Jeju Island: The Northeast Coast and the Diving Women

These posts easily could have been called “How Jeju Island Saved Christmas” because that’s exactly what it did. Knowing that we would be away from home at Christmas for the first time, we planned a trip to the place we were most excited to visit outside of Seoul: Jeju Island.

Lying just south of the Korean peninsula, Jeju is a volcanic island often called the “Hawaii of Korea.” Although it is not tropical, the climate is moderate, the water is aquamarine, and there are plenty of palm trees. Our time there was a perfect way to refocus on making a new tradition rather than focusing all our energy on what we were missing during COVID-Christmas away from home.

On our first day of Jeju sightseeing, we had planned to stop at the Manjanggul Lava Tube, one of many caves created by Jeju’s volcanic activity over the centuries. However, it was closed because of COVID concerns, so sadly we had to skip it on this trip. Bypassing Manjanggul with regret, we continued our drive along the island’s scenic north coast, ultimately heading for the Seongsan Illchulbong peak.

Jeju’s unique geography and fascinating history will take several posts to cover. In this post, discover the island’s rugged North and East Coasts, where traditional fishing villages are still the norm, and the culture of the haenyeo – Jeju’s diving women – is still alive.

Jeju’s Culture of Diving Women

The day we arrived in Jeju, I was most excited to drive to the northeast part of the island, where traditional fishing villages still host Jeju’s fabled haenyeo. Listed by Unesco as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, these female divers are an aging population that is not expected to last beyond this generation. The oldest are now in their 80s, and only about 4,000 women remain active. Economic opportunities elsewhere as well as polution that has harmed the livelihood of fisherfolk all over the world limit the number of women who currently train to dive in Jeju’s waters.

For centuries, both men and women dove for seafood off of Jeju Island’s rich coasts. However, at some point in the 17th or 18th century, female divers began to outnumber males, and then men stopped diving altogether. Traditionally, the women of Jeju would begin to train as haenyeo at age 11, learning to free-dive first in shallow water and eventually in water up to 30 meters deep. Some can hold their breath for over 3 minutes.

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Jeju is considered a semi-matriarchal society, with women having become the primary household wage-earners as early as the 18th century. Unfortunately, for much of Jeju’s history it was still true that only men could hold public office and inherit property, despite women’s higher economic status. Many haenyeo would also farm and remained the primary care-givers for children in addition to diving and providing the family’s wages.

The women dive year-round. Initially their gear was not warm enough for them to stay in cold water for more than an hour, but now they wear wetsuits and can dive for hours at a time even in the winter. You can spot them off-shore by looking for their bright orange tewak, the flotation device they attach to their nets while in the water.

As we drove along Jeju’s north coast toward Hado-ri, one of the best-known haenyeo fishing villages, we were thrilled to see dozens of orange tewak and yellow flippers dotting the inlets. As we watched, the women continued to dive, the sound of their whistling breath, sumbisori, floating across the water. Some began pulling their harvest to shore, perhaps including octopus, sea urchin, conch, abalone, and other shellfish.

It’s hard to imagine how difficult this way of life has been for the women of Jeju for centuries. Opportunities for safer work are now more plentiful, and it is progress for many that they do not have to brave the uncertainties of weather and dangerous waters to earn a living. For now, seeing these brave women at work was a rare opportunity to glimpse a fading culture.

Seongsan Illchulbong

Driving down Jeju’s east coast brings an end to small fishing villages and opens to larger towns with larger ports. Here and to the south, tourist attractions are closer at hand. Jeju Island is known for its tuff cones, steep rock formations formed by volcanic ash when bodies of water interact with large amounts of lava. Seongsan Illchulbong is the largest of Jeju’s tuff cones and is situated between the town of Seongsan-ri and the Korea Strait.

From some angles, it’s difficult to see how you could climb to the top, but in fact it’s a fairly easy 30-minute walk. A very well-maintained set of paths allows visitors to walk up the slope to see the large crater at the top.

There are, of course, stairs. But by now you should know: it’s Korea – there are always stairs!

Here is the good news: you don’t have to wait until you get to the top to have amazing views. The views of the nearby towns and coastline are spectacular all the way up and down the path. You can take your time and enjoy the views at numerous scenic resting spots along the way.

And the view from the top is no slouch, either! It’s a good payoff for your hard work in navigating all those stairs.

As you come back down the path from the crater, there is a small restaurant, and a lovely beach that hosts haenyeo diving demonstrations in the afternoon. We were too late for the demonstrations, but as we had already seen the diving women at work it was hard to feel too disappointed.

To give you some idea of Jeju’s size, after we left Seongsan Illchulbong on the east coast of the island, we drove to our hotel on the west coast, which took us about an hour and a half.

Coming up next: it’s Christmas Eve! Cliffs, waterfalls, and the Feast of the 14 Fishes are headed your way.