Geoje Travel Guide
South Korea's second largest island: Geoje (거제), Geoje City, Gyeongsangnamdo, attractions and transportation guide
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Geoje, in between Tongyeong and Busan, is an island city. It is surrounded by many small islands. It is also a place full of wars in history. I compiled some of the key itineraries for Geoje, as well as the transportation information that everyone needs to know, for reference to those who want to have a different experience from others in Busan and Gyeongsangnamdo.
Geoje, Gyeongsangnamdo : Introduction
Geoje City (거제시) is located in South Gyeongsang Province. It is one of the many cities in the southern part of Korea. Its main area is the outlying islands at sea, and it is the second largest island in Korea (after Jeju Island). There is no better-known Korean figure from Geoje than the current president, Moon Jae-in. Transportation to Geoje is not so convenient. It is mainly connected to Tongyeong by the New Geoje Bridge (신거제대교) and Geoga Bridge (거가대교) to Busan.
Geoje, Gyeongsangnamdo : Traffic Information
How to get to Geoje Island? Geoje Transportation Information from Busan
- From Busan Gimhae Airport, take an out-of-city bus to Gohyeon Bus Terminal (고현 버스 터미널). The journey takes about 1.5 hours to two hours.
- From Busan Subway Line 2 Sasang Station (사상역), Busan Western Bus Terminal Station (부산 서부 버스 터미널), take an out-of-city bus to Gohyeon Bus Terminal (고현 버스 터미널). The journey takes approximately 1.5 hours to two hours.
Way from Geoje to other islands
There are a total of seven docks on the Geoje Main Island to other islands, which are Jangseungpo, Jisepo, Wahyeon, Gujora, Dojangpo, Haegeumgang, and Dadaehang.
The most popular pier is Dojangpo, because there are Geoje's favourite tourist spots "Hill of Wind" and "Sinseondae" over here. If you visit, you can go to the surrounding attractions too.
Therefore, in this article today, there are mainly two kinds of traffic information :
- Various attractions starting from Gohyeon Terminal
- Various attractions starting from Dojangpo
Geoje, Gyeongsangnamdo：1. Dojangpo Port（도장포유람선）
- Location：Dojangpo Port / 도장포유람선
Dojangpo Port is located at Gohyeonn Bus Transfer Station. It is about an hour's bus ride. Usually this is not the first place to visit in Geoje, but its proximity to the Hill of Wind and other attractions has made it popular. From here, you don't need to travel too much.
If you want to travel to other islands in Geoje, you can also choose to depart from Dojangpo Port. However, the boats may not be operated without warning on a cloudy day or a day with strong winds and waves. The home base for traveling to other islands in Geoje is Dojangpo. During the popular tour, many Koreans also come here to take boats to other islands, and tickets are often sold out. If you are up to it, you can buy tickets online or go to the ferry early in the morning.
- From Gohyeon Bus Transfer Station, take the green bus No. 55-1 or 55 and get off at Dojangpo (도장포), which takes about 1.5 hours.
Geoje, Gyeongsangnamdo：2. Hill of Wind（바람의 언덕）
Location：Hill of Wind / 바람의 언덕
This Dojangpo area is the best known place in Geoje : Hill of Wind. The representative scene of this place is a non-stop windmill. Originally, there was no such thing in the Hill. It was just famous because of the verdant green slopes facing the sea. It was often used as a shooting scene for Korean dramas. There were many tourists. To beautify it, a huge windmill was placed .
Looking to the left and rear, you can see the beautiful harbour and the windmill that is constantly rotating beside it, which often makes people have the illusion of being in the European landscape. If you go step by step to the hillside, it is difficult to maintain the balance of your body with the strong winds. Sit on a chair near a hillside, you can enjoy the scenery of beautiful watercourses, and leisure time rarely seen in South Korea.
- From Gohyeon Bus Transfer Station, take the green bus No. 55-1 or 55 and get off at Dojangpo (도장포), and walk for 10 mins.
- From Dojangpo Port, walk to the north coast for five mins.
Geoje, Gyeongsangnamdo：3. Sinseondae（신선대）
- Loacation：신선대
Although the strange rocks of Sinseondae are surrounded by fences, please pay attention to safety when you come here. The magnificent rocks integrated into the sea will be dark red at sunset, wonderful and beautiful. There is an observatory on the cliff facing the sea. The coast of the island and the distant sea surface are as beautiful as paintings.
- From Gohyeon Bus Transfer Station, take Green Bus No. 55, get off at Dojangpo (도장포), and walk for about 12 minutes.
- From Taozangpu Port, head towards the south coast and it will take about ten minutes.
Geoje, Gyeongsangnamdo：Geoje Dojangpo Food
Saebada Fishermen's Sashimi（새바다 어부 횟집）
Address：52, Dojangpo 1-gil, Nam-myeon, Geoje-si, Gyeongnam
When you come to the island city, be sure to taste the local delicious and fresh seafood. The "Saebada Fishermen's Sashimi" located near the port of Dojangpo is a small-scale, yet delicious seafood restaurant.The person who knows the most delicious seafood is probably a fisherman. How to present fresh seafood while taking into account the delicious way, the boss has a lot of hard work.
Most of the dishes are delicious, but the seafood bibimbap and sashimi rice bowl are the signature dishes here. In addition, the spicy fish soup served is also very impressive, because if one person orders at a seafood restaurant in South Korea, this large amount of pot soup is usually not included.
It's cooked daily, so you can hardly smell the stench of seafood, it's just rich and delicious. If you can't eat sashimi or raw food, you can also order grilled grouper from the shop. However, in the harbour city, such fresh fisheries can be found, and all of them are cooked deliciously, and other points such as prices seem less important.
- It's very close to Dojangpo Port, less than 50m away.
Geoje, Gyeonsangnamdo：Geoje Dojangpo Food
Seongyeong Sashimi（선경횟집）
Address：54, Dojangpo 1-gil, Nam-myeon, Geoje-si, Gyeongnam / 경남 거제시 남부면 도장포1길 54
I didn’t expect much at first, but I couldn’t help falling in love with the soft and fresh taste after trying the sashimi rice bowl here. In addition, if you mix hot vinegar sauce according to personal preference, it will taste wonderful. If you want to eat the delicious sashimi rice bowl in this area, I recommend everyone to this sashimi place.
- It's very close to Dojangpo Port, less than 50m away.
- It's right next to the Saebada Fishermen's Sashimi.
Geoje, Gyeongsangnamdo：Geoje Dojangpo Food
6. Myeongseung Sashimi（명승횟집）
Address：124, Haegeumgang-ro, Nam-myeon, Geoje-si, Gyeongnam / 경남 거제시 남부면 해금강로 124
- It is located about 10 minutes walking distance from Dojangpo.
- Take the green bus No. 55-1, No. 55, get off at the stop of Dojangpo (도장포), and walk a little ahead.
Geoje, Gyeongsangnamdo：4. Oedo（외도）
- Address：17, Oedo-gil, Ilun-myeon, Geoje-si, Gyeongnam / 경남 거제시 일운면 외도길 17
Oedo is one of the most well-known small islands in Geoje tourism. No matter from Dojangpo Port or Jangseungpo Port, there are regular ships to and from Geoje to Oedo. Thirty or forty years ago, a couple came here and they were trapped for one night because of a typhoon. But also because of this opportunity, they discovered the beautiful scenery of the island and many exotic plant landscapes different from the rest of the Korean peninsula.
Later, the couple bought the entire island, studied the climate and planting types of many islands, and planted many plants that could coexist with the warm marine climate. Although this is a private land, it is also a Geoje tourism hub for tourists to pay a visit to the island. Many Korean advertisements and shooting scenes of Korean dramas are located here. In addition, the strange landscape of the island, like a beautiful and uninhabited island in ancient times, has created an isolated style.
The transportation part with the boat is a bit troublesome, you need to go back by the original ship, so you can stay in the island for only 90 minutes.
For more information about Geoje: Oedo Island, click here
Geoje, Gyeonsangnamdo：5. Hakdong Black Pearl Pebble Beach（학동 흑진주 몽돌해변）
Location：Hakdong Black Pearl Pebble Beach
Tired of beaches in Korea? Come to Geoje and take a look at this beautiful pebble coast.
Residents of Geoje spend a lot of their time on the pebble beach until they grow up, so they are relatively unfamiliar with the common sandy beaches. The Hakdong Pebble Beach is the largest and most famous place among the many pebble beaches in Geoje. The coastal terrain here is like a crane flying, so it is called "Crane Cave".
- From Gohyeon Bus Transfer Station, take Green Bus No. 67 and get off at Hakdong Samgeori (학동 삼거리).
- From the Gohyeon Bus Transfer Station, take Green Bus No. 56 and get off at the National Pension Geoje Centre (국민 연금 공단 거제 상담 센터).
- From Dojangpo Port, take Green Bus No. 55 and get off at Hakdong Samgeori (학동 삼거리)。
Goeje Gyeonsangnamdo：6. Geoje Captive Shelter Monument Park（거제 포로수용소 유적공원）
- Address：61, Gyeryong-ro, Geoje-si, Gyeongnam
The saddest and most painful war in Korean history : The 6.25 War (also known as the Korean War), a prison shelter on Geoje Island, is a historical park built to recount the ruthless conditions of the war.
In 1950, a captive shelter was set up on Geoje Island. At that time, the number of refugees and captives there reached nearly 400,000, which is about twice the population of Geoje Island today. It was the largest in the world after World War II. In a single shelter, due to the war, anti-communist and pro-communist parties gathered here, and the two captive forces organized and commanded attacks on each other. Communist prisoners even killed more than a hundred anti-Communist prisoners in the name of people's trials. At the same time, the kidnapping of a US general who was the chief of the shelter occurred at the same time.
From the outbreak of the war to the truce, you can witness it again through documentaries, photos, models, etc. in the park. This is a somewhat heavy place, but it reminds everyone in the world again and again not to repeat the same mistakes.
- From Gohyeon Bus Transfer Station, take green bus 110, 100, 152, 153, 141, etc. and get off at the monument park (포로수용소)。
- From Gohyeon Bus Transfer Station, walk about 30 minutes.
- From Dojangpo Port, take the green bus No. 55, 55-1, get off at the catchment bus transfer station, and walk for about 30 minutes。
Goeje, Gyeongsangnamdo : Geoje Food
Baikmanseok（백만석）
Address：47, Gyeryong-ro, Geoje-si, Gyeongnam
When you come to Geoje city, don't miss this famous seafood bibimbap restaurant: Baikmanseok Restaurant.
In front of the store, many posts show that the restaurant has appeared in reality shows often, so you can see its popularity and recognition. Baekmanseok restaurant won the best prize at Geoje Local Snack Conference, and also participated in the contest on behalf of Geoje Island in Seoul International Food Expo. The seafood bibimbap is chopped, mixed with the liver with special seasoning, and slowly cooked at low temperature. Finally, cut into flat square shapes, add sesame oil, seaweed slivers, sesame salt, etc. together to eat the flavor of the seafood itself.
The restaurant's seafood soup also uses fresh seasonal ingredients and freshly caught seafood, so there is no fishy smell at all, and it tastes refreshing. If you're somewhat allergic to seafood, regular bibimbap is also available.
- It is very close to the Captive Shelter Park, less than 100 meters away.