“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”
– Mary Anne Radmacher Hershey
The weather’s getting warmer. The sun is shining longer every day. Spring in Seoul is a welcome sight, and what better way to celebrate than by taking a weekend camping trip?
Last Saturday, a few friends and I decided to kickstart the camping season by taking a trip to Muuido Island, just south of Yongyu Island off the Northwest Coast of South Korea. Muuido, in Korean, means “the dress of a dancer”. It has actually served as a filming location for the drama “Stairway to Heaven,” and the movie “Silmido” (and if you’ve heard of either of those, you’re way ahead of me). It’s not far from where I live, and it’s a perfect weekend getaway from Seoul. To be honest, I really just wanted to see the ocean (which I haven’t seen since I spent Christmas in Indonesia!). Yes, it’s April, and yes, it’s still a little chilly, but why not get away when there are fewer crowds? My friends were in agreement, and so, all arriving from different parts of the Gyeonggi province, the five of us made our way to the International Departures area of the Incheon International Airport.
From the airport, we caught Bus 306 from outside the International Departures terminal on the 3rd floor. It cost ₩1,000 (you can use your T-money card) and we took it to the Geojampo stop. From here, it was a 10 minute walk to the Jamjinnaru Ferry Terminal.
Ferries run every half hour. And this was literally the shortest ferry ride I have ever taken in my entire life (maybe 3 minutes?, from departure to arrival, no joke). From Jamjinnaru, you can actually see the Muuido docking point, and could probably swim across in under 10 minutes. The roundtrip ferry ticket costs a whopping ₩3,000 (about 3 bucks). (Ferry Hours: 07:00-20:00).
When we arrived on Muuido, there was a bus waiting on the shore. We spent another ₩1,000 (doesn’t accept T-money) and about 15 minutes on the bus as it took us across the island. We got off at the second stop (Hanagae Beach).
Apparently, in the summer, this is quite a busy stop. In April, however… not so much. ^^ There were a few families milling about on the beach, a heated soccer game of ajumas vs ajishis, and that’s really about it. The sun came out just as we arrived, and we spent ₩30,000 on a beach hut for the night (₩10,000 of which is a key deposit that you get back). So for about $4 each, the 5 of us secured a private room on the beach. AND it has heated floors. ; )
Luke found a couple Korean policemen (he would), who were altogether too excited to take group photos with us.
Greg the Kiwi brought Vegemite with him (of course he did). He made me a little cracker spread and gave me a cube of cheese. The verdict? Surprisingly delightful. ; )
We happened across a Korean boy-band making a video on the beach for one of their new songs. It was the most entertaining thing to watch.
And when we went for a bit of a walk, we ran into a very friendly hiking group… this woman was thrilled to meet us (from what I could understand through the language barrier, her son goes to school in Canada). And yes, she’s wearing a facemask. And yes, this is the cleanest air I’ve breathed since I arrived in Korea 7 months ago.
As the sun went down, the beach started emptying out. Until the five of us were the only people left.
We made a campfire, we made makeshift s’mores out of choco-pies and roasted them on sticks over the fire. Melissa brought her guitar and we spent hours under the clear, starry sky. When the fire started to burn down, we took the flashlight and hunted in the forest for more wood (we saw wild-pig tracks, too. Not a word of a lie, and yes it was terrifying. But the perfect accessory to some perfectly frightening campfire stories). ^.^
24 Responses
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by kristina meakin. kristina meakin said: Camping in Korea: Beach Huts on Muuido Island – http://bit.ly/cjUXoh New blog post. Last weekend's trip was a success! :) #Korea #lp #travel […]
i had no idea those huts had heated floors! (then again, i’ve only been there in the hot, hot heat of the summer.) great pics! :)
Meakies you are the greatest, we miss yoooou!! xx
P.S. I love your pseudonym. (ya, I just used the word pseudonym.)
Oh. Thank you so much for the details of your travels. I’m a Miami girl and I’m missing the Ocean something fierce. Although the weather is far from being HOT!, I will take any amount of sunshine. I will make it a point to see Muuido Island, very soon.
You guys look like you had a good time. Thanks again,
Cheers,
Francesca
i admire your dedication to documenting your adventures. not to mention the adventures themselves. ^^
How can i reserve a hut?
Hello….your blog came up when I was searching google for hanagae beach huts. How can we reserve them? Can you reserve that day or do you need to call in advance? I would love any advice! Thanks!
Hey! You may be able to reserve a hut in advance, but my best guess is that it’s first come, first served. The little building where you pay for the huts is pretty ghetto and I’d be surprised if they even had a phone in there. My advice would be to arrive early – there are a lot of huts on the beach – and you should be fine. Good luck! ^^
I was trying to Google Muuido island huts and your post came up. The beach looks really nice and a group of us were looking at going there in a few weeks and staying in a hut. What all is in the hut? Do you take showers somewhere else? Are there places to eat close to the huts? Thanks in advance for the help!! :)
Hey! Yes, the beach is wonderful. The tide goes really far out and they let you ride horses, or rent small 4×4’s, if that’s something you’re interested in. As for the huts themselves, there’s nothing inside but a few blankets and pillows. Five of us slept inside, but we were a little cramped. Definitely no more than 5 could sleep in there. :) Showers are just down the beach from the huts, about a 5 minute walk away. Hope that helps, and have a great time! :)
Thanks so much!! I can’t wait to go.
Hi! I just got back from Muui-do and loved my weekend there. You gave lots of useful information here, so thanks!
I spent today making this Wikitravel page, to help people get there in the future. Please take a look and tell me if I left anything out! Thanks!
Do you know if the huts had an electrical outlet? Also, were campfires permitted, and wood available?
Planning on going there this weekend.
Many thanks,
John
Hey, from what I remember, I believe there were electrical outlets in the huts. Maybe one, or two. BUT I could be wrong, so don’t bring anything to plug in that you’re absolutely reliant on having.
As for the campfires… it’s kind of a hush-hush operation – keep it low-key and quiet, and you should be fine. But don’t worry, the huts have floor heaters anyway :)
Have fun!! ^^
[…] Two weekends ago we went to Muuido Island. The island is off the coast of Incheon (a large city an hour from Seoul.) We found out about Muuido through a random expat’s amazing blog, which documents all her trips and how to recreate them: https://www.thevagablond.com/2010/04/21/camping-in-korea-beach-huts-on-muuido-island/ […]
Thanks for the great review, we just went to muuido and loved it. A couple extra notes:
-the lady at the information desk at Incheon Airport directed us to take bus 222 to the ferry terminal. It worked like a charm but 306 may go there as well
-the bus on muuido now takes tmoney (but the ferry doesn’t)
-it’s great to swim in the ocean but there were two bummers: for half the day the water goes way out (like half a mile) so you can’t just lay on the beach and jump in when you get hot
-also be careful going in the water right after the tide comes back in. We got a couple stings in the water (pieces of jellyfish? not sure…)
All in all I really liked Muuido and would recommend it to anyone.
Tim! Thanks for the extra pointers! :) You’re absolutely right about the tide — it goes WAY out! I remember it took us over half an hour to walk from the beach huts to the ocean one day. Unbelievable! And that’s good to know about the jellyfish, yikes – I’ll be sure to wait awhile after the tide comes in before going for a dip! :)
Hi Christina, Thanks for the great posting. It helps me a lot. I am working on the camping plan of my club in the Muuido. One of the most important thing is where to sleep. :) I’m searching on how to make a reservation for the huts, but, it seems like “first come, first served” system so far. Do you know where we can book in advance?
It is great review, thanks again. :)
John
Hey John! I’ve had quite a few people ask the same thing, but unfortunately I don’t know where/how (or even IF) you can book the huts in advance. It’s too bad, because I’d hate to get all the way to Muuido and find them all full! I’d be keen to hear if you manage to find a way to reserve one! And good luck :)
Apparently, you can make reservations through their hotline – 032-7518833. They speak only a little English. Thanks for the information here.
hi me and my bf planned to go to hanage and spend the nite is there anyway i can call to information to reserve the room ?thanks
Do we have to make any reservation or bookings for the Hut in Hanagae Beach? 30,000 won for just 1 night with returnable 10,000 won deposit?
Hi, I’m looking for information on Muuido for my family trip next year (2017) and found your precious blog here. I would like to say thank you for everything useful you & other people shared here.
When you said you found a Korean boy-band making a video on the beach for one of their new songs at that time, I looked at the date you posted and briefly think about my favourite boy-band group who debuted around that time. And you know what … from your photo, they really are! They are INFINITE who nowadays is the Top 5 famous/successful boy-band group in Korea. Their recent song & MV is “The Eye”. You can find and watch it on youtube to see how they are growing and competent from the day you saw them. As a fan of INFINITE, I must say you’re lucky and I’m quite jealous of you now – haha.
Thank you again for your information and wonderful moments in Muuido.