Post-hike pineapple vinegar ade at Yangyang water café: Cafe Dunchi

Cafe Dunchi

Cafe Dunchi, the café on the water a Yangyang restaurant owner recommended

Cafe Dunchi is an unusual floating café moored at Seomdeul Naruteo on the Namdaecheon river in Yangyang. After hiking Sinseondae peak on Geumgangsan in the morning and coming down for a hearty lunch, I happened to stop at a restaurant (Yeoyejeong), and the owner told me I really had to check out this amazing place — the floating café called 'Cafe Dunchi.' I had some time to spare, so I decided to go take a look.

Cafe Dunchi sits at Seomdeul Naruteo in Yangyang, and the parking lot is huge, so there's no stress about parking! Besides this lot, there's also a spacious one right in front of the café.

Cafe Dunchi doesn't have a restroom, so I'd recommend using one before you head over.

Park at the public lot and follow the deck path, and you'll find the water leisure town and Cafe Dunchi waiting.

Perched beautifully on the Namdaecheon river, Cafe Dunchi is striking from the outside alone. The exterior walls are painted with a stylish mural of water sports and nature that catches your eye from far away! The first floor is the water leisure sports center and the second floor is the café.

It's open from 10:00 to 21:00 — an unusual café where you can go boating on the river with a drink in hand! They say they want to become a place guests never forget and always come back to, like salmon that return to remember where they were born. This was my first time seeing Namdaecheon, the river I'd only seen on the news where salmon return during spawning season — and it really is clear and clean!

Inside the 2nd-floor café and the view from the window seats

Cafe Dunchi's second-floor café greets you with a warm wood-toned box-ceiling structure and floor-to-ceiling windows on every side. Outside, the calm ripples of Namdaecheon, the blue sky, and fluffy clouds spread out like a painting.

Inside, lush green plants and cute little tables are arranged in harmony, giving off a cozy, healing vibe even if you just sit still. The window seats, where you can sip fragrant coffee while taking in this gorgeous view, are absolutely the best seats in the house!

Drinks made with homemade syrup: pineapple vinegar ade and blueberry smoothie

Every menu item at Cafe Dunchi apparently uses homemade syrup made in-house. Happily agonizing over what to drink, I looked at the menu and found a huge variety — coffee, juice, tea, smoothies, and more. That's when the owner kindly told me, 'every menu item at our café is made using our own homemade syrup!'

The homemade red bean shaved ice looked delicious too, but I'd eaten too much for lunch, so I skipped it and ordered the homemade pineapple vinegar ade and a blueberry smoothie instead. Knowing all the ingredients were homemade made me trust that they were made with real care.

10% off with the digital tourist card, plus Yangyang Love Gift Certificates

Cafe Dunchi offers 10% off drinks if you scan the digital tourist card QR code, so be sure to use it! It's also a merchant for the Yangyang Love Gift Certificate, another handy tip worth using.

Besides drinks, there were plenty of desserts to pair with them — croffles, honey garlic bread, honey bread, honey balls, milk cream castella, and croque monsieur, to name a few. Off to one side, they also sell Yangyang's signature local specialties — pine mushroom jelly, Gangneung coffee gunbbang (hardtack biscuits), pine mushroom snacks, and coffee yakgwa (honey cookies) — which would make good gifts too!

Cafe Dunchi electric boat prices and how the ride works

To ride the electric boat at Cafe Dunchi, you carry your ordered drink down to the water sports center on the first floor. Our drinks were finally ready. The café owner told us that to ride the electric boat, we just needed to bring our drinks down to the first floor, so since the café was busy with other guests (foreign visitors, too), we headed straight downstairs.

Prices are ₩30,000 for the motorized electric boat seating up to 4, or ₩35,000 for up to 6, with a 30-minute ride time.

Looks like this one's the 6-seater electric boat! If you're visiting as a family of six or with a group, riding together would be even cheaper and more fun!

The motorized ochre sailboat seats 12 and costs ₩6,000 for children, ₩8,000 for teens, and ₩10,000 for adults, with a 20-minute ride time.

We put on life jackets before boarding.

When there are a lot of visitors, you might have to wait for an electric boat, but they've set up a good waiting area, so just gazing at Namdaecheon while you wait feels healing in itself. Looking up at the especially blue autumn sky, I completely lost track of time!

Bluetooth music and a cold drink aboard the 4-seat electric boat

Finally, we boarded! The inside of Cafe Dunchi's electric boat was much roomier and more comfortable than I expected. We chose the 4-seat electric boat and enjoyed a leisurely ride — you can connect via Bluetooth once you're on board. Blasting your favorite upbeat song and drifting across Namdaecheon — doesn't that sound thrilling just to imagine? Cutting gently through the calm water with the cool river breeze on your face and your favorite music in your ears, it really felt like paradise on earth.

I wondered, 'how could you possibly drink something on an electric boat?' but there's a cup holder set into the middle of the table, so I could steadily set down my homemade drink. That cool sip of a drink while boating is a taste you can't understand until you've tried it yourself!

How do the pineapple vinegar ade and blueberry smoothie taste?

The homemade pineapple vinegar ade had a charming combination of tanginess and sharp fizz. Instead of artificial sweetness, it had the deep, natural tartness unique to homemade syrup, which was excellent. The blueberry smoothie was a high-quality smoothie with a rich, deep blueberry flavor filling your mouth. It's sweet yet wholesome, the kind of menu item that anyone from kids to adults would love.

Before the electric boat sets off, they hand you a timer. You press start as you launch out onto Namdaecheon, ride freely for 30 minutes, and come back to the dock when time's up.

Drifting leisurely along Namdaecheon on the electric boat, the sweat and leg fatigue from climbing Ulsan Rock just a little while earlier seemed to melt away with the swaying river breeze. If the hike was a rough challenge, this electric boat ride was truly a perfect 'hermit's leisure' moment!

There's an observation deck visible too. It must be a spectacular sight to stand there and watch when the salmon come up Namdaecheon!

There was another guest riding the electric boat while we were out there too! They'd brought two dogs along for the ride, and it made me think of the pups we'd left back home!

Is Cafe Dunchi worth visiting in Yangyang?

Cafe Dunchi, recommended by the restaurant where we stopped for lunch after Sinseondae on Geumgangsan! The homemade syrup drinks were excellent amid the emotive interior, but more than anything, riding the electric boat on Namdaecheon with music playing became the most memorable, unusual moment of the whole Yangyang trip. If you want healing and activity at once, out in nature, be sure to visit Cafe Dunchi as one of the best things to do in Yangyang! You won't regret it!