Korean Hawaii or amazing trip to Jeju

Zhibek Azamat 27′ is Business Analytics and Marketing major currently studying at Seoul National University for Fall 2024!

Think of the island known for the serene views by the beach, the sweetest oranges, flavorful tea with thousands of varieties, and tasty seafood; all these and more are the main features of Jeju Island in South Korea. My friends and I took advantage of the last days of warm weather in Korea and booked tickets to Jeju for four days – from October 10th to October 14th. 

Coming to Jeju, I underestimated how big the island would be. I imagined it as mostly beaches, some bars, and nice old ladies selling oranges. Yet, there are way many things to do in only 4 days, so we decided to make the most out of it. Every day was scheduled almost by the hours (shoutout to my friends Teliyah and Annie for figuring out the logistics!) with a meticulously built itinerary including all the activities to everyone’s taste (it was eight of us in total). By the end of the trip, I was convinced that we probably visited only 30% of what Jesu had to offer. Nevertheless, each day was better than the other with so many activities and emotions that made me fall in love with Jeju forever!

Since we visited a few places, I decided to divide the trip reflection into two parts. In this post, I will share our first days and some resources one may find useful when planning to visit Jeju. 

My flight was scheduled for 6:25 am at Gimpo Domestic Airports. The flight was only around an hour which was super nice and comfortable. I booked the tickets from the website  Trip.com and it allows you to choose the seat preference. Since the app is the third party between the customer and the airline, make sure to come early and get the physical ticket from the check-in desk to avoid any fees. The website online checks you in 24 hours before the flight showing all the details including your seat. I would recommend sitting by the window and flying before sunrise as you might catch the most beautiful view of the clouds. One more tip is to book the tickets early in advance as September-October is a busy season for tourists.

Once landed, I headed to baggage claim and later picked up the car with our group. Jeju is very big, and since we were in a time crunch, we rented the car for convenience. Car rental saves you a lot of money on taxis and buses, just make sure that you or anybody you are planning to travel to Jeju has an international driver’s license. Most of the locations are relatively far from each other, around 25-40 minutes away by car so plan ahead keeping the distance in mind if you are visiting for only a couple of days. 

Check-in to the Airbnb was after 4, however, the landlord was kind enough to let us leave all the baggage there before the actual check-in which allowed our group to comfortably drive around the island. The first stop on the itinerary was the cafe “Tribe”. The cafe is known for handmade fluffy pancakes with signature orange and green tea flavors. Since all the pancakes are made at the point of order, Tribe had a rule: “one menu item per person”. The size of the dessert was for 2-3 people which was super nice. The texture of the pancakes was super fluffy, soft, and jiggly. The aesthetically pleasing interior with native motives was an eye-catching experience with all the small details I kept looking at while waiting for the order. One thing I noticed about cafes in Korea is how much attention is paid to the interior and specific theme. All the cafes are made for customers to take pictures hence promoting the place and attracting more visitors.

The remaining time we walked around the broad walk and stopped by local shops to try out freshly made orange juice.Orange is a symbol of Jeju Island, which is why everyone will let you try some oranges before buying them, there were some orange-themed gift shops that contrast the rocky shore and blue colors of the water. 

For dinner, we visited the seafood place near the Broad Walk. I keep getting blown away by how fast the service is and how tasty the food itself is. I got the seafood ramen which was another experience for a person whose cultural food is solely based on raw meat (did you know that Kazakhs jokingly call themselves top two in meat consumption only being behind wolves?)

By the time we got back to our Airbnb, everyone was pretty exhausted so we decided to stay in for the rest of the day. Our Airbnb was a huge two-floor house with a backyard, multiple balconies, and even a pull-up bar. All the mattresses had an electric heater built in so before going to sleep, I could adjust the heater to sleep comfortably. 

That concluded our first day on Jeju Island. Stay tuned for the upcoming part 2 of Jeju Island activities to learn moreabout must-see sites and the best timing for visiting!