Where is Jeju Island?
Jeju Island is the largest island off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. It is a popular holiday destination for locals and foreign tourists. A sizable portion of the economy relies on tourism and economic activity from its civil and naval base.
Jeju is a volcanic island dominated by Hallasan, a volcano 1,950 metres high (the highest mountain in South Korea).
It is not a small island, measuring 73km across, east to west, and 41km from north to south.
Travel to Jeju Island
After spending one night in Seoul, we were back to the domestic airport the following morning and on a 50-minute flight to the island.
We decided that the easiest way to get to our hotel was via the local bus service as we had booked a hotel close to a bus stop in one of the major towns on Jeju Island, Jeju City.
Now we have been a lot of different public transport across many countries. The bus drivers in South Korea must have been to the same Driving School.
They are very abrupt and not employed to spend the time of day with passengers. There always seem to be a lot of yelling between driver and passengers.
Although they know that there is stop coming up, they constantly leave their braking to the last minute. Slamming on the brakes and taking off just a quickly.
I managed to score a seat when alighting the bus, clinging onto my pack but Scotty didn’t fear as well. There was a stage that the braking force was such that it sent him a few seats down the aisle, nearly landing in an unsuspecting lady’s lap! He was much more wary of the cornering, acceleration and braking and hung on for dear life.
Accommodation
Our accommodation for the next 3 nights was at Daedong Hotel.
Total cost, 42,450krw/$186nz for three nights (without breakfast). The location was great and close to the Dongmun Markets, river walks, coastal walks and bus routes. It was also only about 3km from the airport.
We were located on the 3rd floor and although the rooms were slightly dated, it was clean and very spacious. The bathroom was adequate with a separate shower (always a bonus) and we had a jug and coffee (another bonus).
Things to do on Jeju
Dongmun Markets
Located across the main road from our hotel are the Dongmun Markets. These markets have been in operation since 1945. In 1954 the original markets were reduced to ashes in a huge fire. They moved to its current location and kept the original name. It is one of the most popular traditional markets in Jeju.
We enjoyed wandering through in evenings and taking in all the colour, sights and sounds that always accompany night markets.
The ‘gamgyul’ or tangerine is one of Jeju’s most famous products. Many types are grown on the island and each season has a specialty. They are sweeter tasting and more fragrant than regular tangerines and the colours just ‘popped’ out at us as we wandered the markets.
The following day we were all set to do the Hop on Hop off tourist bus the Juju City Tour Bus. Formerly known as The Golden Bus. It runs every day except the 3rd Monday of each month. Guess what, we were waiting at the bus stop and discovered that it was the 3rd Monday of the month!!
Manjanggul Lava Tubes and Caves
Time to regroup! Plan B was to visit the Manjanggul Lava Tubes and Caves. It took us over an hour and two bus rides to get to the start of the road that leads to the caves. Instead of waiting for another bus to take us to the caves itself, we decided to walk the 2.5km up the hill. It was an easy walk and a much better idea than waiting for another 40 minutes for the bus to arrive.
Manjanggul Cave is one of the finest lava tunnels in the world and is a designated natural monument. A lava tunnel is formed when the lava that was deep in the ground spouts from the peak and flows to the surface. Manjanggul Cave has a variety of interesting structures inside including 70cm lava stalagmites and the lava tube tunnels.
It was our first visit to a lava tube and although the tubes are over 7km long, only 1km is open to the public. The tubes were big enough to fit a subway train through. We were glad we made the effort to get there and it was well worth it.
Gimnyeong Village
We stopped off at a little fishing village on the way home and wandered the tiny alleys between homes and watched the local ladies gathering seaweed on the rugged coastline.
We found an ancient underground cave and water spring that used to supply water to over 200 families.
Loved wandering alleyways between local homes and climbing down the water well
Female Divers
Gimnyeong Village is the home of the Female Divers. Dating back to the 17th century, there is a community of women, some aged in their 80’s who go diving 10m under the sea to gather shellfish, such as abalone or sea urchins. This is how they make a living, all without the help of oxygen masks.
They harvest this way for up to seven hours a day, 90 days of the year. They hold their breath for approximately one minute and make a unique verbal sound when resurfacing.
Unfortunately, we visited the island in the grips of winter so the ladies weren’t diving while we were there. I would have been fascinated to learn more about this legendary tradition.
The wild coast where the ladies dive, a monument to the divers and a local collecting seaweed
Tourist Bus
It was back to Plan A the following day to catch the tourist bus around the city of Jeju. The bus cost us 10,000krw/$13nzd each (reduced from 12,000krw). The bus passes each stop each hour and it takes a total of 2 hours to go around the circuit if you didn’t hop off at any of the 22 stops.
It was to be a cold and very windy day. That really just added to the rugged and rocky coastline which was a big part of the loop.
The first stop we alighted at was the Yongyeon Suspension Bridge. We decided to walk a further 3 stops so that we could walk the coastal walkway.
We were greeted with fantastic coastal scenery with crashing waves and oh so windy. I was very glad I put on a couple of extra layers as it was needed.
The Hop on Hop Off bus and the wild coastline
Black Port Street
After walking past the next 3 stops, we caught the next bus coming through and hopped off again at Black Pork Street.
This particular delicacy is a Jeju specialty, aptly named after the Jeju Black Pig. It’s a breed of domestic pig found on Jeju Island. It’s a small pig with black skin and a smooth coat of hair.
There are a few of these specialty restaurants in a row on this particular street but these restaurants are dotted everywhere around the city. We didn’t partake in the delicacy in this street as there were cheaper options which weren’t quite so touristy.
Black Pork Korean BBQ Style
We did enjoy our dinner of Black Pork, served in a self-service Korean BBQ style. Although it was a lovely meal, I struggled to identify anything different to normal pork. I think I was expecting there to be a specific flavour to it but the BBQ flavouring was outstanding.
Sanji Lighthouse
On the bus again and we hopped off at Sanji Lighthouse. We walked up the hill to reach the lighthouse and we nearly got blown off our feet, the wind was that strong. We had an amazing view across Jeju Harbour, port and fishing docks.
Amazing views over the harbour but I did have to hold on
The original lighthouse was built in 1916. Initially, it was unmanned, but later changed to manned and operated as such until 1999 when a new one was built.
We then walked along the coastline, past the moored fishing fleets (no one would be out on the water today) and headed towards the city’s seawall. We were impressed with the water display as the waves crashed against the wall and sprayed oncoming cars…..and Kiwi tourists! Never listen to your husband, who thinks that it would be a good photo opportunity closer to the sea wall. While I took shelter behind a rather large sign, Scotty wore the wrath of the ocean. I just got wet feet.
The force of nature, waves vs seawall
Jeju Island Summary
We only had two full days to spend on Jeju Island. Is it worth a visit? I would say ‘yes’ put it on the itinerary. The weather put a dampener on us enjoying some of the walking tracks that we would have liked to have done. Summertime would allow you more opportunity to explore the great outdoors for sure.
We were located in Jeju City which is in the north/western area of the island. For a more touristy area, where most of the higher end resorts and hotels are, you need to head further south towards Seogwipo. This is where the Jeju International Convention Centre is located. It was also a co-host for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and has the island’s only stadium.
We did underestimate the size of the island and is too big to travel around in one day by public transport. Ideally, it would be better if we could have hired a car. The rules regulating foreign drivers is such that you need an International Drivers Licence. As International Licence is only valid for one year, Scotty’s had expired so we were dependent on public transport.
I would recommend a longer stay to be able to have a good look around the other side of the island and enjoy more of what’s on offer.
The scenery, food, nature and locals stole our hearts
Click on the link below to see a video of what we saw on Jeju Island.
Really interesting post and Korea hasn’t been a country we have thought of visiting. So many places to see, not enough cash or time. The woman divers fascinated me and I wonder why men didn’t do the job of collecting food, as I would have thought the woman would be at home preparing it, I suppose they do both? As far as the International Drivers License is concerned we used to have one, then having hired cars in a few countries over here in Europe without it we haven’t bothered getting one. We might need to rethink that idea if we do Asia and rent a car. Linda, have you driven in other parts of Asia.
Hey Suz, we’ve only hired a car in Thailand once and didn’t need International Licence. The rest of the time we’ve had scooters and not needed it either. It just seemed to be Asia rather than SE Asia. Scotty renewed his International when we went back to NZ recently, just in case he needed it. SE Asia isn’t great for foreign drivers so prefer to leave it to a local to be behind the wheel.