See the haenyeo divers at work on Jeju

What the experience is

The haenyeo, the “sea women” of Jeju, dive without breathing apparatus, typically to depths of around ten metres, staying under for about a minute at a time, to gather abalone, conch, octopus, sea urchin and seaweed. Their culture was inscribed on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage in 2016. There were more than 23,000 of them in the mid-1960s. The number has fallen steeply since, and most of those still working are over sixty.

To see them is to watch a working day, from the shore. The divers enter the water in wetsuits, each towing a float with a net beneath it. They surface with a sharp whistle of expelled breath, the sumbisori, rest on the float for a few seconds and go down again. A session lasts several hours, and depends on the tide and weather.

Where to go

The east of the island is the heartland. At Hado, a village on the north-east coast, divers can sometimes be seen working off the rocks, and the Jeju Haenyeo Museum there explains the tools, the songs, the village cooperatives and the rituals for safety at sea, with signs in English.

At the foot of Seongsan Ilchulbong, the tuff cone on the east coast known as Sunrise Peak, a group of haenyeo gives a short diving demonstration in a cove, usually in the afternoon and in season, weather allowing. This is a show, though the women are real divers, and it is the surest way to see them if time is short.

When to go

Divers work through much of the year, but the months from about March to October give the best chance of seeing them, usually in the morning. They do not dive in rough seas, and nothing can be promised for a particular day.

Good to know

Keep a respectful distance from women who are working, stay off the platforms and steps they use, and ask before taking photographs. Small restaurants run by the divers’ cooperatives serve abalone porridge, raw sea urchin and grilled conch near several harbours; they are plain, and the produce is very fresh. A hire car or a driver is needed to follow the coast.

Why OKYTO recommends it

This is a living trade, physically severe and practised by an ageing community, and it may not be seen in this form for many more years. It also explains much about Jeju: the independence of its women, its food and the stone-walled villages along the shore. Read our report on the UNESCO inscription. The coastal path of the Jeju Olle passes through the diving villages, and our Jeju pages cover where to stay.