Suncheon bay, Yeosu beaches, and Namhae do: unexpected highlights of Korea’s southern coast

Last Updated on 15 January 2026 by Cycloscope

Best day trips or weekends from Busan, Suncheon Bay, Yeosu, and Namhae do

Bicycle touring in South Korea is not just the “six rivers bike path.” If you followed our Korean bike trip travel journal, you already know how much we fell in love with this country, its islands, and rough coastlines.

This article describes our last rides, hopping from island to peninsula along the southern coast, before reaching Busan. Here we found some great places again that we’ll never forget. Check out this area if you plan to bike in South Korea.

If you’re just visiting (or living in) Busan, consider these great day trips or weekend getaways from Busan. To get out of the Goheung peninsula, we took a very busy avenue to Suncheon. Nothing to report from here, except that this is a boring road.

We tried to visit the Suncheon Bay Wetland Park, but we couldn’t get past the parking lot. It looks like you must pay (about 8,000 won + 7,000 for a short boat trip) to see the rice fields, reeds, and a wet area, very similar to those we’ve seen all over while bicycle touring South Korea. What’s unbelievable about tourist traps is that tourists fall for them.

Out of this, I go one direction and Daniele the other, so we lose each other. I went fast, thinking he was far ahead, but he was actually chasing me… It happens. There is a river with no bridge, so to do those that would have been 900 meters as the crow flies, we cycle 15 more km.

Our secret wetland (Still in Suncheon bay, though)

Finally, we arrive at the beginning of the Yeosu peninsula. It is late, and we are tired; we cycled 90 stressful km. As often happens in this situation, when you least expect it, there appears a paradise.

A wooden platform surrounded by what was once the sea and is now an expanse of red grass and pink flowers, with the light of sunset creating a breathtaking view! One of the most beautiful places where we ever slept.

The platform where we sleep is used by photography enthusiasts who come here to portray these colors. At dawn, a man comes, sings a song to the sea, and walks away. A little later, two photographers came who wanted to photograph us, so we posed with the bikes for them.

Under the red plants, there’s a very special and complex ecosystem, mudfish, weird insects, and finally, we see the crabs with a single giant claw.

This place will remain one of the highlights of our bicycle trip in South Korea. To see exactly where it is, click the first track on the map at the bottom of this article: the point where the track ends is this place. Go visit it!

Yeosu and its beaches

We try to follow a path along this wetland, but it’s interrupted, so we get back to the main road, a violent climb.

We arrive in the city of Yeosu, a fairly large city with about 300.000 inhabitants, where we wander around looking for food and visit the Expo site, where the “sea games” and “youth festival” will begin soon. On stage crew of kid dancers. There will also be a hologram show.

The beaches of Yeosu

In the Yeosu area, there are a few good beaches that we decided to explore; most are located north of the city, while a few more are on the small Dolsan island, connected by a bridge in the south.

Manseongni beach and its pebble sister

Let’s go to the nearby Manseongni beach first to see if we can find a campsite. The beach is designated as a “black sand beach”, but the sand is grayer than black.

It is crowded with people, and you can swim only in a small fenced spot with a life jacket. Basically, you can not swim.

So we go to the beach just next to it, which is inexplicably deserted. Perhaps because it is pebbly and the water is deeper, Koreans are generally not very good swimmers. This doesn’t seem to have a name, and swimming isn’t allowed due to a lack of lifeguards.

Just above it, there is a nice two-story concrete gazebo with a great view, couples of lovers coming looking for an intimate place and remain crestfallen when they find us with the tent.

Mosageum beach

We had a great sleep. Wake up and hit the road. We find the sandy beach just around the corner, behind a small hill. It’s called Mosageum beach; it has golden sand and much nicer water. Needless to say, there are fences to impede you from getting into deeper water. We take a swim anyway.

Sindeok beach

The road goes up and down as always, along the coast through pine trees, as we come to the third beach, our favorite.

Sindeok Beach is small but nice, surrounded by rocks and way less crowded than the other beaches. We take a bath here too. Here, there’s also a campground area.

Yeosu Industrial Area

After all this beauty, the road takes us to the middle of the industrial area, where there is something for all tastes. We’re entering an area of heavy manufacturing and oil refineries, the worst part of our bicycle tour in South Korea.

All around us are huge silos and chimneys, but after all, we’re glad to see this side of South Korea. It exists and mustn’t be ignored; thinking of South Korea as all green countryside is just misleading.

We go on a giant bridge, which is divided into two; in the middle, it rests on an island, which, unfortunately for it, was there. The second part of the bridge, about 4 km long, is scary: strong winds, little space for us, and cars go fast.

Around us, factory after factory. On the mainland, the situation improves; there is a bike path. We stop to eat, and Daniel takes the blood sausage, a Korean specialty called Sundae.

Namhae do

Finally released by the industrial “development,” we resume the waterfront that is muddy again and full of mudfish hunters, hermit crabs, and don’t know what else. We get on another Island called Namhae-do, connected by a bridge.

It’s the fifth-largest island in South Korea, and apparently, it even has some tourism. There is a beautiful bike path along the sea, and we stop to sleep in a small garden.

There are a lot of holes in the ground; we think there are moles, but instead, we see a lot of red crabs with big blue eyes. One eats a potato chip found on the ground and is very cute. Even here, the crabs prefer the mainland.

We woke up with a red crab in the tent. Still promenade until the bridge that brings us back to the mainland. There are a lot of ponds for farming, moved by watermills, maybe shrimps?

Along this last stretch, we see the fish traps placed at the points where the current is strong, a fishing technique typical of Namhae-do. It’s called Jukbangryeom and is practiced in the Jijok Strait of Namhae.

Mechanical breakdowns and bus to Busan

We meet a Korean cyclist who’s about to leave for a bike trip to Europe. He wants to invite us for lunch, but in the meantime, Daniele’s bicycle breaks.

It seems to be the back wheel hub, the geared one, Sachs 3×7, it’s going to be a big trouble. Change of plans: we go to a mechanic.

He doesn’t understand anything about bikes. He says the problem is the chain, only because it is old, so instead of taking it out, he breaks it with pincers! Then he says the cause was not the chain or the crank arm, maybe because it was too old.

Let’s go eat with our friend while the mechanic thinks about it. On the way back, we conclude that the only option is to replace the wheel, but in this city it’s impossible to find one the right size (26 x 1 3/8), so we have to go to Busan.

The cyclist pays us for the chain that the mechanic has now replaced, then takes us to a nearby beach where we can camp. Tomorrow, we will take a bus to Busan.