Several airlines in Hong Kong have direct flights to this very interesting volcanic island in the South of Korea. Perfect for short outdoorsy holidays.
- Beauty/fun: The main attractions would include white sand beaches, hiking up to the dormant volcano (highest peak in the country), Olle trails and good coasteering.
- Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 3.5/10 for all the routes done. The only challenge, in my case, was the distance covered. Up to 40 km a day in consecutive days. The navigation was simple, surfaces easy too, tons of connections with main paths even in the little outpath done. The island though has potential for a significantly more challenging routes.
- The map (how to download to your phone)
See full screen and Garmin tracks of Hallasan, city walk, around Olles 21 & 2, 5 & 6, 7 & 8, 8 & 9, 10 & 11 loop back, 12, around Olles 14-15.
The island is in Korea, but tends to be significantly warmer than the rest of the country. The peak season would be in the summer time, when the beaches can get crowded. In my case, I went in early October. Cooler, but still with warm enough temperatures to try some coasteering, although finally I did not swim. I would suggest early September as a good option if trying to enjoy more of the sea side.
I knew the island for its volcano: Hallasan. I had seen pictures of the Hong Kong trail runners in a race around that is hold yearly. I was able to find very detailed information about all the basics of the main hiking. So after the first night sleep in the city, early wake up and up I went.
The second target of the trip was the Jeju Olle trail. An over 400 km route which mainly follows the coastline divided in 20+ sub routes. There is very detailed information in their web. As per the research I had done most interesting routes where in the South, but I started with the beaches in the North, and also some lava tubes, Seongsan, both UNESCO heritage sites and some easy fun coasteering on Olle 5.
The next days I continued on JeongBang waterfall, Oedolgae, up till Olle 9
I ended up on Yongmeori coast, visiting the Japanese tunnels, trenches and other WW2 remains, Olles 10 to 12.
Tons to visit in the island.
As aforementioned, the island has huge potential for way more adventurous outings. Coasteering would be the initial one in mind. You can see all around the diving ladies getting into the water and also fishermen jumping among the rocks, so you will be hardly far from other people for long stretches.
You can skip sections in the Olles or go to most of the sites through public transportation and some walk. I download Kakao Maps (iOS/Android), as per goingthewholehogg recommendation, and worked perfectly, with very accurate time estimations for all the buses taken. If you rent a car, then you can even easier plan your outings. Get your International driving permit.
More adventures abroad.
Leave a Reply