Chasing Summer –

August 30th 2025

The Odyssey has arrived for a two-day venture on Jeju Island. We are parked in the Segwipo International Cruise Passenger Terminal, which, much to my dismay, is about a 20-minute drive to the main Segwipo tourist attractions.

I am, however, super excited because this is my 4th trip here and I love Jeju Island. We did arrive with news of a heat warning. The temperature is supposed to feel like 38 degrees centigrade or approximately 98 degrees Fahrenheit. In this temperature, it’s very hard to walk around, and that’s what Jeju is known for.

On previous holidays here, I had walked the Jeju Olle trails, which are 437 kilometers of walking paths, featuring 21 interconnecting main routes, around the island. Of the 21 routes, I have completed 19. They are a fabulous way to get in some exercise on holiday and see all of the sites possible on the island. With heat warnings, it was way too hot to tackle any of the trails in their entirety. We did do a small section of number 6.

From the cruise terminal, we caught bus 680 for 1000 won, or basically a dollar. In about 25 minutes, we were at the market in Segwipo called Maeil Ollie Market. From there, we are about a 15-minute walk to the Cheonjeyeon waterfall.

The Waterfalls cost 2000 won to get into and require another short 15-minute walk through a forested path to reach the waterfall.

From this waterfall, we took an Uber for 5000 won to Jeongbang waterfall. This waterfall also costs 2000 to enter and requires climbing up and down 133 stairs to see the waterfall. This waterfall is special because it flows directly into the sea.

At this point, we were so hot and sweaty we really wanted to get into some water, not just look at it. I have about 13 minutes away, there is the freshwater beach. This is an area where locals and tourists go for a refreshing dip in the water. The fresh water from inland meets the seawater at this location and is super chilly even on a hot day.

The walk from those falls to the beach was part of the Jeju Olle walk number 6.

From the beach, we caught another Uber for 5000 back to the market area. Here, there is a covered market where there are many food vendors, souvenir shops, and other random stores. It was fun to watch everyone’s faces as they saw some of the interesting goods, and we sampled several different dishes.

Two of our group needed to head back to the ship as they had signed up for a barbecue dinner near the port, but Paul and I headed to Jeju Beer Fountain Main Branch for some pizza and local craft beers. This is the place I have come to in the past and greatly enjoyed both the food and the beers.

We tried 5 different beers, and unfortunately, they do not have samplers here. I also had the Genghis Khan pizza, which had spicy lamb on it. Of the beers that we tried, the peanut butter stout was by far my favorite, and I wish they had cans to bring back.

We did see some cans of craft beer back in the market, so before we had to get the bus, we ran back in, but they were different flavors. I did buy two of the Mocha Stout and an IPA for my friend.

While the boat remains here tomorrow and then returns to Japan, I will be travelling to China for the next 10 days as an overland section.