The Northeast Coast: Hamdeok, Gimnyeong, and Woljeong
Right now I'm on the sand at Woljeong, watching the water do the thing it only seems to do on this stretch of Jeju — shift from clear to jade to deep cobalt in the space of a few metres, wherever the seafloor drops away. I came out this morning to snorkel and ended up walking most of the day instead. That's the honest summary of Jeju's northeast coast: three beaches close enough to string together on foot, each one a slightly different version of the same idea. Most people meet these beaches one at a time, by car, for the length of a coffee. It's worth slowing down. Hamdeok, Gimnyeong, and Woljeong sit along a single ribbon of the north-east shore, joined by black basalt walls, wind turbines, and two stages of the Jeju Olle Trail. Taken together, they make more sense than any of them does alone. Hamdeok, the arrival Hamdeok is where most visitors land first, and it earns the crowd. The bay curves into shallow, almost tropical water — a pale emerald over whit...