Gureopdo(굴업도) is an island quite far from the main land. There is no direct ferries going there so you need to transfer. If the weather is bad, ferries are cancelled so you need a bit of luck to go there. It is so called Galapagos of Korea. It has quite a fancy features for island camping (beach, bit high altitude meadow where you can see sunset) but since it's not very convenient to go there, it's not over crowded. You can focus on bit rough nature of the island.
Gureop 굴업 means bending waist forward. According to the history, this island was so barren, people who settled on this island worked hard day and night. They didn't have time to stretch their waist. That's why the name of the island became Gureop.
You can feel that it's not easy to grow crops on this island. It's not a big one, made up with hills and meadow usually. However, as a camper, this island provides unusual scenery in Korea.
How to go Gureopdo
(Read my other post How to take ferries in Korea below to see how to book ferry tickets via on line: https://journeyfeb.wixsite.com/seoulite/post/how-to-take-ferries-in-korea)
There is no direct ferries going to Gureopdo from mainland. You need to go to Seungbongdo (승봉도) island first and transfer to other ferry which goes to Gureopdo. The ferry line stop by the Gureopdo, it stops several other islands. Many tourists, campers take off those islands in advance. Gureopdo is the most far from the mainland among those islands. Far the more, ferry line heading to Gureopdo is cancelled when the weather is bad or wave is high or sea fog is dense. Unfortunately, foggy day or high wave are quite common in this area.
Me and my boyfriend was waiting the ferry heading to Gureopdo. The ferry's name is Narae. They make announcement near the port and you can also get updated message via SMS. Ferry companies send real time notification to the phone number you wrote when you bought the ticket so check it. Our ferry was bit delayed but not cancelled.
Gureopdo Map
Gureopdo is a small island. There are two mountains on the west side. Me and my boyfriend camped the upper mountain of right side of island one night and on Gaemeori field for one night. We both think Gaemeori field is better to camp than other mountains though.
Gaemeori Field
90% of campers go to Gaemeori field to camp. There is a reason people don't go on the other side of island but we didn't know it at first. Honestly, there is nothing on the right side of the island. No human only deers at night. Scenery is just an average island scenery there. Oh, by the way, there are wild deer on the island. You can see there glowing red eyes at night and they approach to the tent at night. Bit scary.
On the other hand, Gaemeori field is a kind of special feature of this island. No big trees, there are deer of course. Wind is quite strong on the field so you need a tent which can stand wind well. Sea fog coming up from the bottom and come over the field top. You can gaze the sea fog surrounds you slowly. You can see the nice sunset with the sun disappearing over the sea line. Field is on the high cliff, you can just lie down and watch the wave comes and hits the cliff.
Camp fire is not allowed here. This area is owned by private corporation actually. There was a bush fire some years ago which was started by camper who built a camp fire for cooking. After that, the owner put signs that "Camping is not allowed" but people still camp there. I think the corporation let the people camp there yet, but if you somehow get reported because of camp fire, you might be in trouble. Just use burner if you need to cook something.
You need to hike a bit (around 15 minutes) to reach the field from the beach. It's bit painful to hike with all the camping gears but it's worthy to do it. There is no man made facilities on the field so you need to bring all the waters in advance. Otherwise you need to come down all the hills to buy food or water. There are small shops and B&Bs near the beach in the village.
As you can see in the map above, this field and port are bit far. Actually, the port and the village itself have some distance. If you stay in B&B, the owner will come out with a truck to pick you up from the port.
If you are a camper, you need to walk. However it's bit boring and tiring to follow the all the road to the village. There is a shortcut which you can take to go to the village, beach and Gaemeori field.
There is a walking passage. There are some stairs but still it's much faster than just following the road. You can see the way going up.
Other features of the island: Beach and Foreshore
There is a nice sand beach. There is a public shower, tap and washroom near the beach side. If you stay in B&B then you can use the shower there but campers like me, can use these public facilities. There was no hot water on shower though. No one asked me to pay for the fee when I used it. Small shops are also near the beach after the pine tree area. They sell water, small snack, cup noodles etc..
There are two beaches in the island. One is near the port, other one is right before the hiking trail for the field. People usually play in the sea on the second beach. I think it's because B&Bs and public facilities are all near the second one.
On the other side of the island, the shore is completely under water during high tide. When I went the island, several small boats were tied up there lied on the shore and floated on water again as tide came in and out.
There are some big rocks revealed on shore during low tide. Some of therm are arch shape. My boyfriend took a drone and made it pass through the arch. There are not many people on that shore compared with the main beach area. You can have quiet and peaceful time alone in the entire shore.
You can also hike a mountain on east side. It's not that hard to reach the top. Usually people don't come on this side to climb mountain but you can see the island and stop by the other side of the shore.
There are wild deer which never approach to people but it's easy to spot them on the island. They will come near by your tent at night. No other big animals in the island so no worries about animals' attack.
I recommend this place if you want to feel the isolated island in Korea. Very less people live and not many people come to camp here because of it's distance. It's also bit painful to take a ferry long time. However it feels really good looking upon the sky and hearing the wave on cliff on big open field. If you don't like the whole inconvenient situation for camping, you can just use B&B to stay but spend time on beach and the field.
If you find any errors, have undated information or want to add some comments, feel free to let me know (Last update: 2019. 5. 17.)
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