Tired from Work? Try Out Daecheon Beach

Popular beachside tourist spots in Korea like Busan (부산), Jeju Island (제주도) and so on are great, but it sure does take a long journey to get to those places. Fortunately, there are some places that are relatively small but only about 2-hour ride from Seoul. Daecheon Beach (대천해수욕장), located in Chungcheongnam-do (충청남도), is a popular tourist spot known for one and only ‘Mud Festival’ in Korea. Boryeong Mud Festival (보령머드축제) has a history of almost 20 years at this point, and attracts millions of tourists every year. This year, it is held for 10 days, from July 21 to 30. If you’re interested, you can refer to its official website (http://www.mudfestival.or.kr/) which is available in English, Chinese and Japanese as well.

I visited Daecheon Beach about two weeks ago, starting from express bus terminal at Central City (센트럴시티 고속버스터미널) (Express Bus Terminal Station (고속버스터미널역), line 3 or 7). You can take a train from Yongsan Station (용산역) of line 1 too, but I recommend the express bus if you’re departing from Wangsimni (왕십리) since the bus station is closer. 2 hours via express bus and you’re in Daecheon! Once you are in Daecheon Express Bus Terminal (대천고속버스터미널) (the express bus terminal and train station are just minutes away from each other), you have to get a bus to the beach. You can either buy a bus ticket at the terminal or pay with your transportation card you use in Seoul. Another 10 to 15 minutes, and finally you’re at Daechon Beach.

Daecheon Beach has a different atmosphere from the beaches in Busan because Boryeong City (보령시) in which Daechon Beach is located is not that big. However, one thing that makes Daecheon Beach an attractive summer vacation spot is the various water-related activities you can enjoy. Daecheon Sky Bike is one of them. Daecheon Sky Bike is a rail bike installed over water (2 to 3 meters above the ground). It runs along the beachside and you can enjoy the beautiful view of the ocean on the bike. Yes, you have to pedal, and it definitely takes some effort to do so. Good news is that the bikes run automatically on uphill parts of the rail. Our bike, however, didn’t work properly and we had to pedal all the way up to the halfway point where the staff fixed the problem. It turned out to be a heavy workout but on our way back we were able to enjoy the view like we were supposed to.

We were obviously worn out when we got off the bike, so we decided to have a cup of coffee and take a break for a while. Coral Coffee (코럴커피) is one of the biggest coffee shops along the beach. It has a well decorated terrace with great lighting, so maybe it would have been better if we visited later at night. I recommend that you go there at night and have something other than coffee(to be honest, coffee was mediocre). Coconut shake was great though!

We spent a peaceful afternoon at the beach with a couple of beers and decided to have grilled clams for dinner. Grilled clams (조개구이) literally refers to a barbecue of clams, and it’s something you will definitely see around beachside restaurants in Korea. There will be people touting but it’s not an unpleasant experience so don’t worry about it. One thing you have to be careful about though is that some people do try to rip you off. Sadly this kind of convention at popular tourist spots still remains, and if you’re a foreigner you have to be extra careful about it. I think it would be best if you visit Daecheon Beach with Korean friends if possible.

Fortunately, the place we picked was okay, and our dinner turned out great!

We had a train to catch so we didn’t get to spend much time after dinner, but the beach at night was really beautiful. There weren’t many people at the beach, so it was a bit too quiet. However was the mud festival is coming up soon, you’ll be able to enjoy the night view of the beach even better with more visitors! If you are in Korea in the month of July, why not visit Daecheon Beach and have fun at the Mud Festival?