South Korea's Lighthouse Passport

The Lighthouse Stamp Tour

The Korea National Lighthouse Museum—located at Homigot in Pohang—run a hugely popular "Lighthouse Stamp Tour" using a passport-style booklet. While the program has expanded into several themed editions over the years, its flagship challenge requires travelers to hunt down a curated list of iconic lighthouses scattered along South Korea’s vast coastline and offshore islands.

To complete the original core challenge, participants visit 15 to 16 historic beacons—such as Homigot, Yeongdo, Ganjeolgot, Odongdo, and Palmido. At each site, a unique physical stamp awaits in a weatherproof box or local office, ready to be stamped onto the corresponding page of the passport.

What makes this challenge truly adventurous is the sheer remoteness of the locations. Many of the lighthouses are tucked away in quiet, rural coastal corners of the southern provinces (like Jeollanam-do and Gyeongsangnam-do) or situated on far-flung islands like Hongdo, Eocheongdo, Marado, and even the isolated outpost of Dokdo. Reaching them often requires navigating winding coastal roads, checking tide schedules, or catching long ferry rides across open sea.

This design is entirely intentional. Rather than funneling tourists into over-visited hubs like Seoul or central Busan, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries built the passport tour to boost regional economies. It encourages travelers to step off the beaten track and spend money on local seafood, ferry tickets, and family-run guesthouses in sleepy fishing villages that rarely see international visitors. It turns maritime navigation history into an addictive treasure hunt across South Korea's hidden coastlines.

For more adventures check out: Auckland Global Trekkers