Busan · South Korea
May
Near-perfect: warm but not humid, beaches reopening, the city fully alive before summer peaks.
Best match
#3 of 12 months
May is one of the best times to visit Busan.
Climate
High
21°C
Low
15°C
Rain
70mm
Sun
7.5hrs/day
30-year climate normals · Open Meteo ERA5
How May scores in Busan
Weather
Excellent
Value
Good
Crowds
Good
Events
Good
Atmosphere
Excellent
What you gain in May
- ↑21°C and the first beach days of the year: Haeundae and Gwangalli are warm enough for sunbathing from mid-May, the sea beginning to reach 18°C toward month end
- ↑The full outdoor café and restaurant scene in Gwangalli operates: evening drinks on the strip with Gwangan Bridge illuminated across the bay is one of the great Busan experiences
- ↑Buddha's Birthday (early May) brings lantern festivals across Busan's Buddhist temples — the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple lantern display is spectacular
What you sacrifice
- ↓Humidity beginning to build: May is the transitional month, and by late May conditions feel noticeably more sticky than April
- ↓Korean Children's Day (5 May) and other public holidays bring domestic family tourism that fills popular sites on specific days
- ↓Accommodation prices have risen from spring lows: a 20–30% premium compared to March or April
How May compares to October (best month)
| Factor | May | October ★ |
|---|---|---|
| Weather | 8 | 9 |
| Value | 6 | 6 |
| Crowds | 6 | 5 |
May in other destinations
Lisbon (20.7°C)Barcelona (20.8°C)Tokyo (23.8°C)Bali (31.2°C)Santorini (19.8°C)Paris (18.1°C)New York (20.4°C)Marrakech (26.4°C)Amsterdam (16.4°C)Maldives (31.5°C)Rome (21.7°C)Bangkok (32.6°C)Istanbul (20.7°C)Vienna (19.7°C)Seoul (21.4°C)Dubrovnik (20.9°C)Rio de Janeiro (26.2°C)Kyoto (25.2°C)Phuket (32.6°C)Cape Town (18.9°C)Prague (21°C)Amalfi Coast (23°C)Mexico City (27°C)Medellín (27°C)Fiji (28°C)London (18°C)Sydney (19°C)Iceland (10°C)Tulum (32°C)Dubai (38°C)Singapore (33°C)Hoi An (33°C)Chiang Mai (33°C)Miami (30.6°C)Florence (23.1°C)Queenstown (11°C)Madrid (21.7°C)Porto (21°C)Edinburgh (15°C)Copenhagen (16°C)Budapest (22°C)Kraków (20°C)Tbilisi (23°C)Palawan (32°C)Hanoi (31°C)Osaka (25°C)Goa (33°C)Cusco (20°C)Buenos Aires (19°C)Mykonos (23°C)Zanzibar (28°C)Sri Lanka (31°C)Costa Rica (27°C)Cancun (32°C)Krabi (33°C)Athens (25°C)Seville (27°C)Cartagena (31°C)Siem Reap (34°C)Havana (30°C)Split (22°C)Taipei (30°C)Kuala Lumpur (33°C)Valletta (24°C)Ho Chi Minh City (34°C)Hawaii (29°C)Cappadocia (22°C)Dominican Republic (31°C)Jamaica (31°C)Tanzania (23°C)Seychelles (28°C)Nepal (28°C)Jordan (28°C)Azores (21°C)Bora Bora (28°C)Los Angeles (22.8°C)Cairo (34.8°C)Kenya (26.1°C)Jaipur (40.2°C)Las Vegas (33.8°C)San Francisco (17.5°C)Madeira (23°C)Vancouver (17.8°C)Muscat (40.1°C)Lima (20.5°C)Cinque Terre (21°C)Kotor (22°C)Tel Aviv (27°C)Santiago (17°C)Bogotá (18°C)Bruges (17.8°C)Penang (33.2°C)Lombok (31.5°C)Cape Verde (27.8°C)Fez (27.8°C)Kerala (33°C)Kigali (26°C)Hong Kong (28°C)Oslo (17°C)Auckland (17°C)Beijing (27°C)Delhi (39°C)Mumbai (33°C)Victoria Falls (26°C)Stockholm (17°C)Oaxaca (32°C)Bhutan (25°C)Da Nang (34°C)Nashville (25°C)Nice (22°C)Mallorca (23°C)Tuscany (24°C)Namibia (24°C)Crete (25°C)Komodo (33°C)Montréal (19°C)Melbourne (17°C)Cairns (28°C)Venice (22°C)Dublin (16°C)Tenerife (24°C)Ibiza (23°C)Sardinia (22°C)Sicily (23°C)Rhodes (24°C)Corfu (23°C)Zakynthos (23°C)Algarve (24°C)Naples (22°C)Antalya (26°C)Barbados (30°C)St Lucia (30°C)Aruba (32°C)Turks and Caicos (30°C)Puerto Rico (30°C)Okinawa (27°C)Hokkaido (17°C)Varanasi (42°C)Langkawi (32°C)Lake Bled (21°C)Salzburg (19°C)Lake Como (22°C)Tallinn (15°C)Iguazu Falls (23°C)Luxor (39°C)Gran Canaria (24°C)Lanzarote (23°C)Fuerteventura (24°C)Menorca (22°C)Capri (21°C)Milos (23°C)Paros (23°C)Hvar (22°C)Bodrum (24°C)Malaga (25°C)San Sebastián (18°C)Bordeaux (21°C)Corsica (21°C)Abu Dhabi (38°C)Hurghada (34°C)Essaouira (21°C)Kruger National Park (26°C)Shanghai (25°C)Chengdu (26°C)Jeju (20°C)Banff (14°C)Toronto (19°C)Québec City (16°C)Lofoten (9°C)Bergen (14°C)Gold Coast (23°C)Whitsundays (26°C)Perth (23°C)Nha Trang (32°C)Koh Phi Phi (32°C)Luang Prabang (34°C)Raja Ampat (31°C)Agra (41°C)Udaipur (41°C)Hiroshima (25°C)Naxos (23°C)Thessaloniki (24°C)Helsinki (14°C)Riga (17°C)Zurich (19°C)Monaco (21°C)Doha (39°C)Siargao (31°C)Bohol (32°C)Lake Atitlán (25°C)Sarajevo (21°C)Batumi (20°C)Chicago (20°C)Boston (19°C)Gdańsk (16°C)Berlin (19.4°C)Milan (21.9°C)New Orleans (29.6°C)Galápagos Islands (27°C)Patagonia (5.5°C)Koh Samui (32.1°C)Nusa Penida (30.8°C)Jerusalem (25°C)San Miguel de Allende (28°C)Yogyakarta (31°C)Hue (32.5°C)Nara (26.4°C)Chiang Rai (33.5°C)Lyon (19°C)Lalibela (25°C)Phnom Penh (34°C)Kota Kinabalu (32°C)Phu Quoc (33°C)Hakone (22°C)Kanazawa (23°C)Pai (30°C)Plovdiv (24°C)AlUla (40°C)Guanajuato (28°C)
Climate data: 30-year normals (1991–2020) from Open Meteo ERA5 reanalysis. Scores compare months within Busan, not across destinations. Methodology →