East coast · Samcheok, Gangwon
Maengbang Beach
맹방해수욕장
A long, flat, empty beach — and a cherry blossom road running behind it.
Maengbang is one of the longer beaches on this coast and one of the least crowded, largely because Samcheok is further from Seoul than the Gangneung beaches.
The road behind it is lined with cherry trees that flower in early April, which is the other reason people come.
Photograph by pcamp, licensed under CC BY 2.0. Resized for this page.
More on the east coast
Gyeongpo Beach
Gangneung's big, easy beach — white sand, a lake behind it and a KTX from Seoul.
Naksan Beach
Four kilometres of sand with a pine forest behind and a clifftop temple above.
Hajodae Beach
Turquoise water, very few people, and Korea's surf scene a few minutes up the road.