Camping at Yulpo Beach

In mid July, I was able to check off something from my Korea bucket list: camping! Before coming to Korea I’d read countless blogs about how great and cheap camping in Korea was. I love camping so naturally I wanted to try camping here; I didn’t think I’d be able to after one failed attempt (we underestimated how long it would take to get to the campsite), and I was ecstatic when a friend asked me to go camping.

We decided to go camping at Yulpo Beach in Boseong. I’d been to Boseong twice before to visit the green tea fields, but had yet to visit the beach even though it was very near to the fields. We bought some very cheap tents ($20.00), packed a sleeping bag (yes, we were not that prepared), and were all set to go!

We took a bus directly from Gwangju to Yulpo which took about an hour and a half and cost 13,000 KRW ($10.00) one way. We arrived at the beach around noon and after getting a quick lunch, jajangmyeon, headed to the beach to find a spot. I was a little worried about finding a place to camp since my friend had said we could camp for free on the beach, but the spots filled up fast. This is pretty different from when I’ve camped in the U.S. when you typically have to make a reservation beforehand. However, we were able to find a spot pretty easily although there were plenty of other people already set up. Apparently, a lot of camping in Korea is free which is pretty amazing and offers a really cheap travel option for people.

Setting up camp only took about five minutes as the tents we’d bought were really small and simple to set up. They were a bit smaller than anticipated, but we could fit two people in each tent plus their baggage and still have extra space.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out on the beach. We swam for a while and then when it was low tide we walked along the beach. It was such a nice, relaxing afternoon.

Yulpo Beach was extremely convenient to camp on, because there was a city right there which meant there were convenient stores, restaurants, cafes, etc. It also had showers that we had to pay 1,000 KRW ($0.77) to use. We didn’t have to plan for dinner as we just went to a barbeque restaurant nearby. Not having to worry about lugging around food and water for the trip was so nice and since we were traveling by bus, it would’ve been much more difficult to do so.

After our barbeque, we spent the night playing games and talking on the beach. Koreans like to shoot off Roman candles on the beach so we even enjoyed some fireworks. The perfect way to end a great day.

The next morning we had a chill start to the day, packed up, and then caught a bus back home. Overall, it was a short camping adventure, but was one of my most fun memories I’ve had in Korea. We also got very lucky with the weather since it only drizzled on us a tiny bit, anything else and I doubt our tents would've held up... It was a great time with a great group of people:)