Korea's southern coast is a place where land and sea cannot decide who owns what. The tides here rise and fall by several metres, leaving wide mud flats, called getbol, that glitter in low light and fill with life. The Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats, were added to the UNESCO list in 2021 because they are a feeding ground for migratory birds travelling along the East Asian flyway, including rare ones such as the black-faced spoonbill. Boseong, Suncheon, Yeosu and Goheung are the four stretches here, strung along a coast of bays, islands and reed beds.
Suncheon Bay is the highlight. Wooden walkways run through a huge bed of reeds, and a hill viewpoint above gives the shape of the channels, curling like a river map in gold and green in autumn. In winter, hooded cranes arrive in numbers, and in spring and summer fiddler crabs and mudskippers crawl over the mud, with fishermen out for cockles. Nearby Boseong is known for green tea, and the terraced hillsides of tea bushes are one of the most photographed views in Korea.
Yeosu, a port city of about three hundred thousand, hosted the 2012 World Expo and sits on a dramatic harbour with islands and bridges, including the long cable-stayed bridge to Dolsan. It has fuel, hotels and a lively waterfront. The local food is the point of a visit, with raw fish, marinated crab, mustard-leaf kimchi and grilled eel, all served with a table full of side dishes. Suncheon, another big town of over two hundred thousand, is close, so supplies are never an issue.
The riding is a pleasure on a bike, with smooth, quiet coast roads that curve around bays, climb headlands for views and pass fishing villages, oyster racks and salt pans. Traffic is light outside holidays, but tolls on bridges and expressways are common. Spring is lovely, with fresh green and blooming camellias, and October and November turn the reed beds gold. The best time for the mud flats is low tide, so check the tide tables, and summers are hot and humid, with typhoons in late summer.