National Maritime Museum Busan: Visitor Guide

The National Maritime Museum of Korea is on the waterfront in Yeongdo, an island district of Busan. It is a good indoor stop for a rainy day, and admission to the main halls is free. This guide covers hours, what the exhibits include, how to get there and what we could not confirm.

We checked every fact on 2 October 2026 against the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), Visit Busan and the museum’s own English website. Where the sources give different opening hours, we show both; confirm the day’s hours on the museum’s site, especially around public holidays.

Front of the National Maritime Museum of Korea in Busan with a tall banner on the entrance tower under a cloudy blue sky — Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (KOGL Type 1)

Our Family Visit: The Aquarium Held Our Toddler’s Attention

We visited the National Maritime Museum with our children, aged 5 and 3. The aquarium was the part our younger child did not want to leave: seeing a shark for the first time kept them pressed to the glass. With a toddler, it may help to start at the third-floor aquarium near the entrance and let their interest set the pace, rather than working through every hall in order.

On that outing the indoor setting was comfortable, the car park was large, and the nursing facilities made the day easier with a young child. We spent the same day at the Dongsam-dong Shell Midden Museum.

For current planning, the museum’s official visitor leaflet lists nursing rooms on floors 2 and 4, and a standard passenger-car parking charge of KRW 2,000 for the first three hours. These are published facilities and rates, separate from our undated visit notes; check the signs and museum notices when you arrive. Official museum leaflet (checked 15 October 2026).

Family notes added 15 October 2026. The visit date was not recorded. The children were aged 5 and 3 at the time.

What the Museum Is

KTO describes the museum as a comprehensive maritime museum covering the history, culture, living things and art of the sea. It opened in May 2012 in Yeongdo-gu. KTO says the building runs from one basement level to four floors above ground and includes exhibition rooms, a maritime library, a children’s museum, storage rooms and an aquarium. It says the museum holds about 30,000 maritime items. KTO also says the museum works as a rescue and treatment center for marine animals.

Visit Busan says the museum’s exterior symbolizes a teardrop bursting forth and compares the building to a spaceship.

What You Can See

Visit Busan walks through the museum floor by floor:

Third floor: a large aquarium near the entrance, with sea turtles. Next to it are the permanent exhibition halls, which show sailing ships, the traditional sea route and a nearly full-size replica of a wooden ship used by Korean missions abroad. There are also a maritime life hall and a maritime experience hall.
Fourth floor: the permanent exhibition continues with the marine industry, and exhibits on deep-ocean exploration and polar research.
Second floor: the Children’s Museum, a hands-on space. Visit Busan says it has a separate picnic room for families who pack lunch.

A large round aquarium tank with blue water and a curved glass wall inside the National Maritime Museum of Korea — Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (KOGL Type 1)

The museum’s own website lists a media art gallery on the third floor that shows marine biology, maritime industry and maritime history content on large screens. Its home page also lists a special exhibition called “Opening the Port: 150 Years of Busan Port” and a theme exhibition on mangroves with dates of 19 May 2026 to 27 June 2027. We did not check whether these are open on a specific day, so confirm on the museum’s site before you plan around one.

Visit Busan’s page notes that the picnic room was unavailable because of the renovation of an exhibition hall. The page does not say when. We could not confirm whether it has reopened.

Hours and Cost

The museum’s English site and Visit Busan agree on the weekday and Saturday hours below, and differ on holidays:

Tuesday to Friday: 09:00 to 18:00.
Saturday: 09:00 to 19:00 from September to April, and 09:00 to 21:00 from May to August.
Sunday: 09:00 to 19:00 (both sources).
Public holidays: the museum’s site lists 09:00 to 19:00. Visit Busan lists 09:00 to 21:00 on the day after Seollal and Chuseok, Children’s Day and National Liberation Day. We could not confirm which is current.
Last entry: Visit Busan lists 17:30 for Tuesday to Friday. The museum’s site says last admission is 30 minutes before closing.
Closed: Mondays. If Monday is a national holiday, the museum’s site says it closes on the first weekday after the holiday, and KTO says the next day.

Admission is free. The 4D theater and paid special exhibitions are excluded, and we did not find their prices. The phone number is +82-51-309-1900. The address is 45 Haeyang-ro 301beon-gil, Yeongdo-gu.

Visit Busan also lists a separate maritime library with its own hours, and a note about a closure period in 2025. That note is out of date, so we do not use it. Check the library on the museum’s website.

How to Get There

Visit Busan gives one route: Exit 6 of Nampo Station on Busan Metro Line 1, then bus 186 or 66 to the Korea National Maritime Museum stop. Parking is available at a paid lot. We could not confirm bus frequency, fares or travel time, and we did not find a walking route from the metro. If you need luggage space before your visit, see our Busan luggage storage guide.

Wooden model ships with sails in a dark gallery in front of a wall-size sea image at the National Maritime Museum — Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (KOGL Type 1)

A Simple Plan

This is our suggestion, not an official route.

Go on a day the museum is open, and arrive in the morning.
Start on the third floor and then go up to the fourth floor.
If you bring children, add the Children’s Museum on the second floor.
Pair the visit with another Yeongdo stop, such as Taejongdae Resort Park or Huinnyeoul Culture Village. We have not checked how to connect them by transit.

First-Timer Tips

Do not go on a Monday. The museum is closed.
Plan at least a few hours if you want to see both floors and the aquarium. We have no official visit-time estimate, so this is our general advice.
Bring a light layer. We have no source on indoor temperature, so this is general advice.
Check the special exhibition page before you go if you want to pay for a ticket.

FAQ

Is the National Maritime Museum free? The main exhibitions are free. The 4D theater and paid special exhibitions are not.

Is it open on Sundays? Yes, from 09:00 to 19:00, according to both the museum’s site and Visit Busan.

Is it good for children? Visit Busan describes a hands-on Children’s Museum and says families visit often. We could not confirm age limits.

Can I take the metro there? Visit Busan lists Nampo Station Line 1 plus a bus. There is no direct metro stop listed.

What We Could Not Confirm

Prices for the 4D theater and special exhibitions.
Bus times, fares and travel time from Nampo Station.
Whether the picnic room has reopened.
Current library hours.
English signs or audio guides inside the museum.

Related guides

We post short first-timer guides on Instagram too: @rolo.koreaguide.

Sources

Checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Korea Tourism Organization, TourAPI (Korean service): National Maritime Museum of Korea (content ID 1825843). Photos, KOGL Type 1, used unaltered.
Visit Busan: Korea National Maritime Museum, https://www.visitbusan.net/en/index.do?menuCd=DOM_000000301001001000&lang_cd=en&uc_seq=257
National Maritime Museum of Korea, official English site: https://www.mmk.or.kr/eng/