Seungbong-do(승봉도) is an island on Yellow sea. It's not that far like Gureop-do. You don't need to transfer to other ferry to go here so it's relatively easy to reach. If you don't know how to book ferry tickets via on-line, please read my other posting about buying ferry tickets. ( https://www.livinginseoul.online/post/how-to-take-ferries-in-korea )
Seungbong-do has a beach, well maintained trekking course, mud flat area where you can catch some eatable (on Korean standard. I'm not sure whether foreigners can eeat these. I feel like Koreans eat every seafood and other foreigners don't) marine product.
Seungbong-do is a small island. You can cover all the island by foot. Since this island is easy to reach from mainland and has enough factors for vacation, there are facilities for tourists in the island. There are many B&Bs, trekking road is well maintained along side of the beach. You can also camp on the beach. Public washroom and water tap are installed.
There are many B&Bs in the island. Some of them have a sea food restaurant, noraebang facility(and they sang until dawn...), fishing boats. I also read that people can go to mud flat when it's low tide and dig out clams. People make hot seafood stew with clams and fish they caught. We didn't do it but it would be a fun course if you're with your family including children or if you like fishing.
There are wooden roofs on beach and you can freely use it. We made a tent beneath it because it was raining and we didn't have any tarp. We could just spend our time outside cooking simple things with the burner we brought, hearing the wave and rain. There was a couple camping on the beach when we went there. They also brought one brown toy poodle. The dog sometimes came to our tent and sniffed our food. I really like a dog and I could pat the dog.
There are other tents in under trees right behind of the sand beach. They had more well prepared camping gears like tarp. They also gathered together near the burner, under the tarp, spent time. We couldn't go into the water because of the rain but just seeing the sea and listening the sound of nature was peaceful enough.
This island has some plane area and people grow rice. When I went there, it was all cloudy and bit raining on the first day. The rain stopped on the second day so me and my boyfriend had a chance to roam around the island without umbrella.
On the first day evening, we had a fish soup at a restaurant. The taste was terrible. I felt that the fish is not that much fresh. Considering it's an island and there are many fishing boat, that was quite stupid. My boyfriend and I both like fish and we often eat Korean style spicy fish stew and that place was the worst on our fish soup history so far. Fishy smell didn't go away completely and the fish texture was bit slippery. The only good thing was it was raining and we ate outside under the roof. We gazed down the bluish fog above the sea. The food was bad though. I will recommend this place to whom I dislike.
On the second day, we went to a small shop and had cup noodles for breakfast. Usually these small shops provide hot water if you buy cup noodles so you can eat it there and leave. My mom didn't cook instant noodles at home saying it's not healthy when I was young. I don't prefer eating cup noodles still. However cup noodles in outside, especially in the nature smell good and are more tasty. Furthermore, it's cheap and easy to eat. We often have instant cup noodles on our outdoor trips.
We went to the trekking road. It's usually along side the beach so you can see the small hills, sea shores, sea rocks and cliffs. Roads are well maintained and easy to walk. We went through the village first. It was spring and rice field was light green.
I personally prefer not paved road when I do trekking. It doesn't feel like I'm in proper nature if the roads are perfectly covered with modern(?) materials. Sadly, many part of the roads on this island are like that. It would be good for people who don't use to walk long or who can't walk under rough condition though. That's why I thought this island would be better for people who are with children or their old parents.
The trekking course itself is not boring. Some course are between trees, some are on the beach, some are on the hills surrounded by flowers etc.. Gureopdo is kind of real nature, inconvenient island. Compared with Gureopdo, Seungbongdo is easier to reach from mainland, island itself is more bigger and have more population, more convenient. If you want to do camping on sand beach, enjoy nature but also want some convenient environment, this island can be a nice place. Fishing and mud flat exploring course seems fun and I saw many children did it with their parents.
If you find any errors, have updated information or want to add some comments, feel free to let me know (Last update: 2019. 5. 29.)
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