Jeju Island - Seopjikoji and Manjanggul Cave

Seopjikoji

Seopjikoji. The  building in the background is the All-In Korean drama chapel.

Explanation on Seopjikoji.

Explanation from the board writes: Seopjikoji is on the east coast of Jeju Island. In the jeju dialect, "Seopji" means a narrow piece of land and "Koji" means a promontory. During the Joseon period, a signal fire beacon was located on "Seopjikoji". The shoreline is covered with volcanic red rocks and pebbles, and many of the rocks are of strange, spectacular shapes. One large rock known as "Seondolbawi" looks like a candlestick. According to local folklore, it was created when the son of the sea gos turned to stone because his love for a nymph was not returned.

Entrance: Free entrance. Parking 500 won.
Direction: Search in the GPS for Seopjikoji or use the address 261, Seopjikoji-ro, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do.

Seopjikoji is also one of the places that is a must visit in Jeju. Not only that it is free, the area is much wider with different scenary at difference places. Here, you can access to the lighthouse, All-in Korean drama chapel, the volcanic black rock, a wide field, see Hanyo divers and there is also a Korean drama store near the chapel. There are alot of of Hanyo divers coming to Seopjikoji. We also bought the freshly grilled cuttlefish from the Hanyo divers. We only walked as far as the lighthouse and did not go all the way to the end.

Hanyo divers getting ready for their dive.

Snapshot of the lighthouse from far.

Not sure what building is that but we did not go that far. Picture taken from the lighthouse.

The cuttlefish dried on the shore of Seopjikoji.

Manjanggul Cave

Manjanggul cave

Manjanggul cave is the representative lava cave of the ones on Jeju Island. It is located in Gujwa-eup, Jeju City. The lava flows erupted from the Geomunoreum volcanic crater and flowed through creating a lava tube with Bengduigul cave, Manjanggul cave, Gimnyeongggul cave, Yongcheondonggul cave, and Dangcheomuldonggul cave. Manjanggul is the largest cave and the only one that is open to the public.
Manjanggul cave is a large scale, single channel that was formed through the curvy path of the lava flows winding in and out. The cave's total length is 7,416 meters and as wide as 23 meters at the widest point and 30 meters high at the highest point. The 3 entrances were made from the collapse of the ceiling. Currently, only a section of 1 kilometer is open to the public, from the No 2 entrance to the lava column in the cave. The temperature inside the cave is maintained in the range from 11 to 18 degrees celcius. It is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Manjanggul cave was designated as the 98th natural monuments in Korea in 1962 and in 2007, it was appointed as a UNESCO's World Natural Heritage.

Entrance fee: 2000 won. Free parking available.
Direction: Search for Manjanggul cave in GPS.

Becareful when walking in the cave as there are water dripping from the top making the floor slippery. It is also quite cold in the cave when we were there compared to the temperature outside. Along the cave, there are lamps and some explanation on the rock formation and stuff which I dont understand. It is also very dark in the cave and very difficult to take pictures. All the way to the end of the cave looks the same so there are not many pictures to take. The floor of the cave is very unique. I think it is the hardened lava or something because it is like rock but with smooth texture. It took us some time to walk from the entrance to the end where there is a lava column and lights for you to take picture and then walk back. Honestly, we didnt really understand those geology and natural stuff so it doesnt seem to be very interesting to us. It will be interesting for people who have knowledge in these kind of stuff. There seem to be alot of meaning to the different kinds of stone but to us it just looks like a stone with different shapes. The fun for me is to walk on hardened lava and feel the atmosphere in a cave like Batman.

Lava Stone Mark (Stone turtle). The breakdowns from the ceiling were carried along with the lava flow before they werehardened to form a mass of rock. It is shaped like the island of Jeju that is why it is special.

Entrance of the cave before going down the stairs into the cave.

Inside the cave looking out to the entrance.

Lava flows at the end of the walk. Honestly I only know that this is the lava flow when I start writing this blog. When I was there we just took pictures because we reached the end of the cave and there is some cool looking thing there with disco lights shining at it. Im sure many others taking picture there feel the same as me.