Muuido, South Korea

Last month I went to an island in the Yellow Sea for a long weekend to celebrate Korean Independence Day!

We went to an island called Muuido. To get to Muuido you can take bus numbers 302 or 222 from Incheon Airport; however, I was lucky and bus 302 also leaves from Bucheon! It took me an hour to get from my apartment to the ferry dock on a Friday evening (not too bad of a commute.)

Since Bucheon was the closest city to Muuido, Sam and I arrived on Friday evening to catch the last ferry to the island (6pm) and reserve some beach huts for our group. Since it was a long weekend (Independence Day) and the island is notorious for foreigners flocking there to party and sleep on the beach, we knew it was going to be jam packed.

After the 3 minute ferry ride we hopped on"bus 1", the only bus on the island, that will take you anywhere for 1,000 won. We got dropped off at a deserted Hanaggae Beach. We rented our beach hut (30,000 a night) and went for a walk down the beach.

Suddenly we heard some loud music and laughing coming from a small building on the beach. Deciding to check it out, we walked into the building only to find a large norebang (karaoke room) room with about 100 Koreans singing, eating, drinking and dancing. A girl who spoke English well approached us and told us that this was a company party for the Incheon branch of the Korean Exchange Bank and they would love to have us join them. Next thing we knew we were sitting at the head table along with the managers being guest judges for their karaoke contest. We made friends, sang, danced, and lit fireworks with all the employees. A night in Korea I will remember forever. However, there is no photographic evidence this happened. So sad.

The next morning all of our other friends arrived to a cold and foggy Muuido. The tides on Muuido are insane. It has the lowest tide I have ever seen making the beach seem like an endless mudflat.

Luckily by mid afternoon the sun started to come out and we enjoy the rest of the day playing wiffle ball and laying in the sand.

That night all of the foreigners on the beach made bonfires and drank beers huddled around them together. It was really fun meeting tons of new people that lived all over Korea. I also am a big sucker for bonfires (they always remind me of summer nights on Martha's Vineyard).

The next day we explored the mud flats (and the Koreans digging for clams in the flats) and stumbled upon some interesting things on Hanaggae Beach.

And sometimes we get too close to the cutest Korean nugget children.

This is how many Korean families spend a day at the beach. Covered up under tents with lots of clothes on. Tan is not beautiful here.


I had a great long weekend on Muuido. It was fun to be outside all weekend and live right on the beach. It was beautiful, but not in a normal beach way. The mudflats made for an interesting weekend, a weekend at the beach that was unswimable!