Fukuoka–Busan Ferry: Camellia Line Booking & Timetable

The Fukuoka–Busan ferry in 2026 means one ship: Camellia Line’s New Camellia. It leaves Hakata Port at 12:30 and reaches Busan at 18:30, and the overnight sailing leaves Busan at 22:30 and lets passengers off in Hakata from 07:30. Published adult fares start at ¥15,000 or ₩150,000 one way, plus taxes.

All times, fares and fees below come from Camellia Line, its Korean agent Korea Ferry (고려훼리), Busan Port Authority and Fukuoka City, and were checked on 4 October 2026. Fares changed for bookings made from 1 October 2026, so older blog posts with lower prices or round-trip discounts are out of date. This is the first guide in our Korea ↔ Japan section.

The short answer

• Fukuoka to Busan: a six-hour daytime crossing. You arrive at 18:30, in time to walk to Busan Station and check in to a hotel.
• Busan to Fukuoka: an overnight crossing. You board in the evening, sleep on board, and arrive in Hakata in the morning without paying for a hotel that night.
• Price: 2nd class (a shared carpeted room) is the cheapest option. Bunks and private cabins cost more, and online plans can undercut the published fare.
• No fast ferry: the three-hour Queen Beetle no longer runs, so you either take the New Camellia or fly.

Fukuoka–Busan ferry timetable

From Hakata the crossing takes six hours. From Busan it is timed as an overnight trip: the ship leaves late in the evening and passengers get off in Hakata from 07:30, so you get a night’s sleep rather than a faster crossing.

Sailings run on most days, but not every day. Fukuoka City lists the route at six sailings a week. On the Saturdays with an extra Hakata night sailing (below) there is no Busan departure, and the monthly calendar shows a few other days, mostly Sundays, with no sailing in one direction. Check the calendar on camellia-line.co.jp/dia/ before you fix the rest of your trip around a date.

Extra night sailings and special dates

On selected Saturdays Camellia Line adds a night sailing from Hakata instead of the usual Busan departure. Check-in is 18:00–19:00, boarding ends at 20:00, the ship leaves at 22:00 and passengers get off in Busan from about 07:30. The dates still ahead are 17 and 24 October, 28 November, and 5 and 19 December 2026, then 13 and 20 February and 6 and 13 March 2027. Checked baggage isn’t accepted on these sailings, so you carry everything on board yourself.

The calendar and Korea Ferry’s year-end notice show these special dates:

• Saturday 7 November 2026 (Busan Fireworks Festival): the Hakata sailing leaves at 12:30 but arrives in Busan at 21:50 instead of 18:30, and there is no Busan departure that day. Our Busan where-to-stay guide has more on fireworks night, when hotel prices jump.
• Year-end, 28 December 2026 to 3 January 2027: no Busan departures on 28, 30 and 31 December, and no Hakata departures on 29 and 30 December or 1 January. On 31 December a special Hakata sailing leaves at 18:00 (passengers get off in Busan from 08:30 on 1 January), and on 2 January there is a special Busan sailing. Both specials are sold only through travel agencies. Regular service resumes on 4 January 2027.

Fares from 1 October 2026

Camellia Line raised its published fares for bookings made from 1 October 2026 and ended its round-trip and student discounts on 30 September 2026. Hakata departures are priced in yen by Camellia Line, and Busan departures in won by Korea Ferry, which sells the ship in Korea.

Children aged 6 to 11 pay ¥7,500 or ₩75,000 in 2nd class, and children aged 2 to 5 pay ¥3,000 or ₩30,000. One child under 2 travels free with each paying adult. KKday’s listing adds that a second infant with the same adult pays the child fare. Families who want a 1st-class room to themselves should check the room charge: the five-berth Japanese-style room carries a ¥9,000 charge when only three people use it, and nothing extra for four.

These are the published fares, the ceiling rather than what everyone pays. Both Camellia Line and Korea Ferry say their online booking keeps offering discounted plans, and resellers list cheaper seats too. On 4 October 2026, KKday listed the Busan → Hakata ticket from US$58.61. We couldn’t confirm whether that included taxes. Compare the total, with taxes, before you book.

Taxes and fees on top of the fare

The fare doesn’t include fuel surcharge, departure tax or terminal fees. Korea Ferry charges them with the ticket and fixes them on the date you buy, so a later rise doesn’t cost you more and a later cut isn’t refunded.

From Hakata, the adult total is ¥1,400 fuel surcharge, ¥3,000 Japanese international tourist tax and ¥500 terminal fee. Korea Ferry notes that Japan’s departure tax rose on 1 July 2026. From Busan, it is ₩14,000 fuel surcharge, ₩6,000 terminal fee and ₩1,000 departure levy. For Hakata sailings booked in Korea, Korea Ferry quotes the same items in won at ₩45,710 per adult.

Camellia Line’s fare page also says Busan departures booked through its own system are converted at the company’s monthly exchange rate and charged in yen. If you book from Japan for the return leg, expect a yen charge rather than the won fare.

How to book

If you’d rather book through a travel platform and pay in your own currency, KKday resells New Camellia tickets in both directions. The official sites above cost no more and show every discounted plan, so use KKday mainly if its total price is lower on your date or you want to pay by card in another currency.

Getting to the Busan terminal

Ferries for Japan leave from the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal (부산항국제여객터미널), 206 Chungjang-daero, Dong-gu. It is behind Busan Station, so anyone arriving from Seoul by KTX can walk. Our KTX booking guide covers that leg; Seoul–Busan is ₩54,400 in economy since September 2026.

Busan Port International Passenger Terminal (부산항국제여객터미널)Naver MapGoogle Maps

Busan Port Authority asks international passengers to arrive two hours before departure, but for the 22:30 sailing Camellia Line’s own deadline is earlier: check-in closes at 18:30, so aim to be there by 18:00. Checked bags are accepted only from 16:30 to 17:30 in Busan. Inside, you show your passport at the ticket counter, collect a boarding pass with your cabin number, then go through security and customs. Cash worth more than US$10,000 must be declared. After immigration there is a waiting area and duty-free shops before boarding.

Getting to Hakata Port

In Fukuoka, the ship uses the Hakata Port International Terminal at Chuo Futo pier (博多港国際ターミナル, 14-1 Okihamamachi). It isn’t next to a train station, so plan the last few kilometres.

Camellia Line’s check-in counter is on the 1st floor of the Hakata terminal, and it asks passengers to finish check-in 60 minutes before departure (by 11:30 for the 12:30 sailing). When the departure announcement is made, go up to the 2nd-floor gate for customs and immigration, then board over the boarding bridge.

On board the New Camellia

The New Camellia is a 170-metre, 19,961-ton ferry that has been on the route since July 2004 and carries up to 522 passengers. Two practical points matter more than the cabin photos:

• Bring yen. Camellia Line says everything on board is priced in Japanese yen, including on sailings from Busan.
• Food is limited. Since 1 August 2024 the restaurant serves a set breakfast (wakame soup) and two set dinners (kimchi stew or curry), each ¥1,000, and no lunch. The restaurant page still shows older buffet menus as well. On the midday Hakata sailing, eat before boarding or bring food. Vending machines sell snacks and drinks.

There is an observation bath, open 05:30–07:00, 11:30–16:00 and from boarding until 23:00, plus a duty-free shop, karaoke rooms from ¥1,000 an hour, and a game corner. Strollers can be borrowed free at the counter.

Baggage rules

Korea Ferry adds that no single side of a carry-on may exceed 90 cm. Checked baggage isn’t available on the extra night sailings or other special sailings.

What happened to the Queen Beetle

Many older guides still describe a three-hour fast ferry. JR Kyushu’s high-speed Queen Beetle stopped running in August 2024, after Japan’s transport ministry found that the operator had kept sailing for months while hiding water leaks in the hull. On 23 December 2024, JR Kyushu announced that it would not restart the service and was leaving the ferry business, SBS reported. The ship was sold to Korea’s Panstar group in spring 2025 and, according to Japanese transport site Norimono News, has run two-hour harbour cruises around Busan as the Panstar Grace since November 2025. No high-speed ferry runs between Busan and Fukuoka in 2026.

Ferry or plane?

A flight between Busan’s Gimhae Airport and Fukuoka is far shorter in the air, but both airports are a transfer away from the city centres. The ferry starts a short walk from Busan Station and ends a 20-minute bus ride from Hakata Station, and the overnight sailing doubles as a night’s accommodation. It also suits travellers with a lot of luggage, since each passenger can carry on bags of up to 30 kg each for free. The ferry’s drawbacks are time on the daytime leg and the weather: sailings can be cancelled in rough seas, as Korea Ferry announced for 3 March 2026. If you have a fixed onward flight or train, leave some slack.

Whichever way you cross, you’ll need mobile data on arrival. Our eSIM vs SIM vs pocket Wi-Fi comparison covers the options for Korea. A T-money card bought in Seoul also works on Busan’s metro and buses, so you don’t need a new card for the ride from the terminal to your hotel.