban night view, which can be enjoyed from a variety of chic cafes nearby. It is visited by a grand number of people during the summer but there are many tourists wanting to take photos of their trip to Busan who come to Haeundae even during the winter, so it is a beach that is always filled with people all year long.