Catching the Sunrise in Jeju

For Spring Break, I traveled to Jeju Island off the coast of Korea.

Short disclaimer: traveling around Korea right now is acceptable and safe, and I got complete permission from my school (in fact, they were confused why I even asked…).

So, double-masked, socially-distanced, and covered in sanitizer, we carefully plotted our course to watch the sunrise on the water.

Most people who go to Jeju head towards Sunrise Peak (also known as Seongsan Ilcholbong 성산일출봉), a volcanic crater with a great view. It’s impressive, for sure, but it requires a 30 min hike, paid entry, and my friend had already been there.

Given how time sensitive catching a sunrise can be (and hoping to avoid crowds), we decided to go to Seopjikoji (섭지코지) instead.

sunrise peak

my shot of seopjikoji with the beacon fire station in the distance

Like pretty much everything in Jeju, getting there in the morning is difficult if you don’t have a rented car. The buses simply don’t run that early.

So we decided to take a taxi from our hotel, close to the airport, which rounded out at 40,000 won (roughly $36). Expensive, right? We figured it was worth it split between the two of us, especially given we had no other options.

The taxi took about 40 mins, and we watched the sky grow redder and redder. When we got there, we raced up the trail to the top peak and waited for the sun. For a while, we were the only two there.

It. Was. COLD. We were FREEZING. The wind was blasting us as if we were sitting in front of a giant vent. We took as many photos as we could stand. And you know what? I think it was worth it.