What it’s really like to holiday in North Korea: New beach resort modelled on Benidorm is a hit with tourists – even though you’ll be followed everywhere

Largely secret and hidden from most of the world, North Korea is still attracting tourists with the opening of a new beach resort.

The seaside retreat Wonsan Kalma opened in June and is located near an airport in Kangwon District, on the country’s east coast.

It is stated that the resort, which is said to be modeled on Benidorm, has a capacity of up to 20,000 visitors and has more than 40 hotels, guesthouses and entertainment facilities.

It was initially planned to boost tourism and was described by state media as a ‘national treasure-level city’.

Since its opening, all tourists except those from Russia have been banned from visiting the facility.

Now it turns out that he broke the record 9,985 Russians visited in 2025; This is the highest amount since the Federal Security Service (FSB) started publishing the data in 2010.

More than half of the trips (5 thousand 75) were for tourism purposes Times and the overall figure shows a steady increase from the 6,469 who visited in 2024.

Russian blogger Daria Zubkova spent time at Wonson Kalma after traveling from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok in Russia and then to Pyongyang.

It was initially planned to boost tourism and was described by state media as a ‘national treasure-level city’ modeled on Benidorm.

Russian blogger Daria Zubkova spent time in the new destination and revealed all the details

After spending three days in Pyongyang, he stayed at the Wonsan Kalma resort, which stretches along 4.5 kilometers of white sandy coastline.

“This is a new resort that is widely advertised everywhere,” Daria explained.

The blogger suppressed her fear of ‘phone tapping’ and being wiretapped while at the facility, admitting she was ‘not afraid’ of the possibility because ‘we have nothing to say that would cause someone to scold us’.

He recalled that they were rarely left alone during the trip and explained the reasoning behind this.

“The fact that you are escorted everywhere, yes, that happens,” Daria confirmed.

‘Even on the beach there was someone walking with us but it didn’t look like some kind of convoy, it was more like a sweet concern, they’re walking, they’ll chat with you, they’ll just walk behind you. They’ll somehow claim that we’re worried about you getting lost or something.’

But there were also cases when Daria managed to stay alone at the facility in the middle of the night.

He recalled that they were rarely left alone during the trip and explained the reasoning behind this.

Although there were cases when Daria managed to stay alone at the resort in the middle of the night

‘We left the hotel on our own, walked near the hotel even at 2am, walked along the beach on our own and somehow there were no problems,’ he said.

As for the kitchen, Daria explained that there are various places to eat at the resort, and she was served a variety of dishes.

‘They took us to various restaurants both in the resort area and in Kinyan and always wanted to surprise us,’ he shared.

‘They really accommodated all our interests, there was so much variety of meat, duck, rabbit, different types of fish, they really tried to please us.’

The buildings surrounding the facility impressed the blogger, who described the ‘very nice infrastructure’.

‘Four kilometers of white sandy coastline has been built. “New houses, new buildings have been built,” he said, recalling the “good decoration” and “fountains” inside the hotels.

Anastasiya Samsonova is another Russian who returned from a week’s holiday in North Korea last year, and although there were very few people there, she loved it.

‘We did not see anything terrible there, there is no danger there,’ he said Sky NewQ. ‘Honestly, we really liked it.’

North Korea has banned foreign tourists from entering its newly opened resort. The sudden reversal came just days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (pictured)

He continued: ‘The hotel was absolutely new.

‘Everything was very nicely done, good interior… very developed infrastructure.’

So why did he choose to holiday in such an extraordinary place?

‘We were interested in seeing how people lived there,’ he said.

‘There were a lot of prejudices about what you could and couldn’t do and how you could behave in North Korea. But actually we felt completely free.’

North Korea’s official tourism website, DRP Korea Tour, announced last year that foreign visitors were ‘temporarily not accepted’ to the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Tourist Area, without giving any reason for the restriction.

Russia remains the only country whose citizens have been allowed to enter since North Korea relaxed border restrictions during the pandemic.

The East Asian location reopened its borders after last year’s pandemic but quickly closed them again to most countries with little explanation.

Anastasiya Samsonova (pictured) is another Russian who returned from a week’s holiday in North Korea last year, and although there were very few people there, she loved it.

Briton Zoe Stephens (pictured) has visited the country 30 times and even served as a tour guide in North Korea for countless tourists from England, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.

However, in the past, many tourists have ventured to North Korea for holidays and have had varying experiences in the mysterious destination, from never being left alone to various strange restrictions on what they can and cannot do.

When borders were first relaxed for international tourists last year, Spanish traveler Caminante Rojo claimed to have visited the reclusive state.

The holidaymaker said that one street looked like Dubai and shared his experience on social media.

Caminante was shocked to find exorbitant prices in bars for imported beers. To expressHe said: ‘A Delirium beer for $79 (£59.66)! This can’t be happening, this is crazy! This six-litre one costs $629 (£474.98). Effects of sanctions and being a blocked country? Very high prices.

‘I think we’ll leave the imported beer for another day.’

U.S. YouTuber Drew Binsky, a Latvian tourist who visited North Korea in the name of travel, is now banned from entering Americans.

He explained the various restrictions on visitors, and in the video Drew explained: ‘You cannot leave your hotel or do anything outside of pre-arranged government-approved itineraries.’

Drew’s friend managed to find a sneaky way to explore a little without a tour guide.

Tour guide Zoe insists country is ‘normal’ despite set of rules travelers must follow

He had participated in the capital’s marathon and the footage showed him running in the area.

“If you run the Pyongyang Marathon, you can go for a morning run outside your hotel without a tour guide,” Drew said.

The tourist, wearing running gear, panned the camera to show empty streets and said: ‘There’s really no one around me, just me.’

But visitors still need to be careful to follow the rules because if they miss breakfast, “they’ll call you,” Drew warned.

A Brit named Zoe Stephens has visited the country 30 times and even served as a tour guide in North Korea for countless tourists from England, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.

He insists the country is ‘normal’ and shares flashy vlogs exploring the capital Pyongyang on social media, but many viewers accuse him of spreading propaganda.