If you are looking for scenic and fun activities in Busan, Haeundae Blueline Park offers beautiful coastal views and cute rides. You will find both the colorful and cute Sky Capsule and a lovely Beach Train. The park was redeveloped using old abandoned railway tracks and opened in 2020. The result is a spectacular (very Instagrammable) tourist area, where you can spend even a whole day.
I believe it should certainly be a part of your Busan itinerary.
Haeundae Sky Capsule
Price for 2 people: 1 way – 40,000 won, return ticket needs to be purchased separately. Not included in the Busan Pass.
The Sky capsules run only between two stops – Mipo near Haeundae beach and Cheongsapo. It’s slower than the train and takes about half an hour to get from one station to another.
Each Sky capsule fits max 4 people and they allow minimum 2-person fare to be paid. This means that if you travel alone, unfortunately you will have to pay for 2 persons. On the positive note though, you will get the whole capsule to yourself.
Busan Beach Train
Prices: 1 way – 8,000 won, Round trip -12,000 won, all day ticket – 16,000 won. Included in the Busan Pass.
The beach trains runs from Mipo to Songeong via Cheongsapo and has several stops. The ride from Mipo to Songjeong takes about half an hour.
The train has 6 stops: from Mipo you can hop off at Dalmaji tunnel, Cheongsapo stop, Daritdol Observatory, Gudeokpo or go all the way to Songjeong. The train has two rows of seats and is often very crowded.
Note: there is also a package fair for 1 way Sky Capsule + Beach train, but it costs 65,000 won for 2 people, as opposed to 72,000 = 40,000 (1 way Sky capsule for 2) + 32,000 (all day train ticket for 2), but it doesn’t provide much of a discount, unless, you want unlimited train rides.
How to Buy Busan Sky Capsule and Beach Train Tickets
I highly recommend purchasing your tickets in advance online. If you are visiting on a weekday not during a busy season, you may be able to get tickets on the spot at the ticket office. However, you can’t be sure of that even on quieter days, while weekends (especially during cherry blossom and autumn seasons) are almost always sold out in advance. Also particularly busy times are just before sunset, as people love watching sunset from the capsule.
We visited on a weekend day and didn’t have too much flexibility in terms of coming here twice or staying around all day, if certain slots were not available. So I made sure to book tickets 2 weeks in advance. I have heard people having issues with foreign cards, but I didn’t encounter any particular problems with payment or otherwise. We received the email confirmation, which we presented at the ticket office on the day to get the actual tickets.
If you encounter any issues with the official website, you can purchase tickets without any tours on Trip.com.
Alternatively, you can opt for this group tour, which includes Sky Capsule tickets, if selected. Klook also offers private and shared tours, which include visit to the Haeundae Park and tickets.
Haeundae Sky Capsule or the Beach Train?
Deciding on Sky Capsule vs. Beach Train comes down to how much you want to spend, how much time you have and how badly you hate queues:
- If you can splurge a bit and have enough time I recommend taking the Sky Capsule one way and Beach train back to experience both. Ride the Sky Capsule from Cheongsapo to Mipo, as this reverse leg always has more availability, then hop on the Beach Train back.
- If you are on a very tight budget, choose the Beach Train only. You can get an all day pass and explore all stops by hopping on and off as often as you like. This won’t help with the crowds though, as the train is often full.
- If you have a very short time, then choose whichever you want to ride more. We decided to only do Sky Capsule one way – Cheongsapo to Mipo – as this direction usually has less crowds, so we would have to wait less. We had too short time in Busan and couldn’t afford to explore the train as well and venture to Songjeong and farther.
Our Sky Capsule Experience
I purchased our tickets in advance online. Before our ride, we explored Cheongsapo with its observation deck and lovely cafes. Once the time on our booked ticket neared, we headed to the station. The ticket has a 30-minute slot (for instance, it says 15.00-15.30), which means that your boarding time is within this window. You may have to wait quite a lot (for both Sky Capsule and train) if the station is busy. We showed up slightly earlier than our 30-minute window and had to wait about 10 minutes from Cheongsapo to Mipo.
We loved our slow ride in the colorful Sky capsule – they come in green, red, blue, yellow and pinky-colorful (this last is for the Busan festival). It’s lovely observing the other Sky capsules in front and behind, as well passing ones. On this route we were on the track on the side of the forest, not the sea, but we had an amazing sea view, as well as lots of opportunities to take photos of the passing capsule with sea in the background.
Small side windows actually open for you to take photos or feel the wind. We certainly used this for our photos, as well as saying hi to people in passing capsules 😊
First, we got lovely greenery and sea views. Towards the end of the ride, we got nice shots of the Haeundae high rise skyline as well.
Overall, it took about 30 minutes, however, we felt this time flew by really fast. We wouldn’t mind having even more time. I have heard people say it was too long and boring, but I personally don’t understand this.
This was one of our favorite activities in Korea, so I do recommend doing this, especially if you like trains and nice views.
By the way from the capsule, we noticed a terraced café Dongbaek 104. From the terrace, you can watch the passing capsules and take cute photos. Once you are done with your ride, you can check out this or another cute café in Mipo or Cheongsapo.
See details of the possible options in the area in my post dedicated to Busan cafes.
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