Hello, this is 속초어때 (Sokcho Eottae). It is 10 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, and the temperature in Sokcho (속초) right now is 18°C. Today's high was 21°C and the low was 17°C, so the whole day moved only right around 20°C, the sky is clear, and the chance of rain is 2%. But the sea water temperature is 24.2°C. It is a night when the sea is 6 degrees warmer than the air. When you stand on the coastal walking path, what rises to meet you first is not a cold wind but lukewarm air, the kind of night air you get only in Sokcho in mid-September.
But the news you most need to catch in Sokcho tonight is not the weather. At 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 19, a free screening where you watch a film while eating dinner will be held under Seorak Bridge (설악대교). The food is first-come, first-served for 100 people, advance registration is already open, and it closes at 8 a.m. on the day of the event. Today, with this event at the center, I will lay out Sokcho's schedule ten days and three weeks from now, along with the sea conditions tonight and tomorrow, all at once.
Sokcho at 10 p.m. tonight, starting with the numbers
- Temperature 18°C (high 21°C, low 17°C), clear, 2% chance of rain
- Sea Water temperature 24.2°C, wave height 0.8 m
- Congested Two spots: the Daepohang Port (대포항) observatory and Oeongchihang Port (외옹치항)
- Moderate Sinheungsa Temple (신흥사) in Seoraksan (설악산), 신세계 영랑호리조트 (Shinsegae Yeongrangho Resort), Cheongchoho (청초호), Deungdae Beach (등대해변)
- Access roads Misiryeong-ro (미시령로, toward Seoul), Donghae-daero (동해대로, coast and downtown) and Seoraksan-ro (설악산로, toward Seorak) are all flowing smoothly
A wave height of 0.8 m is among the lowest readings recorded off Sokcho in the past ten days. Only a few days ago there were days when it went over 2 m and water splashed over the breakwater, but now, over by Deungdae Beach, the sound of the waves lies almost at the level of background noise. If you are taking photos, a clear night with low waves like tonight is the condition in which the surface reflections on Cheongchoho and Yeongrangho (영랑호) come out cleanest.
The fact that the Daepohang Port observatory and Oeongchihang Port register as congested even at 10 p.m. is a fixed pattern for Sokcho at this hour. People who have finished a late dinner come out once more to see the night view, and both places have small parking lots. At Daepohang Port, rather than circling to find a space inside the harbor, parking at the public lot a little further up and walking down is faster in the end, and at Oeongchihang Port the entrance to the Bada Hyanggi-ro (바다향기로) walking trail is already closed at this hour, so cars that drive all the way to the harbor front and then turn back easily get tangled up.
6 p.m. on September 19, the 'Cine Table' where a film and dinner come out together
The first screening of '씨네테이블 (Cine Table)', prepared by the Sokcho Culture and Tourism Foundation (속초문화관광재단), will be held on Thursday, September 19. The venue is 아트플랫폼 갯배 (Art Platform Gaetbae) and the surrounding area under Seorak Bridge, that is, in front of the Gaetbae (갯배) ferry that links 아바이마을 (Abai Village) in Cheongho-dong (청호동) with Jungang-dong (중앙동). It has been arranged as an 'APPETIZER' pre-program for the Sokcho International Food Film Festival (SIFFF) held in winter. In other words, it shows you a preview of a food film festival together with the food itself.
- Date and time Thursday, September 19, 6 p.m. — food exchange begins
- Screening and director talk Starts at 6:30 p.m.
- Wristband distribution From 5:30 p.m.
- Films '평양랭면 (Pyeongyang Raengmyeon)' by director Yoon Ju-hoon, '제씨이야기 (Jessi Iyagi)' by director Lee Ha-eun
- Admission Free
- Food Prepared by 아사모 (Asamo), a residents' group of Abai Village; 100 servings, first-come, first-served
- Registration Advance registration on the online platform 이벤터스 (Eventus) until 8 a.m. on the day; on-site registration also available
- Perk Tableware sets for the first 50 advance registrants
- Inquiries Sokcho Culture and Tourism Foundation, Culture City Center, 033-636-0676 / Instagram @foodfilmfest_sifff
Both of the films are stories in which food is the medium that connects people. '평양랭면' is the story of an older cook who makes naengmyeon for a younger sibling, and '제씨이야기' is the story of two people who grow close through garaetteok rice cakes pressed at an old mill. Because you watch food films with food in your hands and then go on to talk with the directors, it is different in character from a simple outdoor screening.
Four things it would be a shame to miss, pointed out in advance
The more an event is free, the more it comes down to procedure. I have picked out only the points where people actually end up making a wasted trip.
- Advance registration closes at 8 a.m. on the day. If you put it off to register on your way home from work, it will already be closed. On-site registration does exist, but since the food is first-come, first-served for 100 people, with on-site registration you have to be prepared for the possibility of watching the film without food.
- Advance registrants must pick up their entry wristband by 6:20 p.m. Wristband distribution starts at 5:30 p.m., so if you have registered, arriving before 6 p.m. is safest.
- The tableware sets go to the first 50 advance registrants. Looking at this perk alone, there is a clear reason to hurry your registration.
- It is outdoors. Tonight's low was 17°C, and by the 19th it could drop further. The area in front of Gaetbae is the channel where water drains from Cheongchoho out to the sea, so the wind passes straight through. A thin outer layer, and, thinking about where you will sit, a cushion or blanket is a good idea to bring.
You need to be careful about parking. The alleys around Gaetbae are narrow even at ordinary times, and in the evening they overlap with the cars of people using the restaurants in Abai Village. Park at the public lot on the Jungang-dong side or at the 관광수산시장 (Gwangwang Susan Market) parking lot and walk in, or simply take the Gaetbae ferry across. That way the trip to the film itself becomes a sightseeing course.
The next event is the Seorak Cultural Festival, D-22 as of today
If you hand late September over to Cine Table, Sokcho's biggest local festival follows right after. The 61st Sokcho Seorak Cultural Festival (설악문화제) runs from October 2 to 4. The theme is 'Seorak, Colored Together,' and the stage is Sokcho Expo Plaza (엑스포광장) and the Seorak Rodeo Street (설악로데오거리) area.
- Street parade Twice on October 3, at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., around Seorak Rodeo Street
- Mountain spirit ritual A traditional rite praying for the well-being of the festival and of residents and visitors
- Memorial rite for mountaineers An event reflecting on the meaning of Seoraksan and mountain culture
- Ridge trail walk Starting from Seolhyang Park (설향공원) in Seorak-dong (설악동) and passing Seorak Hyanggi-ro (설악향기로), Dalmabong (달마봉), Gyejoam (계조암) and Sinheungsa Temple to Sogongwon (소공원) in Seoraksan
- Performances by local artists and hands-on booths for traditional folk games
There is one thing to keep in mind here when you plan your trip. During the festival, traffic around Rodeo Street will be different from usual around 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on October 3, when the parades are held. If you are planning to move around downtown at those hours, it is better to look up a detour route via Donghae-daero in advance. Conversely, if you are there to enjoy the festival, 3 to 4 p.m., between the two parade runs, is the time when you can go around the booths at a relaxed pace. As festival week gets closer, 속초어때 will also keep posting updates on congestion and parking by time of day.
For reference, Seorak Hyanggi-ro, which is part of the ridge trail walk course, is a free walking trail that 640,000 people have walked in two years. If you walk it as a festival program, you can link it up with the guided sections that follow, which makes it a different course from going on your own.
The sea looks calm tomorrow, but swells are coming in
Just because the wave height is 0.8 m right now does not mean the sea is safe. In its announcement at 5 p.m. on the 10th, the Korea Meteorological Administration advised caution over high seas and swells, as strong swells may flow in along the East Sea (동해) coast through tomorrow. Swells are waves pushed in from the open sea, so even when the water in front of you is calm, they suddenly rise up big every so often. It is a condition that makes taking photos especially dangerous in places where the water washes in, such as the end of a breakwater, tetrapods, or shoreline rocks.
Tomorrow's tides and times are as follows.
- Sunrise on Friday, September 11 06:03 / Sunset 18:40
- High tide 03:18, 14:49
- Low tide 08:48, 21:48
- The tide cycle is 8-mul (8물)
And one more thing: a forecast has been issued that dense fog with visibility under 200 m may form in inland Gangwon (강원) and its mountainous areas. If you are coming in on Misiryeong-ro or Seoraksan-ro at dawn, be sure to take this into account. All three access roads are flowing smoothly right now, but fog is the factor that raises the actual difficulty of driving the most, even while it shows up as 'smooth' in traffic information. Low beams and fog lights instead of high beams, plus keeping your distance from the car ahead, is the answer.
Going into the sea still calls for caution
Looking only at the number 24.2°C, it is natural to want to get into the water. But Sokcho's swimming beaches have already closed and there are no lifeguards stationed there. The recent accident in which a person in their 30s died while snorkeling in the waters off Sokcho also happened at a so-called 'undesignated beach' rather than an official swimming beach. Undesignated beaches have no clear managing authority and no safety facilities such as swimming boundary lines, so when an accident happens, even finding the person takes longer.
Here are realistic ways to enjoy the sea at this time of year.
- Change your plan from getting into the water to walking along the water's edge. Deungdae Beach, Oeongchi's Bada Hyanggi-ro and the Yeongrangho loop trail are, if anything, at their best right now as evening walking courses for this season.
- If you must get into the water, never alone; wear a life jacket, and go with at least one other person.
- Even at a water temperature of 24°C, your body temperature drops quickly once the sun goes down. Leave a change of clothes in your car for after you get out.
- The lower the waves are, the further people go inside the breakwater. On days when a swell is forecast, that is the most dangerous place to be.
To sum up, here is Sokcho's calendar for the next three weeks
- Tonight 18°C and clear, water temperature 24.2°C, wave height 0.8 m. The Daepohang Port observatory and Oeongchihang Port are congested, and all three access roads are flowing smoothly
- Tomorrow (9/11) Caution for swells on the East Sea coast, dense fog possible inland and in the mountains. Sunrise 06:03, sunset 18:40
- Thursday, September 19 The first Cine Table screening, at 아트플랫폼 갯배 under Seorak Bridge, 6 p.m., free, food for the first 100 people
- October 2 to 4 The 61st Sokcho Seorak Cultural Festival, at Expo Plaza and Seorak Rodeo Street, with parades at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on October 3
Sokcho after summer ends is in fact best from now on. The crowds have thinned but the sea is still warm, and cultural events are concentrated in this period instead. If your plan is to eat dinner while watching a naengmyeon film in front of Gaetbae on the evening of September 19 and then see the parade at the Seorak Cultural Festival three weeks later, you have laid out quite a full start to autumn in Sokcho. Just the one point that registration closes at 8 a.m. on the day, I recommend setting an alarm for it tonight.
Today we looked at the free Cine Table screening on September 19, the schedule for the 61st Seorak Cultural Festival, and tonight's Sokcho weather, water temperature and swell advisory. Was it useful? I will be back next time with even more useful information.
