Haeundae Beach

Haeundae is in the eastern part of Busan, South Korea's second city and its largest port. The beach is about a kilometre and a half long, backed by one of the densest skylines in Asia — the district holds several of the tallest residential towers in the country.

It is a beach used at industrial scale for a very short season. Korean beach season runs roughly July to August, and in those weeks Haeundae takes crowds counted in the hundreds of thousands on a single day, with parasols set out in numbered rows. Outside that window the sand is nearly empty and the promenade is used for walking. The Busan International Film Festival in October is centred here, which gives the district a second season of a different kind.

The bay is sheltered and shallow with a gentle entry and small waves, and the water is around 23°C in August. Sand has been replenished substantially — the beach was widened significantly in the 2010s. Jellyfish advisories occur in late summer. The Sea of Japan here is colder than the latitude suggests outside high summer.

Development is total and vertical: hotels, an aquarium, a coastal walk to Dongbaek Island, and a converted railway line running east along the coast as a walking and tram route. The fish market at Jagalchi and the old town are twenty minutes away by metro. Gwangalli, two stops west, is the evening beach with the bridge lit across the bay, and Songjeong further east is where Busan's surfers go — the three cover most of what the city's coast offers.

Eight weeks of season and crowds counted in the hundreds of thousands, with parasols in numbered rows across the whole beach. Outside July and August the sand is nearly empty and the promenade is for walking. The film festival in October gives the district a second season of an entirely different kind.