Surfing in Busan

For our Buddha's Birthday long weekend, the whole Now Bar crew jumped on a tour bus and went to the coastal city of Busan for some surfing, clubbing, and hadcore relaxation. We left around 6 AM on Saturday morning from Itaewon and arrived in Busan around noon. We checked into our hilarious love motel (my bed was circular and there were mirrors), had a quick lunch, and then hit the beach right away!

"Busan has decent surfing?" you might be thinking, "Gimme a break."

But seriously. I'm sure it's no Australia or Indonesia or some other country famous for surfing that I've never been to, but for the beginner and even the novice surfer, Seongjong beach in Busan has a lot to offer. The waves are pretty big (yeah, yeah, they don't look big in the pictures, but look at the people in the water in comparison to the waves) and the beach is in a secluded area, a bit away from the city. The sand goes out really far, and even when you're not surfing the waves are uber fun to play in. There are affordable hotels all along the beach, and the whole landscape/atmosphere is really awesome. You should go!

The surfing itself was difficult. I could barely paddle the board through the waves! I was almost pummeled to death by several huge waves, carrying me and my board under several times, and our instructers (however Australian and attractive) were really hard on us beginners! I should explain at this point that there's a surf shop along the beach that these Australian guys own. They rent out wetsuits and surfboards and they're also certified instructors.

I would comepletely and wholeheartedly recommend this area in Busan. Go down there this summer and give the surfing a try. You can thank me later.



Surfer pose. This was after running and diving into the ocean for the first time this year. The weather was not ideal, but that's what the wetsuits are for!

Lindsay totally has the surfer persona down.

Here we are, learning how to paddle and then jump up when the time is right. "One... two... three... FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT, UP!" However harsh our instructors were at least the lesson stuck with me, huh.

Don't we look like we know what we're doing? So much fun.

The waves were getting big and scary at the other side of the beach, so our instructor moved us further away. I don't enjoy dragging a huge surfboard in the sand for that amount of distance, but the waves were worth it! I'm totally doing this again sometime.