Seogwipo: Jeju’s hidden gem

South Korea – March 2023

Seogwipo is the second largest city on Jeju and is located on the south side of the island. That means I’m already halfway through the 300km hike on the Jeju Olle Trail. A few days earlier I learned that you can also dive in the area, so I plan to take a few days break from hiking. The start of my stay in Seogwipo immediately eases the throbbing pain in my lower body. The first 10 days on the long-distance Jeju Olle Trail have left their mark. But as I pass through the gate of the local temple and walk along the quiet main street, they are almost forgotten. Soon I see the first dive stores and in a park a small music festival is going on.

But I pause only briefly and soon make my way to the Jeju Olle Stay. The tourist center has set up a nice accommodation on the second and third floor with all the amenities that hikers need. My hiking clothes enjoy the free laundry service and my damaged feet enjoy the warm shower. Refreshed, I ask at the front desk if they can recommend a dive store. Unfortunately, the store that they call is now no longer open, so I make my way towards the harbor. In fact, I soon find what I am looking for. The instructor can not speak English, but with the help of Google Translate I can find out that in 2 days a dive with Korean customers is planned.

So we arrange that I am also ready on Monday at 08:30. Because my legs feel much better in the meantime, I take a little sunset walk through the town and treat myself to an Australian hot dog to celebrate the day. I sit down in the now empty park and look at the stars for a while before I go back to bed early at the Olle Stay. Because I unexpectedly have no program for the next day, I still think while falling asleep whether I might walk a part of the Olle Trail without luggage. My legs hurt even after a restful night in a warm, soft bed. But I’m up early and it would be a shame to spend the beautiful spring day indoors.

So without further ado I make my way to the next bus stop and enjoy the hike along the coast without a backpack. The story of this section of the trail is recorded in the blogpost about the 2nd week on the Olle Trail. The pain-free day of hiking and the good news about a job offer put me in a celebratory mood when I return to Seogwipo. I head to the harbor for sunset, where a bridge with a metal sail reminds me of the Burj al Arab in Dubai. On the way I see a tent restaurant in which many Koreans seem to have a good time. Without further ado, I ask the owner for an English menu and order kimchi pancake with some rice and a beer. The atmosphere on the spring evening is great and I reluctantly make my way back to the Olle Stay.

But the next morning I have to leave early. On the way down towards the harbor, I pick up a roll of gimbap and a banana milk for breakfast at 7/11. When I arrive at the dive store, 2 Korean divers in full wetsuits are already waiting. The owner of the store also comes straight up the stairs and means me, already holds a multi-piece suit for me ready. I follow him downstairs to the changing room and squeeze myself into the unruly material. Since the water is still quite cold here, 3 layers of the 5-mm neoprene are necessary for the upper body. The red jacket, however, I put on only in the car and fight the whole trip to the fishing port with the zipper. It is the first time that I ever have to drive with a car to the dive site. In the Hyundai minibus the rear seats have been unceremoniously removed and replaced by 2 wooden benches to create enough space for divers and equipment.

Fortunately, we arrive well at the small fishing port despite the slightly illegal-looking ride. There I am quite warm at the moment, but I know that the water temperature will cool my body down quickly. We carry all oxygen tanks, weights, masks, fins and hoods to the dock and wait for the dive boat. The dive master and his son prepare their dry suits and I am given the choice whether I want a hood with devil horns or with orca fin. I decide on the killer whale and then watch the woman eagerly reloading several boxes full of small fish and other seafood next to us. In the meantime, more Korean divers arrive at the small site, so when the big blue dive boat arrives, there are eight of us standing by. The boat, except for the metal dive lift, is very similar to the fishing boats delivering the last of their goods on the other side of the dock. We all get on and rub the insides of our masks with anti-fog spray or spit on the way to the offshore island during the ride to the dive site.

Then it’s time to put on gloves and fins. Shortly after, I waddle awkwardly towards the dive lift, which gently transports me into the cool water. The four of us slowly descend to about 16 meters. In contrast to Southeast Asia, no larger sea creatures like turtles or reef sharks await me here. It is buffer fish, artificially created reefs and beautiful red corals that dominate the scene. The dive master seems obsessed with taking as many photo as possible and lures and to particularly colorful corals. Fortunately my buddies like to take over the role of photo models and I am mostly spared. Just as I slowly get a little cold, it is time to surface. A bit exhausted but as always full of euphoria I go back to the boat. We head back to the dock for the surface interval and fortify ourselves with some tea and cookies.

I ask the instructor via Google Translate about the artificial reefs and a fish we have seen and he thaws noticeably towards me. Once again, the internationally valid underwater sign language has overcome the limits of verbal communication. The one Korean diver without dry suit is visibly cold, but he seems to insist on doing the 2nd dive as well. The boat reappears at our pier and we go out again to the offshore island to start another exploration tour on its other side. This time I notice the cold more, but it is still tolerable. In any case, I am thankful for my Ocra cap and try to concentrate on the beautiful, colorful nudibranches that the dive master shows us. Once again, the dive is over way too quickly and we all head back to the car and then into town with big grins on our faces. I spend the rest of the day writing my diary and taking another sunset walk. On the same day I receive the photos taken by the dive master via Kakao Talk and am once again fascinated by the underwater world and the skills of the experienced divers.

And if you want to read more stories about the people I met and the physical and mental hardships of long-distance hiking on the Jeju Olle Trail, click on the blog posts below.