If you are a travel aholic who is familiar with Korea you must have already known that South Korea’s eastern coast is widely known for its white sandy beaches. Without a doubt the area is highly busy during weekends and holidays. Hence, on my last summer vacation I turned towards the less popular but filled with charming clear seas of Korea’s western coast.

This time we went further beyond to the west southern part where the South Chungcheong province lies (충청남도). And our destination was a pension on Cheongpodae beach in Taean county.  The area is actually famous for its coastal dune landscape and there are at least thirty different beaches awaiting for the sun and sand lovers to visit. In this post I am going to tell you what we discovered during our last visit to Taean.

1. Grabbed a cup of fruity smoothie and basked in the relaxing ambiance at Travel Break Coffee

Travel Break Coffee (트레블브레이크 커피) is located in the pretty secluded area near Changgi Reservoir (창기저수지) in the northern part of Anmyeondo in Taean county, the sixth largest island in Korea. It has a very spacious parking space so you do not have to worry about driving around looking for a spot that is close to the premises. Follow the track uphill to the entrance then you can see how big this coffee place is. There are many rooms that provide indoor seating and terraces for those who enjoy the outdoors.

2. Visited beautiful Anmyeonam, a floating temple by the east sea

Anmyeonam temple is situated on the east sea where the picturesque scenery of a sunrise is admired. The temple has two main complexes, one established onshore and the other floating prominently offshore. The first structure for you to see upon arrival is the three-story chapel facing towards the sea and the view of a floating pagoda wobbling in the middle of the Fox island (여우섬) and Jogunul island (조구널섬) would manifest right before your eyes. Next to the chapel there is a well-established 7-tiered grand pagoda and standing next to it would make you realize how tiny you really are. Strolling further you will find that there are numbers of unique marble statues scattering all around the place.

3. Indulged in fresh seafood and enjoyed some seasonal blue crabs

Blue crab (known as “kkottgae” or flower crab in Korean) is the representative seafood of Taean and as our visit coincided with the autumn blue crab fishing season (September to November), the trip would be in vain if we didn’t try some.

Sang-sang-wang-kkott-gae (생생왕꽃게)

One of the most popular restaurants that pops up when you browse for Taean’s matjib (tasty house in Korean) is ‘Sang-sang-wang-kkott-gae’, literally meaning fresh big blue crab. The place also received a hundred good reviews from Google Review so we decided to give it a try by making it our stop for lunch. Judging by its name there would be no question that it would serve juicy blue crab dishes, but to our surprise various sorts of seafood were also included in the menu. We ordered one good looking plate of fried fish, two dishes of blue crab meat fried rice, and one bowl of soybean paste stew coming with a smaller bowl of freshly cooked white rice. Everything was pretty tasty. I personally liked the stew very much. It was well savory (to me but according to one of my friends, she would say it was spicy) and went perfectly with the blue crab fried rice. The fish dish was great too. Dripped a flaky morsel of aromatic yellow corvina with soy sauce, topped it on a spoon full of warm rice. That was how we fulfilled our seafood cravings and empty stomachs in Taean.

Baeksajang Fish Market (백사장수산물어시장)

Another loving place for seafood lovers when visiting Taean is Baeksajang Fish Market. It is located in Baeksajang Port (백사장항), the largest fishing harbour in Anmyeondo. How good is the seafood here  if you are curious. Well imagine this, as soon as the fishermen dock their boats, all the fresh squirming sea creatures are sold right away to those vendors in the market whose stalls are full with seawater tanks to display their goods to rushly strolling customers. Visit the market in September when the blue crab season begins for a fresh and delicious plate of steamed kkott-gae.

4. Stopped to admire some pink muhly at Cheongsan Arboretum

Opened in 1991, Cheongsan arboretum (청산수목원) is home to more than 200 varieties of trees, water plants, and wildflowers. The botanical garden is known to have the most water plants in the nation. In early July, there is an annual lotus festival where over 20 species of lotus flowers await for visitors to come and admire the beauty at their prime.  And starting in late August, it is time for the fully grown pampas grass, golden rice paddies, and gorgeous pink muhly grass to attract people’s attention. The festival for pampas and pink muhly grass generally lasts till late November and during the event, numbers of photo zones are seen scattered around the garden.

All in all, our journey in Taean was fun. Definitely one day was not enough to look around since there is a lot more thing to see, many recommended dishes to try, and surely numerous hidden spots to discover. Cannot wait to come back for more…

Places Mentioned in This Post

Did this entry help you? Or Did you enjoy my photos? Help support my small blog by giving a little cup of joe. I am always grateful when readers reach out wanting to support 🙂

p.s. This post is independently created. However, when you book or purchase something through the retail links, I may earn an affiliate commission to help keep Ploy’s Little Atlas running. Thank you very much for your support!

p.p.s All images used (unless specified) are owned by the author of the blog and permission is required for a repost. Please, reach out via social media channels to ask beforehand if you’d like to use them.