Cool Places to go #6 Geoje Island

Geojedo or Geoje Island (also often spelled Koje Island) is the principal island of Geoje City, on the southern coast of Gyeongsangnam-do province. It is joined to land by two bridges from nearby Tongyeong. Geoje *pronounced Koje* (click here for googlemap) is  just off the coast of Busan, and a 3 hour bus ride from Daejeon, or 5 hour bus ride from Seoul.

Hallyeohaesang National Park (click here) in Tongyeong  has South Korea's longest cable car ride that takes you all the way up Mireuk Mountain, to the hilltop station, where (on a good clear day) you can enjoy view of the sea as well as Japan’s Tsushima Island. It costs W8 000 won for adults an W4 500 for children.

Once arriving by cable car, its about a 10 minute walk to the actual peak.

From Tongyeong, its about a 35 min bus ride to Geoge Island, where there are lots of places to stay and funky restaurants to experiment with.

 The best part about Geoje has got to be the sea~not just any sea, but the crystal clear sea that surrounds the island. When we were there (in July) the sea was a wonderful temperature, perfect for swimming...except I didnt get a chance to have a dip as I was too busy being hauled up mountains and staggering up stairs :)

From Geoje, you can catch a really awesome ferry to the Maemuldo Islands (it takes about 25 mins) and costs W9 000. Its such  beautiful ride! Once you reach the shore, there are 1 or two restaurants to relax in, but you HaVe to hike up the view point. Be warned, it took us about 2 hours to reach the actual summit, and we didnt even make it to the lighthouse, but it was stunning and the views were breathtaking.

All in all a wonderful trip to a beautiful beach! Definately worth the drive. You can get a bus from Yuseoung Intercity Bus Terminal to Geoje ~Gohyeon Intercity Bus Terminal~ and tickets will cost roughly W16 000.

(Here is a link to 'JustEnoughKorean' which tells of another couples trip to Geoje and their experiences there)