Overnight Ferry from Busan to Osaka 

Are you planning to travel from South Korea to Japan? Take the overnight Ferry from Busan to Osaka instead of flying!

Travel from Busan, South Korea to Osaka, Japan with the 19-hour overnight ferry. We found very little English information available so in this guide, we will cover everything regarding booking, prices, timetables, and our experiences on the ferry.

You can book a dorm room (affordable) or a private room with a private restroom (more expensive). The ferry is medium-sized and offers a sauna, gaming rooms, entertainment at night, and a buffet for dinner and breakfast with mostly Korean food.

You get a good rest in the comfortable beds and you can enjoy the sunrise and sunset over the sea. You will get to Osaka early in the morning at 10:00 am, so you will save on booking one night at an accommodation in Osaka.

Very recommended experience!

Booking & Prices

Panstar Cruise operates the ferry 3 times a week. In total, the overnight ferry from Busan to Osaka takes 19 hours. The departure is at 3 pm and the arrival at 10 am on the following day.

You can book a dorm room (affordable) or a private room with a private restroom (more expensive). We found it very difficult to book with the official Korean or Japanese websites, e.g. the websites could not be translated properly into English. 

So after doing some research, we booked the ferry tickets with AFerry. AFerry is available in English and even has an App. They are basically an intermediary between Panstar Cruise you. After you book your tickets on the AFerry website / app, they contact Panstar Cruise and book the trip for you. The final booking confirmation takes a few days, so plan a little bit ahead. 

For the most recent prices, you should check the website. In 2023, we had the following options:

• Bed in a dorm room (shared room with shared restroom): 183€ or 91,5€ per Person
• Junior Suite (private room with private restroom): 286€ per cabin

Additionally, you have to pay a Port fee of 29.000 Won (~20€) per Person at the port. You can pay with credit card or cash. 

However, you can also buy the ticket directly at the Ferry Terminal. It seems that the prices there already include the port tax (not 100% sure).

Route

As mentioned, the ferry departs at 3 pm three times a week and reaches the destination in 19 hours at 10 am in the morning. You will get the chance to see some large bridges on the way because most of the trip will be within the Japanese inland sea.

There is also a connection between Busan and Fukoaka which only takes 3 hours and is less expensive. 

Embarkment

If you bought the ticket in advance you can just go to the Ferry terminal in Busan a couple of hours before the ferry leaves. AFerry recommended to be at the Terminal 1,5 hours in advance and we found it plenty of time to embark the ship. 

Getting on the ferry is very similar to getting on an airplane. There are some security checks and passport control because it is an international transfer. However, it was less strict than on an international airport.

When entering the ship you will be greeted very friendly by the staff of the ship. You will get your keys and can access your room/dorm bed right away. 

On Board

The first thing you will see when entering the ferry is the spacious lobby that has an information desk, a restaurant area to eat buffet, and a small grocery store which self-service.

The lobby is located on the first floor. On this floor, you will find also a sauna and the shared washrooms and passenger cabins. On the 2nd floor, there is a premium lobby, a small common area with snack machines, a TV, and a water fountain.

The cabin

We booked a Junior Suite room which is a room with two beds and a private bathroom. The room is spacious enough for our baggage. There is also a small fridge. Like always in Japanese and Korean hotels, we get house shoes, tooth brush and tooth toothpaste, etc.

Our suite had a small window towards the sea, which cannot be opened. We were very lucky to see both, the sunset and sunrise through our window.

Overall the room is very clean and we did not notice the shaking of the ship too much. The beds were very comfortable and we slept very well.

The bathroom was clean as well with a Japanese-style toilet and warm water in the shower.

Food

The ferry offers two buffet meals, i.e. dinner (day 1) and breakfast (day 2). You can buy both meals or only one meal. Since it was not very expensive and the options for a warm meal in the grocery store were limited (only noodle soup), we went with the buffet like most of the passengers. 

Dinner

The buffet mainly consists of Korean food (medium/very spicy). There is no Western food but Korean food is very good so do not miss out on it. Vegetarian options are limited but you do have some dishes without meat (mostly at breakfast). Please ask the staff to double-check which food is vegetarian. 

Breakfast

The breakfast is very early because you will arrive in Osaka at 10 am. There are many options available and you can eat as much as you want. 

Grocery store

You can find some snacks and beverages in a small store next to the lobby. It is self-service and you can pay by credit card.

Sauna 

A surprising and cool experience was the visit to the Sauna and Onsen-style facilities. I went to the Sauna before dinner and was very relaxed afterwards.

Entertainment

After dinner, there is some entertainment and a music show in the main area of the restaurant. When singing some Karaoke you will notice, that soon you will be in Japan.

On the deck

You can access the deck on the third floor of the ferry. You will find a small cafe/restaurant with a nice view. You can see the sea from both sides to watch the sunset and sunrise. 

Some passages through the Japanese inland sea are very narrow so you will be able to see bridges and Japanese towns up close as well.

Disembarkment in Osaka

Coming closer to Osaka you need to pack your things and get ready to disembark the ship. 

Getting off the ferry was a weirdly structured process and took quite a long time. Next up is immigration and customs. It took us some time to get through them because the immigration counter is small and some passengers transported huge amounts of goods and that to get through customs. 

When we finally entered Japan, there was a free shuttle service to the next Metro station. Also, you have free WiFi at the Ferry Terminal in Osaka. Please check and download your route right here because it will be quite difficult to get access to free WiFi in Japan compared to South Korea.