Seogwipo

Seogwipo (서귀포시, 西歸浦市) is a city in the southern district of Jeju island. The main city consists of a rather small urban center and port on the coast, directly south of Jeju's most prominent landmark, Hallasan mountain. However, urban sprawl has seen it extend in a thin strip along the coast westwards up to the township of Jungmun and some of the coastal villages beyond.

Understand


Covering the entire southern half of Jeju island, Seogwipo, the island's second-biggest city, claims the Jeju International Convention Centre and the Jungmun Tourist Resort Complex with Jeju's fanciest accommodation. Furthermore as one of the many co-hosts of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, it holds the island's only stadium.

Being spread out along a coastline made out of columnar basalt cliffs and beaches interchangeably makes it a somewhat unusual visit. A coastal wander may see you strolling across a busy summer beach one moment and sheepishly striding through incredibly swank hotel grounds the next. Yet equally likely, one could end up traversing rocks alongside sheer cliffs, dark caves and beautiful waterfalls. It is the second-largest city on Jeju Island, with a population of 155,000 in 2011.

Other destinations

Smaller villages dot the coastline and eastern and western interior. Roughly clockwise from Jeju City:

– village in the east of the island, close for Udo Island and Seongsan Ilchulbong, a volcanic crater. The village has a number of interesting seafood restaurants and can make for a pleasant overnight stay, but there are no nightlife options (apart from a disproportionate number of marts for the size of the village).

– small coastal village just west out of central Seogwipo. Unnoteworthy if not for the fact that it is the proposed site and thus ground zero for the battle over keeping naval bases off Jeju.

By bus
Buses run from Jeju city on the other side of the island. Seogwipo is a main hub for buses for the southern side of Jeju island and therefore the majority of buses running on this side of the island pass through Seogwipo.

From Jeju beach/downtown area, get bus 100 to the bus terminal. From there, buses leave every 10 minutes to Seogwipo. Fare: ₩3,000. Journey time: 1 hour.


 * The Airport Limousine bus (route #600) runs from Jeju International Airport to Seogwipo every 15 to 20 minutes. Journey time is about an hour and 20 minutes. Cost is ₩6000 per person (as of 2023) payable with cash or T-money card. The bus makes stops at about 30 locations, including all the five-star hotels in the Jungmun Resort Area. The final destination is at the Sun Motel in Downtown Seogwipo.

Get around
Seogwipo is spread out in a thin line along the coast from Seogwipo downtown to the east and Jungmun to the west along the main arterial road, Ilju-ro (Highway #1132).

By bus
Like it's northern counterpart, Jeju City, Seogwipo has its own inner-city (shinnae) bus system. Almost all of the buses take the same route along the highway between downtown and Jungmun, but tend to branch out at either end, servicing even a few of the smaller villages such as Daeepyeong-ri in the south-west of the island. In the downtown district there are a pair of bus "terminals" located around a main traffic roundabout from which most depart downtown, else just make your way to the highway. Inner-city buses cost ₩1000.

Long distance inter-city buses mostly follow the same route along the highway as inner-city ones and can also be used to get around. The cost is a little higher but they are faster, only stopping at major locations before zipping out of town to Jeju City. These long distance buses look more like tour buses than the city buses and go pretty much anyhere on Jeju. Seogwipo has two inter-city terminals. The main inter-city terminal is in the south-east of downtown, near the Jeongbang Waterfall. The second is to the right of the E-mart in front of the World Cup Stadium (tucked in the back of a rather nondescript building). In practicality however, you can get just get on from one of the larger bus stops on either side of the highway around the stadium or Jungmun, and or at the traffic roundabout in downtown.

By taxi
Taxis are also an option – most places are happy to call one for you. However, if you're planning to travel the full 25 km from Jungmun to downtown, the fare will be expensive.

By motorcycyle
There are one or two places that rent scooters in Seogwipo.

On foot
The main city area of Seogwipo, World Cup Stadium and Jungmun all lie in a 25- to 30-km-long thin strip along the coast. Whilst it is downright easy to wander each of the three key areas individually, walking between them would be inconvenient. Having said that, the Jeju Olle hiking trails do run along the coast in this region.

Most places can be comfortably walked to from the nearest highway stop.

In Seogwipo town

 * [[Image:Jeju ColumnarBasalt.JPG|thumb|310x310px|Basalt pillars of Jungmun Beach.]]
 * [[Image:Jeju ColumnarBasalt.JPG|thumb|310x310px|Basalt pillars of Jungmun Beach.]]
 * [[Image:Jeju ColumnarBasalt.JPG|thumb|310x310px|Basalt pillars of Jungmun Beach.]]
 * [[Image:Jeju ColumnarBasalt.JPG|thumb|310x310px|Basalt pillars of Jungmun Beach.]]
 * [[Image:Jeju ColumnarBasalt.JPG|thumb|310x310px|Basalt pillars of Jungmun Beach.]]
 * [[Image:Jeju ColumnarBasalt.JPG|thumb|310x310px|Basalt pillars of Jungmun Beach.]]
 * [[Image:Jeju ColumnarBasalt.JPG|thumb|310x310px|Basalt pillars of Jungmun Beach.]]
 * [[Image:Jeju ColumnarBasalt.JPG|thumb|310x310px|Basalt pillars of Jungmun Beach.]]

Track and Field activities

 * Hiking.
 * Climbing.

Festivals
Throughout the regions, there are variety of festivals:



Buy



 * Locally made Hallisan Soju (Korean rice wine).
 * Jeju hallabong (citrus fruit akin to an oversized tangerine) are grown predominantly on the southern side of the island so they are both most abundant and cheap from roadside stalls around Seogwipo.

Eat
Being a coastal city on an island, expect the hoe (회, sashimi) to be excellent.

Downtown Seogwipo contains mostly Korean-style restaurants. To illustrate, even the E-mart food court is strictly Korean fare. In the main circle in town there is a coffee shop/restaurant that has some western dishes prepared in a Korean way on the second floor. It has pictures of famous westerners lining the restaurant.

A great more upmarket restaurants, catering to foreign tastes, can be found in and around the Jungmun Tourist Resort Complex.

An interesting culinary option around Seogwipo is sea cucumber. Jeju's iconic women divers (해녀) are scattered around the coast, particilarly near Jungmun, ready to serve it up fresh before your eyes for an average ₩10,000. If you time your approach right, you might even see your meal get hauled in before your eyes. If you're game that is...

Drink
In addition to the ubiquitous number of Korean-style drinking restaurants, there is a small strip with a few western style bars and Korean style clubs. The strip is located on the way from the main circle to the harbor in Seogwipo. On the way down the hill the strip will be located on your left hand side.



Budget


There are no jjimjilbangs in downtown Seogwipo, and only one in the greater city, quite literally located under the World Cup Stadium (the southern grandstands to be precise):



Splurge
The fanciest and most expensive hotels in all of Jeju tend to be situated within the Jungmun Tourist Resort Complex alongside Jungmun Beach, west of downtown Seogwipo:



Hotel
There are a total of 13 five-star hotels in Jeju Island.

Examples include Grand Hyatt Jeju, Maison Glad Jeju, Ramada Plaza Jeju, Haevichi Hotel & Resort Jeju, Marriott Hall Jeju Shinhwa World Hotel & Resort, Howard Johnson Jeju Hotel, Sweet Hotel Jeju, Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino(postponement of reopening), Lotte Hotel Jeju, Jeju Shilla Hotel, Grand Chosun Jeju, CS Hotel & Resort, and Lotte Jeju Resort Art Villas.



Go next
Jeju City, the capital of the province, is easily accessible by bus. But you already know this, because you must have come through Jeju City to get to Seogwipo. Until the Seogwipo airport gets built (there is still no timeframe for completion as of 2023) you'll only be able to go elsewhere in Jeju.