Udo Island
Island Off Jeju'S East Coast, About 15 Minutes By Ferry From Seongsan Port · Jeju, Jeju
Udo is a small, low island about 3 kilometres off the east coast of Jeju, a ferry ride of about 15 minutes from Seongsan port, beneath the crater of Seongsan Ilchulbong. Its name means cow island, because from Jeju its outline looks like a cow lying down, with the head raised at Udobong, the grassy volcanic hill on its southeast corner. The island is about 6 square kilometres of stone-walled fields of peanuts and garlic, black lava coast and a handful of villages, circled by a coast road of about 17 kilometres. Its beaches are the surprise: Seobin Baeksa on the west shore is made of white rhodolith, fragments of a red algae, so the shallows glow turquoise; Hagosudong on the east is fine pale sand; and Geommeolle below Udobong is black. Haenyeo women divers still work its rocks. Visitors hire bicycles, electric scooters or small buggies, or ride the island tour bus, climb to the lighthouse on Udobong and eat peanut ice cream. Carry ID for the ferry and watch the last boat back.
Cheonjin Port, Udo-myeon, Jeju, Jeju, 63001, South Korea
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: Udo ferries run daily from about 7.30 or 8 am to about 5 or 6 pm in summer, with the last boat back from Udo about 30 minutes to an hour before the last departure from Seongsan, and an earlier last boat in winter; boats stop entirely in strong wind or typhoons. Rental shops and cafes open around the first ferries and close soon after the last. Udobong and the beaches are open all day, the lighthouse park by day. The traps that ruin a day are missing the last ferry back, arriving without a passport, being refused a scooter without the right licence, trying to take a rental car across, and a wind cancellation announced at midday. Confirm current times at Seongsan port before relying on them.