Boryeong Mud Festival Sauna Accommodations

Well, my search has revealed only one sauna (no jjimjilbang) in the area of Daecheon Beach. Haesu Sauna is very near the main beach entrance but has little information listed anywhere on the internet. From the map, it looks to be a big building but I'm not sure if there are any sleeping rooms available there.

I'm sorry ~ I wish I had better news for all you spa lovers. It would be an excellent way to save money during the festival, as the motels and minbak can be more than double their regular rates. My best advice for now would be to get yourself a minbak room. After all the sun and sand you could check out this sauna for a little rinse-down then go out walking around/drinking/eating until dawn as others will. Anyway, with a minbak or motel room, you'll have somewhere to leave your bag.

I'll be attending the Boryeong mud festival on the second weekend (July 17th - 18th) so at that time I'll update this post with more information with details of the Haesu Sauna. Until then, if you have any information about good motels or minbak, and especially about a sauna or jjimjilbang, please comment on this post.

Work N Play's information page for Boryeong Mud Festival

Wikimap of the Boryeong & Daecheon Beach area

Busan, Jung-dong, Dalmaji (Haeundae) - Vesta Spa & Fitness

Vesta Spa & Fitness is currently under construction. It is scheduled to be completed on June 1, 2010. I believe they are closed for business during this time; I'd recommend calling ahead if you plan on visiting this month.

This large, well-located spa has a long reputation among foreigners and Koreans alike in Busan. Since I've heard so many good things about the place, I had high expectations. Luckily, I had the treat of visiting with someone who had been there many times before, including once long ago. She was able to offer some well-needed insight on my experience.

As soon as I arrived, from the back of the building it turned out, I noticed the unassuming entrance with a boardwalk around to the front. That's where I first saw the incredible view from their excellent location. Inside, it was clear how long they've been at their excellent location. The lockers are worn, and the keys and outfits show it too. Once in the water, you'll notice even the shower water is a bit salty (not sure what that's about, though my friend said it wasn't always like that) and the tubs could be filtered better. I was there on a Thursday afternoon and they were cleaning one of the main baths~ a tad disappointing.

Despite this, the view from the sauna was enough to make me forget the downsides. Just outside on the veranda there's a nice hot tub with some sunshine, surrounding privacy fence, and foliage. It faces seaside, so bring your shades: it gets bright!

In the jjimjilbang you can find most of the traditional rooms like yellow-soil, fire-hot (bulgama), and pretty jewelry room. There's also a small ice room, sports massage, nail art, aroma therapy, and a DVD resting room. Again, the view from here makes up for a lot.

Outside of the jjimjilbang you can find some small co-ed swimming pools (you can rent a suit for 2,000 won!) and the Sky Lounge, perfect for relaxing in the sun or enjoying some sea air with your sweetie. Since I visited during wintertime I didn't get to enjoy it. (Look for updates soon.^^)

I had a nice time here but I'd say it doesn't exactly live up to it's reputation any more. According to my friend, when it was a much nicer newer place it was the best in town. After years of heavy tourist traffic Vesta has started to show it's age, but don't cross it off your list yet - it still offers one of the best views of the seaside in Haeundae and is overall a lovely place to relax.

부산 해운대구 중동 1509-6
Busan, Haeundae-gu, Jung-dong 1509-6
051-743-5705
Open 24 Hours

RATES
Sauna : Adults 5,000   Children 3,000
Sauna & Jjimjilbang : Adults 8,000   Children 5,000

Wikimapia of Vesta Spa & Jjimjilbang

Busan, Gwangan - KA (Kwang An) Sporex

Recently, a friend of mine told me his parents own a jjimjilbang near Gwangan. We got to talking about it and I decided I ought to check it out for you. I mean, I have a list of places I need to visit, but he is my friend after all, and I wanted to see what kind of place it was.



Here's how to get there: As you exit Gwangan subway station take exit 2. On your left immediately out of the exit you'll see a large Busan band - turn left around the bank and walk straight up that hill. After you pass the Top Mart (on your right ~5 minutes from the subway) you'll see the KA Sporex on the left.


So last Sunday I headed out to see KA Sporex. Firstly, my internet searches revealed inconsistencies. The Daum local listing only categorizes this place as a sauna or mok-yok-tang, not a jjimjilbang, though a search on Naver maps will show it as a jjimjilbang. Likewise, the reviews, ratings, and few photos visible on Naver cannot be found from Daum. Despite this trouble, the KA Sporex website includes some English words to help you navigate the site and shows many photos of the rooms and facilities.


My friend had said his place was a jjimjilbang so I trusted him. Sure enough, I was handed the little brown spa clothes when I asked for them. At only 5,000 won, this is a pretty cheap jjimjilbang (7,000 overnight). 

From the locker room through the sauna everything is pretty typical. A couple special bits- shown below- are the individual tubs similar to what you might find in your house back in the West and the nicely designed hot rooms found at the back of the sauna. There are 3 small, shallow event baths which feature different herbal treatments to the water, massage tubs, and an ice bath, in addition to the usual hot tubs and showers.

Up in the jjimjilbang (3F) you'll notice it's remarkably dark. Could be a bad thing, but I thought it was nice on a lazy Sunday afternoon. If your thing is reading or studying you'll want to go up one more floor to the 4F "hyu-gae-sil" or resting area (휴게실). On this floor you can find the restaurant & snack corner, PC room, book stacks, massage, skin clinic & nail art, movie room, and sleeping rooms.


Back on the 3F jjimjilbang each room has a small window to let in a small amount of light but, like I said, don't expect to be able to read the newspaper in there! On the upside there are multiple rooms at a comfortable temperature - combined with the darkness it's the perfect place for a nap. A couple special rooms made my day: The forest room (산림욕방) which has fragrant woods lining the walls and fresh woodsy air and a similar pine room (소나무방). Sporex also offers a super-hot bulgama (fire) room, rooms with salt/charcoal, gold, yellow soil, an ice room, and two beautifully decorated stone rooms (보석방- jewelry, 마노방- agate). Best thing? The small TVs in some rooms are placed where you can easily change the program or switch them off if you want peace and quiet.

In addition to all this, KA Sporex has recently developed their 6th floor to house a health club, yoga studio and a dance/aerobics room. My friend told me that his parents felt it was important to focus on the fitness aspect of the spa in order to compete with other saunas in the area. Just from the looks of the membership packages and yoga schedule (4 classes a day weekdays & 2 on Saturday?!) I can see they're taking it seriously.




부산시 수영구 광안4동 733-23
Busan, Suyeong-gu, Gwangan 4-dong 733-23
051-761-0099


RATES:
Enter from 7am-8pm
Sauna: Adults 4,000 Children 3,000
Sauna & Jjimjil: Adults 5,000 Children 4,000


Enter from 8pm-7am
Sauna & Jjimjil: Adults 7,000 Children 6,000


Wikimapia of KA Sporex

About the Layout

I recently started using the computer at my office, which has a regular-width screen (as opposed to my laptop's wide screen). While updating my blog, I noticed that the page has been formatted to fit properly on a widescreen computer, and not to resize it's self on a regularly-sized screen.

For now, all I can offer are my apologies. I have no idea how to make it automatically fit your screen, nor if there's even a way. I realize it's really lame to have to use the left-right scroll bar just to read a post, but I'm at a loss. The problem with just reverting to the original size is that most of my posts already have formatting and photos that will not work with the narrower cut. I tried it and the pics just run off the edge.


So, I'm sorry. ^^ (If you are tech-savvy, feel free to leave a comment or email me about how I might fix the html. Blogger uses these complicated templates and it took me forever in the first place to get the page to show more words and less blank space. I like the width settings, but only wish it would resize automatically for viewers on 4:3 aspect ratios.)


Thanks!