Hotels near Gwangalli Beach and the Gwangan Bridge

Gwangalli Beach faces the Gwangan Bridge, a 7.4 km suspension crossing that opened in 2003 and lights up in changing colours after sunset. The sand here is coarser than Haeundae and the beach is shorter at roughly 1.4 km, but the view is the reason people come. The seafront strip is lined with cafes and bars whose windows point straight at the span.

The Busan Drone Light Show runs over the water on selected Saturday evenings, usually around 20:00 in summer and 19:00 in winter, with several hundred drones forming shapes above the bay. Check the schedule before travelling, because dates shift with the weather. Millak Waterside Park sits at the eastern end, where you can buy raw fish from the market building and eat it at the outdoor tables for a table fee of about 5,000 KRW per person.

Pro Tip: For photographs, walk to the Millak Waterside Park breakwater, about 15 minutes east of the Gwangan Station exit. It puts the whole bridge span in frame without the crowd on the main beach.