Photography of Jeju Island in Summer

For the past several years we've spent our summers traveling by bicycle around Jeju Island with our young son. Jeju Island in summer is hot, humid and windy.  It also has blue skies, beautiful beaches, forests and interesting cafes and museums.

Jeju city waterfront

Jeju Island is located about 80km from the mainland and is a volcanic island. For the past few decades South Koreans have flocked to Jeju-do during their vacation and in the last 5 years is becoming increasingly popular with Chinese and overseas tourists.

Being under 2,000 square km, you can cycle or walk around the Island and enjoy the beautiful coast.  Walkers travel via the 200km coastal "Jeju Olleh" trail consisting of 13 trails that link together around the island. You can walk all of the trails right around the island, or choose just one trail and walk for a day.Cyclists often use the many "bike-friendly" parts of the Olleh trail or cycle around the coastal roads. To ride around Jeju Island you can either take your bike on  the ferry or you can hire a bicycle in Jeju City.   Walking or riding around Jeju Island you'll find plenty of wonderful scenery and people and plenty of photographing opportunities!

A small island on the way to Jeju Island by ferry

Jeju Island in summer is hot and humid with occasional bouts of heavy rain.   The average high in July is 28 degrees Celcius  (82 degrees Fahrenheit) while August is 29 degrees Celcius. Jeju Island is windy pretty much all year round. Bring plenty of sunscreen, a big hat and some light airy shirts to protect your skin from the sun - you burn much more quickly on Jeju Island than on South Korea's mainland.

The peak holiday season in South Korea is usually the last 2 weeks of July and the 1st 2 weeks of August, so hordes of holidayers make their way to Jeju Island.  Airline tickets are more expensive at this time, and the ferry can be overcrowded.  It can be best to book your accommodation ahead of time if you want to stay near a popular beach.   Outside of these 4 weeks, summer in Jeju Island is fairly laid back, and we usually turn up and find a hotel when we arrive pretty easily.We filmed our journey during Jeju Island's summer and interviewed interesting people along the way.  You can see the film here.

Photography by Jarrod Hall