After the success of the National Park Stamp Tour Passport in 2020, the Korean National Park Service has decided to upgrade their current stamp program and launch a new stamp tour focused on South Korea’s 4 marine national parks.
Jump to (1) Check in Locations, (2) Acquiring the passport, (3) Applying for the souvenir
Similar to the original stamp tour program, details provided here, stamps are collected at official National Park offices with 20 stamps total to collect. There are two pages dedicated to each check in point, with a spot for the stamp, a general description, recommended tourism spots and foods of the area. In addition, there is a brand section which contains a map that shows were the stamp can be acquired. A helpful add on for when planning your trip, since it might not be obvious on a beach or island where the office might be located.
This program’s signature color is a turquoise – with both the booklet and the box containing the stamp taking on this color.
Like the original stamp there are two levels of achievement you can apply for, you can apply for them all at once when you finish the passport, or separately. At 10 stamps to get ‘wave’ level and at 20 stamps to get ‘beach’ level. I have looked online but there doesn’t seem to be a public announcement on what the souvenir is for these levels, and so we will likely have to wait until people start receiving them to learn this information (this occurred also with the first generation of the original stamp tour passport).
Stamp Locations!
The largest change with this program vs the national park original, is instead of one stamp per national park there are multiple stamps per national park. With both Taeanhaean and Byeonsanbando NP having two check in points each; and Hanryeohaesang and Dadohaehaesang NP both having 8. The locations for these checkpoints are also quite diverse. With a total of 13 islands, 1 cliff, 2 temples and 4 beaches to explore.
Addresses of the places to acquire a stamp:
Acquiring the Passport:
It’s free! Similar to the original passport, you can not order it online but instead you have to pick it up in person, with an identification card as there is a one booklet per person rule. But this is more complicated because some of the locations that you can acquire stamps are not maned and thus the booklet can not be acquired here. But they seem to be available at non-marine national park as well. I would recommend calling ahead for non-marine national parks, as they are more frequented by visitors and would likely have been given a smaller supply.
Addresses for each of the Marine National Parks that are manned and you can *potentially* acquire this passport.
Taeanhaean National Park / 태안해안국립공원
Byeonsanbando National Park / 변산변도국립공원
Hanryeohaesang National Park / 한려해상국립공원
Dadohaehaesang National Park / 다도해해상국립공원
Applying for the award
Applications for the award must be done in person at a manned office, but worry not it can also be a non-marine national park office – making to much easier to apply.
Deadline: There isn’t a expiration date on this passport unlike the original program, nor is there one listed online
