VISIT JEJU

Located about in the middle of Jeju Olle Course 8, Daepo-dong has Jisatgae Coast, where columnar joints lie like a painting, and Yakcheonsa Temple, which was built in the early Joseon Buddhist style, the biggest in the East. You will meet a small port on the coastline of Daepo-dong village. People used to call the port of their villages “the big dog,” which is “Daepo (大浦)” in Chinese characters. The current name of this port is Daepo Port. At the port, there are a few small fish boats, pensions and restaurants. It is one of those small and cozy ports where everything goes slow and quiet.

There are some small things that catch people’s eyes at the railings of Daepo Port. The mosaic tile murals of the underwater landscape of Jeju sea are a fun thing to see for the visitors who come to this town.

But as a fun twist, there are many activities you can enjoy in Daepo Port. You can enjoy a variety of water sports, including romantic yacht tour, the exiting jet boat riding across the sea, parasailing, and jet-skiing. How about a fun and exciting day on a clear blue Jeju sea with a beautiful sky?

한편 대포포구 주변에는 다양한 역사의 흔적이 남겨 있기도 하다. 얼핏 보면 그냥 버려진 자연석처럼 보이는 돌이 있는데 고려시대 지어진 법화사의 주춧돌과 같은 모양을 하고 있어 외부에서 대포포구를 통해 들어왔을 것으로 추정하고 있다. 또한 조선시대 봉수대 역할을 했던 대포연대도 있다. 연대란 적이 침입하거나 위급한 일이 있을 때 낮에는 연기로 밤에는 횃불로 연락을 취했던 통신시설이다. 많은 사람들이 이곳을 그냥 지나치지만 이곳에서 바라보는 경관이 제법 일품이니 꼭 둘러보자.

The national monument No. 443, Daepo Columnar Joint is one of the famous spots in Seogwipo as the largest columnar joint in the country, with a height of 20 m and a width of 1 km. The columnar joint is a pillar-like joint formed primarily at basaltic lava flows, with cracks formed by the contraction process of rapid cooling of high-temperature lava. Jeju people have been calling this place “Jisatgae Rock” as well, and Jisatgae refers to the place around Daepo-dong and Jungmun area.

At Daepo Columnar Joint, where dark red hexagonal rock pillars are exquisitely piled up like a divine work and spread like a folding screen, you can feel the magnificence and prowess of nature at the same time. This columnar joint is not only a good source of tourism but also has great value in geology, topography, and academies.

The topography of columnar joint with sharp vertical cliffs creates a mystic and exotic scenery along the emerald green sea. It is definitely a magnificent view that the stone pillars holding traces of time appear and disappear with the waves. The way waves crash into white foam against the stone pillars is also an amazing sight. When the wave is big, sometimes it goes higher than 10 m, showing the greatness of nature.

This beautiful view of columnar joint, white waves, and Jeju sea extending endlessly behind all these is definitely something you can't see anywhere else. Everyone coming to enjoy the view are in awe, amazed by the nature’s magnificence.

When Daepo Columnar Joint is most beautiful is around sunset time, when the sky turns red. You will have an unforgettable moment in Jeju watching the sun slowly go behind the west sea and the view of the God-created columnar joint.

정방폭포, 천제연폭포와 함께 제주도 3대폭포로 불리는 천지연폭포, ‘천지연’이라는 이름은 ‘하늘(天)’과 땅(地)이 만나서 이룬 연못‘이라는 뜻이다. 천지연폭포는 퇴적층의 침식과 폭포·계곡의 형성과정을 보여주는 지질학적 가치가 높아 유네스코 세계지질공원으로 인증을 받은 곳이기도 하다. 높이 22m, 너비 12m, 폭포 아래에는 깊이 20m의 물웅덩이가 있다. 폭포 위쪽은 단단한 용암층이, 아래쪽은 쉽게 침식되는 서귀포층이 자리 잡고 있어 오랜 시간 침식현상이 일어나 폭포가 만들어졌다.

Cheonjiyeon Falls is a habitat for Elaeocarpus, the national monument No. 163, and is filled with rare vegetation like Hongno orange raspberry and Psilotales, as well as warm-temperature vegetation like camellia, Siebold's chinquapi, and Shiny xylosma on both sides of the falls, which makes this falls protected as the national monument No. 379. In particular, Psilotales is an endangered rare species among other vascular plants, which only has stems without the roots and leaves and grows only on the rock face in a warm temperate area.

In the pond, the giant mottled eel inhabits, which is a diadromous fish that comes back to the river or lake after spawning in the sea. Cheonjiyeon Falls is the northern limit line of the habitat distribution of the giant mottled eel, which is designated as the National Monument No. 27. That is why this place is called the rich repository of national monuments, as it preserves the habitats for Elaeocarpus and giant mottled eels along with its warm-temperature forest.

Cheonjiyeon Falls is the only one of the three biggest falls in Jeju that opens until 10 pm (last entrance by 9:20 pm), so it is also known as a night tour spot in Jeju. Lights will shine your way to the falls, and a white pillar of water will reveal itself to you, pouring down between beautiful lights.

Take a walk down the path while watching the energetic stream of water falling through the sky-high cliffs and breathe in the fresh scent of trees. You will feel the ecstasy that Jeju’s nature presents to you.

At a cliff that spans 1.5 km along the west coast from the entrance of Cheonjiyeon Falls, Seogwipo-si, there is the Seogwipo Shellfish Fossil Beds. As the sediment rock layer of this cliff is exposed, it is the only Seogwipo formation shellfish fossil beds where you can observe the Seogwipo formation on the ground. This is where some parts of the Seogwipo formation, which is widely laid under Jeju ground, are lifted. In these fossil beds, many animal fossils are found, mainly shellfish fossils. It is estimated that these were generated approximately 2 to 3 million years ago, accumulated with the organisms that later turned into fossils. After that, the part that rose about 100 m got eroded by the waves and became cliffs.

he volcanic products and marine deposits comprising the Seogwipo formation are important materials to study the traces of volcanism in the early stages of Jeju’s formation and marine environment. Various fossils are found in this area, including fossils of pelecypods, gastropods, echinoderms, corals, whales, and fishes. Shellfish fossils are still existing, yet are not commonly found at the nearest beaches, but at warmer southern beaches. Based on this, we can assume that Jeju was much warmer before it was shaped into the current look.

Inside the deposits of the Seogwipo formation, there are lots of basalt grains and volcano ash. We can tell that in the early stages of Jeju's formation, which is a million years ago, there had been active volcanic activities on Jeju’s with basaltic lava flow and volcano ash.

Also, the Seogwipo formation is the only sedimentary layer in Korea from the early 4th Cenozoic era, and is assessed as an important layer to interpret the marine environment around the Northeast Asia area of the time. Due to the variety of fossils in the place and its climatological meaning, it was registered as the first fossil national monument in Korea in 1968 and has been protected.

Visiting Jeju for its beautiful landscape is a good idea for sure, but how about a geological trip to find the traces of Jeju’s land?