From Dandong or Dalian to Incheon by Boat

I'm planning to travel from China to South Korea by boat at the end of this month, and wonder if anyone has experience taking a ferry from either Dandong or Dalian. Is one departure point preferable to the other? I'm currently in Beijing, so I could also leave from Tianjin -- but for some reason, it seems more appealing to me to take an overnight train up north and then take a shorter boat ride (15-18 hrs from Dandong or Dalian, vs 25-28 hrs from Tianjin).

According to www.visitkorea.or.kr</a>, boats leave from Dalian on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 15:30, and from Dandong on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 15:00. Is this information accurate? I tried to check the websites of Dandong Haun (which runs between Dandong and Incheon) and Da-In Ferry (which runs between Dalian and Incheon), but couldn't get any direct information since both websites are in Korean (which I can't read).

Dandong seems like a better starting point, because the boat trip is said to take just 15 hours, I'd get to see the other side of the North Korean border, and it might be interesting to visit the Museum of "The War to Resist US Aggression" for an alternative view of history before heading to South Korea -- but Dalian is supposed to be quite pleasant, so either departure point sounds good to me. Opinions?

Finally, I'll be visiting South Korea during China's Golden Week (October 1-7). Does SK get a significant upswing in tourism during that week from other people with the same idea? Will I have to worry about things being full? I don't usually like to make a lot of reservations when I travel, unless I know that it's a really busy time.

from Dalian on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 18:00
from Dandong on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 15:00

Thanks, Jake! I guess you got that 18:00 departure time from the Korean-language Da-In website?

I ended up taking the ferry from Dandong to Incheon, and the trip went quite well. I traveled from Beijing to Dandong via overnight train, arrived in Dandong early in the morning, left my bag at the station, and did a little sightseeing. I went to the riverfront and walked along the half-destroyed bridge to look across the river at North Korea, and then visited the war museum (which I found quite interesting), and didn't have time for any more sightseeing because I was worried about getting a ticket for the ferry (though I could have easily stayed longer in Dandong).

I retrieved my bag from the train station and took a bus to Donggang (where the seaport is located), and then hired a taxi to get to the ferry office at Dadong. I was able to buy a ticket without difficulty (much to my relief), and we started boarding the boat around 2:30 PM, and the boat actually departed around 5 PM.

I splurged on a bed in a 4-person room, which had 2 sets of bunks with small privacy curtains and a sink. I peeked into a 2-person suite as I was leaving the ship, and it looked very nice, with 2 small beds, a private bathroom, a table with 2 chairs, and a big TV -- but I wouldn't have wanted to pay so much money for it. The big common rooms, which were enormous, with row after row of beds, looked like a lot of fun, with groups of people eating picnic dinners and drinking beer together.

Only Korean money was accepted on the ship, so I exchanged 100 RMB for 15000 won (a pretty bad exchange rate, actually). The dinner (for 5000 won) was surprisingly tasty. The boat arrived at Incheon around 9 AM, and the process of entering Korea was really fast and efficient.

I'm looking to do the same trip - sounds great - thanks for posting. How much did the Dandong to Incheon ferry cost? Glad that it was available for purchase at the ferry itself.

Sorry -- I don't remember now how much I paid for the ticket, but I think it was a little over $100. At the time, I was just worried about getting out of China before Golden Week (during which my 90-day entry period would expire) -- and I was also sleep-deprived, having sat in a packed hard-seat train compartment the previous night.

As I recall, there was a discount for buying a return ticket (instead of a one-way ticket) -- but I already had plans to head from SK to Qingdao later.