The past couple days have been blissfully rainy (who thought they’d ever hear me say that again after Washington), offering a bit of a respite from the extreme heat we’ve had lately here in South Korea. Saturday, however, offered glorious sunshine, and we decided to make the most of it by enjoying another beach day; this time, heading to Yeonpo Beach on the Taean Coast. While our last beach trip to Daechon offered incredible surf and sand, we decided to try another beach – opting for calmer seas this time around.
Visiting Yeonpo Beach on the Taean Coast
Yeonpo Beach first became a vacation destination in 1972 with the rural environment attracting visitors for camping, fishing, and clamming. Today, Yeonpo Beach and the Taean Coast is hailed for its long, curved beach, wide and sandy shore, and small-town living. Combined with the promise of a quieter, calmer surf, and we were completely onboard.
Truth be told, GPS wasn’t quite sure where we were, and our GPS took us to a few different non-accessible beach points before we finally found our way to Yeonpo Beach. For some reason, I was a little surprised to find that the beachfront was actually flanked by campsites (which we’ll obviously have to visit again. It wasn’t busy though, and we made our way through the pines to the shore.
Why Yeonpo Beach is Popular Today
Yeonpo Beach on the Taean Coast is a little beachside town with petite pensions (think: Airbnb rentals), little homes on the rice fields, and tiny mom and pop shops lining the shore. There were several popup floats and slides along the shore, as well.
Unlike busier beaches like Daechon, there didn’t seem to be a big market in renting beach umbrellas for visitors. There were little lean-tos for rent, but we needed an actual umbrella, so I went into a store and managed to communicate with a shop owner that we were looking for an umbrella. She pointed me to the umbrellas, but it was too little, so I used Papago to ask for a beach umbrella. She promptly removed her own beach umbrella and held out her hand and told me “three hours.” I gave her 30,000 won, returned it three hours later, and she gave me my money back. What?! It was really neat, and it was exactly what we needed for a long beach day!
What to Know When Visiting Yeonpo Beach
Cost: Parking is free! The lean-tos were 30,000 Won for a five-hour rental, and we snagged one of those for our group, as well.
The Beach: The water here is warm! It’s also extremely shallow. I went swimming, and I could touch the bottom about 25 meters from the shower with each stroke. So, it’s perfect for families with young children. There is a jetski and water tubing outlet right to the side of the swimming area though, and went wildly just beyond the swimming area. The only real bummer is that there was a lot of trash washing ashore – from plastic, to styrofoam, masks, and more.
Accessibility: This beach is pretty accessible across the board with the right equipment, and it’s great for all ages. There is also an ADA restroom up by the campsites, near the washing facilities.
How to Get to Yeonpo Beach: This is the actual address of the beach for Naver: 충청남도 태안군 근흥면 도황리; we had a little trouble with this, so we searched Yeonpo Resort, and it got us to the right spot.
