West coast · Anmyeondo, Taean, South Chungcheong
꽃지해수욕장
Two rocks in the surf that the sun sets between — the classic west-coast sunset.
Kkotji sits on Anmyeondo in Taean Haean National Park, and its two offshore rocks — known as the grandmother and grandfather stones — are what the beach is famous for.
At low tide you can walk out to them; at sunset in the right season the sun drops into the gap between them, which is when the photographers turn up.
What else is here
Kkotji is a long pale beach on Anmyeondo with two rocks standing just off it. The sun goes down between them, and that single fact has made it one of the most-photographed sunsets in the country.
Grandmother and grandfather
Two rock islets off the southern end of the beach. At high tide they are islands; at low tide you can walk out to them across the sand. The legend attaches them to a Goryeo general's wife who waited here for a husband who never came back.
Rated among Korea's best three
The sun sets between the two rocks around the equinoxes, which is when photographers pack the southern end of the beach. It is good all summer regardless.
National park campsites nearby
Kkotji itself does not have a park campsite, but the national park service runs auto campgrounds elsewhere on this coast — Mongsanpo and Hakampo — bookable year-round through the Korea National Park Service reservation site. There are also private campsites and pensions all over Anmyeondo.
A protected stand
The island holds one of Korea's best-preserved stands of Korean red pine, historically protected as a royal timber reserve. There is an arboretum and a recreation forest inland from the beach.
Anmyeondo
Kkotji runs about five kilometres of fine pale sand down the western side of Anmyeondo, the long island at the southern end of the Taean peninsula. It is within Taeanhaean National Park, which is why the development behind it is lower and thinner than at Daecheon.
The two rocks are the thing. Halmibawi and Harabibawi — grandmother rock and grandfather rock — sit just offshore, cut off by the tide twice a day and walkable the rest of the time. The sunset lining up between them is rated one of the three best on the west coast.
Anmyeondo is connected to the mainland by bridge, so you can drive here from Seoul in about two and a half hours. Buses go via Taean town.
Daecheon Beach
The mud festival beach — and the west coast's biggest stretch of sand.
Eurwangni Beach
Thirty minutes from Incheon Airport — the easiest beach in Korea to reach on a layover.
Sinduri Beach & Dunes
The largest coastal sand dunes in Korea, protected behind the beach.