Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is situated on the coast on the North-East side of Busan. This temple is located along the shoreline while most temples in Korea are located in the mountains.
(ภาษาไทย)
This temple is only about a 10-minute drive from Haeundae beach.
From Haeundae to the Temple by Taxi is about 9,000-10,000won ($9-$10) but if you are taking the subway line, you can take the Green line to Jangsan Station (the closest station) then taxi ~8000won or take the blue line to Osiria train station, then take a taxi for ₩5,000.
Don’t worry about finding a taxi on the way back, there is a taxi line in front of the temple.
The temple name is in Korean and it’s difficult to remember or to say. The temple is well-known as the Water Temple for foreign tourists. It’s a good idea to print the temple name in Korean (해동 용궁사) for the taxi and your Korean address as well.
For the train station, just say station name with “Yeok” (역). Example “Haeundae Yeok” is for Haeundae station
We kept it simple and drove our car to the temple, parking was easy (3000 won) in front of the temple.
The temple has no entrance fee, so you just walk-in thru the market.
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple was first built in 1376 and this is a Buddhist temple. So the temple is more than 500 years old!
Walking down 108 steps, one can get close to the waters’ edge which is nice and filled with calming sounds of the waves and great scenic views towards the main temple building.
Midway down the 108 steps, stop and enjoy the waves, and the view.
Views from the top are great for pictures as well.
In the main temple, they are using the Chinese alphabet. This is pretty normal for temples’ and the palace’s in Korea since the ruling class used the Chinese alphabet for trade and government in the past.
There is a lot of climbing narrow and steep steps, be careful if traveling with seniors or children.
In the middle of the temple we saw many people walking inside a little house.
Inside the small house we found steps and a well with holy-water inside. The holy-water they believe is blessed if they drink or take it home for others. We drank and sprinkled he water on our heads for good luck!
Then we walked across the temple grounds for some pictures!
And from here we can walk to the Fisheries and Science Museum.
It’s not a far walk, about 400 meters.
We saw Han-yeo (Korean woman diver) on the way to the museum as well.
We didn’t have to pay for the museum entrance, so I guess this is a free museum!
Most of the activities inside the museum are explained in Korean, so for us it was like an aquarium!
It’s not that a big museum but it’s very nice. I think it’s good for a family with kids (it’s also air-conditioned).
After that, we walked back to the temple where we parked our car.
Stopped to shop around the market in front of the Temple just a little bit. There are many local snacks and dried seaweeds!
We visited this temple in the late morning, and after we went to Gijang Market for a late lunch, we’re looking forward to King Crab for our lunch today!
The Water temple has many people on New Year’s Day that come to make a wish for the new year and watch the sun come up.
April is an especially beautiful time of year with cherry blossoms in full bloom. The birth of Buddha is also celebrated in the fourth month of the lunar calendar and offers a spectacular night view as the temple area is aglow with lit lanterns.
We recommend you to come to visit this temple if you are in Busan.
Our expenses for today was 3000Wan for parking and another 1500 for expressway tolls.
Traveled date: 6/24/18
