Hiking Seongan Ilchulbong at sunrise is one of the highlights of any trip to the beautiful island of Jeju.
Jeju is an otherworldly island off the coast of South Korea, dominated by the massive Hallasan Volcano at its center.
I say in my guide to hiking Hallasan that it’s the best thing to do on Jeju. If this is true, then hiking Seongsan Ilchulbong at sunrise certainly claims second place.
It’s going to take an early morning wakeup and a short but intense workout, but the views from the top are most definitely worth it.
As we’ll get into, the best experience here is not simply just going up and down and calling it a day. It takes some time to get to this area of the island, so you’re gonna want to make the most of your time.
What is Seongsan Ilchulbong?
So what is this thing exactly?
In my words- it’s a volcanic mountain that erupted which blew the entire top of the mountain off, leaving a massive crater behind that’s now filled with green stuff.
If you wanted something more scientific, here’s Wikipedia’s contribution: Seongsan Ilchulbong is a hydrovolcanic tuff cone formed by Surtseyan-style eruptions when magma interacted explosively with shallow seawater around 5,000 years ago off Jeju Island.
Hope that helps.
Then you were probably wondering why the name is such a mouthful.
It was a big debate for me: when I write these posts, I have to target what you guys are searching and I was debating between whether I should target “Seongsan Ilchulbong” or something like “Jeju sunrise volcano thing”.
I went with the former which probably means I got the smarter crowd.
So ‘Seongsan’ actually means ‘fortress mountain’ and Ilchulbong means ‘sunrise peak’. They used to be two different names, but they meshed them together just to make things easier for us.
How incredibly considerate, no?
How and when to get to Seongsan Ilchulbong
What time should you plan to arrive?
Unless you have some deep-rooted masochistic tendencies you’re probably going to want to arrive the night before.
I would recommend you arrive the night before the hike around sunset time. It’s a really nice time to walk around, with the views of the volcano, black sand beaches and just an overall peaceful and relaxing atmosphere.
You can technically arrive in the morning if you have a car, but I don’t really see the point. There are plenty of places to stay around the volcano.
From Jeju Town
This is likely where most of you will be coming from.
You have a number of bus options.
The fastest options are the 211 and 111 bus lines, which should take around an hour. The 211 is preferable as it’s half the price. I’ve got no idea why. Maybe the 111s got comfier seats or something.
The 201 is another option but it takes closer to an hour and a half. The 101 is a little faster, but also more expensive.
As always, I recommend downloading Naver Maps and seeing your options live.
And if you haven’t yet taken the bus in South Korea, read this article.
From Seogwipo
This is where I came from, and where you’ll be coming from if you follow my ultimate 3-day Jeju Itinerary.
And you really should. Unless you want to have an absolutely horrendous trip.
The 201 bus is the best option, and it should take around an hour and a half. There are other options as well: once again, download Naver Maps to see the best choices for when you’re there.
Where to stay in Seongsan Ilchulbong
There is a town located on a narrow strip of land between the mainland and Seongsan Ilchulbong.
It’s really small, but there are plenty of options in terms of places to stay.
If you’re looking for a budget option, the best is the Nice View Guesthouse. It costs $16 USD for a dorm room, with breakfast included and- of course- a nice view.
There are plenty of other options. I can’t offer any other personal recommendations but feel free to browse here on Booking.com.
As I mentioned before, try and take advantage of your time when you get here. Make sure to go for a stroll on the black sand beach overlooking the volcano, and shoot across to the beach on the other side of the narrow peninsula.
Hiking up Seongsan Ilchulbong for the sunrise
Start time and length of hike
Time for an early wakeup.
The walkway to the top opens at 5:00 AM. The earlier you can make it, the better.
This means a wakeup time of around 4:50, unless you have an hour-long morning skincare routine or something of that nature.
Go up to the ticket booth and buy a ticket for 5,000 won ($3.5 USD). If you’re under 24, it’s 2,500. If you’re under 7, it’s free. Which is great news for you toddlers aggressively googling ‘things to do on Jeju Island’ in between pretending the floor is lava and legally marrying a stuffed animal.
The way up takes around 30 minutes. If you go quickly, you can do it in under 20.
The bottom section is a mainly flat incline that leads you from the ticket booth to the base of the volcano. After that, it’s all staircases to the top. It’s short but tiring.
At the top you’ll find a wooden deck with staged benches overlooking the crater with the sun rising over the sea behind it. Pretty awesome.
There’s plenty of room on the wooden deck, so find your own spot and just take it all in. Watch the atmosphere change as the sun begins its ascent.
If you look in the opposite direction of the sunrise, there’s a good chance you’ll see the peak of Hallasan. It’s generally visible very early in the morning but disappears quickly as it retreats behind the clouds.
The only thing I wish is that they’d have some pathways in the crater itself. It’s the same issue I had with Hallasan: the pathways are well-maintained, but I wish there were some off-the-beaten-path options.
That’s the problem with all these developed countries. Ridiculous.
Check it out from the base
Don’t just head right back to bed after hiking down from Seongsan Ilchulbong.
After walking down the stairs back to the base of the volcano, there’ll be a path that goes off towards the coast. Take it.
Seongsan Ilchulbong looks even more impressive from this angle, where you can watch its sheer cliffs falling into the sea.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can try to get down to the black sand beach at the base of the volcano. Maybe even go for a swim.
Watch the Haenyeo (Free diving women)
You’ve gotta check out the Haenyeo before you leave Seongsan Ilchulbong.
The Haenyeo are women who dive over 30 feet without air tanks to harvest seafood like abalone, sea urchins, octopus, and seaweed.
It’s already impressive, then extraordinarily impressive when you realize they’re all over 60 and half are over 80 years old.
It’s basically like your grandma having a secret double life as a Navy SEAL.
The Haenyeo have been doing this for centuries. They dive every day of their lives, earning the money and feeding their families while the men stay home.
Talk about a matriarchy.
Their culture is UNESCO recognized, which has made them quite popular today. Seongsan Ilchulbong is one of the best places to watch them in real time.
Just try not to stand on your phone filming from three feet away like it’s SeaWorld.
They usually dive in the late morning or early afternoon. They also have shows specifically for tourists. When I was there I saw a sign for one at 2PM, but I didn’t go since I spotted them at it earlier.
Take a trip to Udo Island
I know this post is specifically about Seongsan Ilchulbong, but I felt I should throw this in.
Even if you take all the time in the world to walk along the coast, head down to the black sand beach, and watch the Haenyeo, you’ll still have around 10 hours of daytime to kill.
You can head back to Jeju Town if you want. A little boring, but do as you wish.
I’d recommend hopping on a boat to Udo Island.
Udo Island is located off the coast right by Seongsan Ilchulbong.
A roundtrip ferry ticket to the island is under 10,000 won ($7 USD), and the port it leaves from is only a 5-10 minute walk from the volcano.
When you get to the island, just explore. It’s not so big and can easily be done in a day. I would rent a bike, which should cost between $10-15 USD depending on if you want an E-bike or not.
You can even stay there overnight if you want, though I would recommend heading back to the mainland at night- you can check, but from what I’ve seen accommodation on Udo can be quite expensive.
And there you are! Hiking Seongsan Ilchulbong at sunrise is an unreal experience and I hope you all enjoy.
