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Yangyang · Where to stay

Where to stay in Yangyang

양양 숙소 지역

Yangyang is two coasts in one county: a surf coast around Jukdo and Ingu, where the county says shallow water suits beginners, and a temple coast at Naksan, where VisitKorea dates Naksansa to 671. Stay at Jukdo and Ingu if you are coming to surf, and at Naksan for the temple, the sunrise, frequent buses and the airport. Here is the quick answer, then everything behind it.

Ingu Beach, its small port and the village behind it, Yangyang
Ingu Beach, its small port and the village behind it, Yangyang. Photo: EasyKL · CC BY-SA 3.0. Photo credits

Quick pick

Quick pick by trip type
Your tripStay inWhy
Learning to surfJukdo & InguThe county calls Jukdo's shallow water good for nervous beginners, and VisitKorea says Ingu's shallow water attracts many novices.
Autumn, winter and spring surf tripsJukdo & InguKorea.net's 2022 feature says Yangyang's waves are best from autumn to spring, and the county says Jukdo is famous for winter surfing.
Surf-town eveningsJukdo & InguYangridan-gil, the county's Surfing Beach Road, where Korea.net found cafés turning into bars after 10 p.m.
Hyuhyuam, Hajodae and Namae by carJukdo & InguHyuhyuam is about 900 m from Ingu Beach, and Hajodae a ten-minute drive from Jukdo Beach, by VisitKorea's figures.
First visitNaksanNaksansa, Uisangdae and Hongnyeonam beside Naksan Beach, with city buses from the terminal about every 10 minutes.
Sunrise and templesNaksanVisitKorea calls Uisangdae a famous sunrise viewing spot, and its Korean guide ranks the dawn there among the finest on the East Sea coast.
TemplestayNaksanNaksansa runs templestays booked online, and the one-night programme ends with sunrise at Hongnyeonam (VisitKorea Korean, 2019).
Travelling without a carNaksanSix city bus routes run from the Yangyang terminal to Naksan about every 10 minutes on the county's undated timetable.
Flying into Yangyang AirportNaksanVisitKorea puts Naksansa about 10 minutes from the airport by taxi.

Why stay the night in Yangyang

Yangyang gives you two reasons to stay, and they sit in different parts of the county. The first is the surf. The county lists six surf spots across 15 beaches where specialist surf shops and surf schools operate all year, and VisitKorea says Yangyang is considered the best place to surf thanks to its windy beaches and shallow water. VisitKorea's Korean-language guide goes further and calls Jukdo and Ingu the mecca of Korean surfing, and VisitKorea's 2024 smart-tourism page calls Jukdo Beach the birthplace of Yangyang's surfing boom. Between the two beaches runs the Surfing Beach Road, which the county added as the tenth of its Yangyang 10 Scenic Sites, nicknamed Yangridan-gil for its cafés, pubs and clubs.

The second is the temple coast. Naksansa, says VisitKorea, was built in 671 by the monk Uisang, and the county tells how Uisang meditated at Uisangdae that year. The pavilion stands on a sea cliff on the path to Hongnyeonam, a small hall on the rocks that the county calls one of Korea's three great sanctuaries of Avalokiteshvara. VisitKorea calls Uisangdae a famous sunrise viewing spot, and its Korean guide counts the dawn from Uisangdae and Hongnyeonam among the finest on the East Sea coast. A mountain fire in 2005 destroyed 20 of the temple's buildings, VisitKorea writes, including the hall of its bronze bell; the county records that the temple was restored.

Around both, the county's coast fills out a longer stay: Hyuhyuam hermitage by the sea, the Hajodae pavilion and lighthouse, Namae Port, which VisitKorea calls the largest port in the Yangyang area, and Yangyang-eup's five-day market and salmon river. Korea.net's 2022 feature puts Yangyang about 155 km from Seoul, and VisitKorea's 2021 surf feature calls it a popular summer retreat among Koreans for its coastal scenery.

Eat what the county is known for. VisitKorea's 2024 Yangyang guide names three must-try dishes: songi mushroom, seopguk (mussel soup) and ttugeori-tang (spicy floating goby stew). The pine mushroom is also half the name of Yangyang's October festival.

The two bases compared

Our rule is simple. Come to surf, stay at Jukdo and Ingu. Come for the temple, the sunrise or a trip by bus, stay at Naksan.

Jukdo and Ingu are the surf towns. The two beaches run either side of Jukdo, a hill of pine and bamboo that the county says was once an island. The county calls Jukdo Beach a good place for novice surfers who are nervous of the sea because the water is shallow, and says it gets good waves in all four seasons and is famous for winter surfing; VisitKorea says Ingu's shallow water attracts many novice surfers and notes accommodation and surf shops at the beach. Jukdo-jeong pavilion sits on the hill between them, open on military-area hours, and Hyuhyuam is about 900 m from Ingu Beach. The trade-off is the bus: city bus 12 reaches the Ingu 1-ri stop four times a day on the county's undated timetable, with Gangneung-bound intercity buses on top, so a car makes this base easier.

Naksan is the temple coast and the easy base. Naksansa, Uisangdae and Hongnyeonam sit beside Naksan Beach, which VisitKorea calls one of the most famous beaches in Yangyang and the county lists as open all year, with cafés, convenience stores and lodging of every kind nearby. Six city bus routes run from the Yangyang terminal to Naksan about every 10 minutes, and VisitKorea puts Naksansa about 10 minutes from the airport by taxi. The trade-off is the surf: the beginner beaches of Jukdo and Ingu are a separate trip.

Two nights works well: one at Naksan for the sunrise and the temple, one at Jukdo and Ingu for a lesson and an evening on Yangridan-gil. Keen surfers should spend the whole stay at Jukdo and Ingu.

Surfing in Yangyang: what the county says

Yangyang County's surf page divides the coast into six surf spots, each a cluster of beaches and ports, and says that specialist surf shops and surf schools operate all year at its 15 beaches. These are the spots it names:

Surf seasons, lessons and etiquette

The waves come in autumn, winter and spring. Korea.net's 2022 feature says Yangyang's waves are best from autumn to spring because they come from the north, VisitKorea's Korean guide calls autumn the surfing season, and the county says Jukdo is famous for winter surfing. Summer is beach season instead: the county separates swimming and surfing zones, so stay inside yours.

Beginners are well served. VisitKorea's Korean guide says most surf shops at Jukdo and Ingu run beginner programmes: a safety briefing, land training and practice in the sea, with about two hours of teaching followed by free practice. Korea.net recommends longboards for beginners as the most stable and buoyant boards. The county's advice is to pick a licensed school whose instructors hold valid CPR and lifeguard or first-aid certificates, and which has insurance.

Plan your session with Smart Surf City Yangyang. VisitKorea's 2024 page on Smart Surf City Yangyang describes live webcams at 13 beaches, wave charts with weather, wind and tide, and guidance on which conditions suit beginners or advanced surfers.

Keep to the county's surf etiquette:

Getting to Yangyang

By bus from Seoul is the standard route. VisitKorea's bus guide lists Yangyang among the destinations of both Seoul Express Bus Terminal and Dong Seoul Terminal. The county gives about 2 h 38 min from Seoul Express Bus Terminal, with the first bus at 07:05 and the last at 22:30, and about 2 h 10 min from Dong Seoul Terminal, first 06:30, last 18:40. Both arrive at the Yangyang Integrated Passenger Terminal, which the county says opened on 1 July 2022 at 2700 Donghae-daero in Songam-ri, replacing the former private express terminal. Heading back, the county's transit site lists 12 non-stop express departures to Dong Seoul between 07:05 and 20:00, about 2 h 10 min, and 11 intercity departures between 07:00 and 17:20, taking from 1 h 50 min to 3 h 15 min depending on stops.

By car, the county gives about 2 h 10 min from Seoul on the Seoul–Yangyang Expressway, via Chuncheon, and about 2 h 30 min via the Yeongdong Expressway and Gangneung. The expressway's last section opened on 30 June 2017, when the transport ministry put the full 150.2 km route at 90 minutes from Seoul and Incheon Airport at 2 h 20 min; the county's current figure is the one to plan on. The county's surf page names three exits: Bukyangyang IC for the Seorak and Naksan side, Hajodae IC, and Namyangyang IC for Gisamun and Wonpo. For Ingu, VisitKorea's Korean guide routes drivers off at Hajodae IC.

By air, Yangyang International Airport is, in VisitKorea's words, the lone international airport in Gangwon State. VisitKorea's airport transport guide puts Naksansa and Hajodae about 10 minutes away by taxi, and its domestic-flights page puts the Yangyang terminal about 20 minutes by city bus; the county's route 100 runs between the airport and the terminal, first 08:10, last 18:20.

There is no railway station in Yangyang yet. Gangwon State's page on the Donghae Bukbu Line, updated in December 2025, lists a planned Yangyang Station in Songam-ri, Yangyang-eup, on the Gangneung–Jejin line, alongside Gangneung, Jumunjin, Sokcho, Ganseong and Jejin stations, and gives no opening date. Korea National Railway's 2023 release describes the 111.7 km line running from Gangneung through Yangyang and Sokcho to Jejin Station. Until it opens, come by bus or car.

Getting around: the county's local buses

Everything starts at the Yangyang Integrated Passenger Terminal. The county's beach timetable, which carries no date, lists these departures from the terminal; it gives no journey times, though the county's route planner puts route 12 at about 34 minutes from Songam-ri, where the terminal stands, to Gwangjin, home of Hyuhyuam. The county runs a transit call centre on 080-850-9486, weekdays 09:30–17:30.

For the coast beyond, the county's Gangneung-bound intercity buses take about 1 h 5 min to Gangneung and list the Naksan bus stop, Yangyang Airport, Hajodae, Ingu-ri and Namae-ri among their boarding points.

Seasons and festivals

Yangyang's year turns on the sea and the salmon. The waves are at their best from autumn to spring, by Korea.net's 2022 account, and summer is the swimming season: in 2025 Naksan Beach's season ran from 11 July to 24 August, says VisitKorea, and the county's undated text gives Hajodae Beach 10 July to 20 August each year. In April, cherry blossoms line Namdaecheon-ro along the Namdaecheon, which the county calls the home of Yangyang's salmon; VisitKorea's Korean guide sends families from October, when the salmon return, to March, when young salmon are released.

The Yangyang Pine Mushroom & Salmon Festival is the big autumn event. In 2026 it ran from 16 to 18 October on the Namdaecheon riverside in Yangyang-eup, hosted by Yangyang County and the Yangyang Cultural Foundation, with a pine-mushroom treasure hunt, salmon bare-hand catching, a salmon eco-tour and a cooking show. The county describes its salmon festival as held every year in mid-October; the next festival's dates had not been published at the end of October 2026.

Winter belongs to Naksan Beach. The Naksan Beach Moonlight Bonfire Festival ran from 28 February to 1 March in 2026, with a bonfire zone, busking and a winter snack market, hosted by Yangyang County and the Yangyang Cultural Foundation. VisitKorea's Korean guide says the beach also holds a New Year sunrise festival, Uisangdae and Hongnyeonam are famous sunrise spots, and Naksansa's templestays are busy over the year's end. Book New Year at Naksan early.

Week to week, time a day for Yangyang-eup's five-day market, held on the 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th and 29th of every month, with seasonal fruit, vegetables, fresh fish, rice cakes, kalguksu, fried chicken and twisted doughnuts.

Onward to Sokcho and Gangneung

Yangyang sits between two of Gangwon's coastal cities, and both are an easy hop. From the Yangyang terminal, the county's Sokcho-bound intercity buses call at Naksan, and its Gangneung-bound intercity buses reach Gangneung in about 1 h 5 min, 51.5 km away. From Yangyang International Airport, VisitKorea says Sokcho and Gangneung are 30 to 40 minutes by intercity bus, and its airport transport guide puts them about 30 and 45 minutes away by taxi. Gangwon State's station list for the planned Donghae Bukbu Line runs Gangneung, Jumunjin, Yangyang and Sokcho. See our Sokcho and Gangneung guides for the next stop.

Every Yangyang area guide

Questions visitors ask

Where should I stay in Yangyang to surf?

At Jukdo and Ingu. The county calls Jukdo Beach a good place for nervous beginners because the water is shallow, VisitKorea says Ingu's shallow water attracts many novice surfers and notes accommodation and surf shops at the beach, and most surf shops there run beginner programmes. The county also says Jukdo gets good waves in all four seasons and is famous for winter surfing.

Where should I stay in Yangyang without a car?

At Naksan. On the county's undated timetable, city buses 8, 9, 81, 9-1, 94 and 95 run from the Yangyang Integrated Passenger Terminal to Naksan about every 10 minutes, 07:23–21:03, and VisitKorea puts Naksansa about 10 minutes from the airport by taxi. Jukdo and Ingu have city bus 12 four times a day, plus Gangneung-bound intercity buses.

How do I get from Seoul to Yangyang?

By bus from Seoul Express Bus Terminal, about 2 h 38 min, or Dong Seoul Terminal, about 2 h 10 min, to the Yangyang Integrated Passenger Terminal, by the county's figures. By car, the county gives about 2 h 10 min on the Seoul–Yangyang Expressway. There is no train yet.

Is there a train to Yangyang?

Not yet. Gangwon State lists a planned Yangyang Station in Songam-ri, Yangyang-eup, on the Gangneung–Jejin line of the Donghae Bukbu Line, and its station page gives no opening date. Until then, come by bus from Seoul Express Bus Terminal or Dong Seoul Terminal, by car on the Seoul–Yangyang Expressway, or by air to Yangyang International Airport.

When is the surf season in Yangyang?

Autumn to spring. Korea.net's 2022 feature says Yangyang's waves are best then because they come from the north, VisitKorea's Korean guide calls autumn the surfing season, and the county says Jukdo is famous for winter surfing. Summer is swimming season, when the county separates swimming and surfing zones.

When is the Yangyang Pine Mushroom & Salmon Festival?

In 2026 it ran from 16 to 18 October on the Namdaecheon riverside in Yangyang-eup, with salmon bare-hand catching, a pine-mushroom treasure hunt and a salmon eco-tour. The county describes its salmon festival as held every year in mid-October, and the next festival's dates had not been published at the end of October 2026.

Sources & review

Editorial review: · Korea Standard Time