Jeju Island, South Korea - October 2009

[ysmith123]

So my brother and I are headed to South Korea for a family vacation next week and on this vacation we are planning on going to Jeju Island (about 80 km off the southern tip of South Korea) and we're planning on getting in a couple of diving days.

We plan on doing our first diving day with some guided dives with a LDS but on the second day we just wanted to rent some gear and do our own shore dive in Jeju.

Anybody have any suggestions on a good place / beach to do a dive from at Jeju. Preferably without having to rent / charter a boat. We plan on asking some of the locals about this as well but just wanted to see if anyone here had experience on Jeju and willing to put in their two cents (or two hundred won as the case may be). :D

Thanks in advance... keep an eye out around the 2nd - 3rd week of Oct for a trip report.

[jlb]

Hi there...I've lived in Korea for four years now and been diving in quite a few spots. As far as Jeju Island goes, the ONLY place for expats/foreign tourists is Deep Blue Quest. It's run by a German guy who speaks English. His equipment is excellent.

If you go to the Korean companies that are around, the English will be sketchy at best. As will their equipment, since almost all Korean divers have their own and don't rent. Think water leaking into regulators, leaky BCD inflators, etc.

As for beach diving...I'm not sure if there's much to be had. You could ask Ralf, the guy that runs Deep Blue Quest.

Also, check out the scuba in Korea site.

[ysmith123]

Thanks for the heads up... actually my brother and I are both Korean (US Citizens) and he speaks Hangul fluently while I am ok with it.

We've already talked with Deep Blue and Ralf, unfortunately he is booked solid the week we are going but they recommended another LDS to work with.

[jlb]

Sorry...actually meant Big Blue 33! Deep Blue Quest is another dive shop on the mainland (which I don't recommend!)