Udo Island

Udo - cow island, for its shape - lies a short ferry ride off Jeju's eastern tip and is flat, green and about six square kilometres, which makes it walkable, cyclable and rideable in a day. Its best-known feature is Seobinbaeksa, a beach whose sand is not sand at all but broken white coralline algae, granular and pale, designated a natural monument and unusual enough that taking it is prohibited. Around the island are basalt cliffs at Udobong, the lighthouse park on the low hill, a black-sand beach, stone walls round the fields, and peanut plots - the island's crop, which turns up in peanut ice cream sold everywhere. Haenyeo, the women divers of Jeju, still work here; some of them are elderly and the practice is UNESCO-listed. Scooter rental requires a licence that many visitors do not have, and electric carts and bicycles are the common alternative. It fills with day trippers in summer.

What you'll find

• Seobinbaeksa - the white coral-algae beach.
• The haenyeo - women divers working the shallows.
• Udobong - the low hill, lighthouse and cliffs.
• The peanut fields - the island crop behind stone walls.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Summer brings heavy day-trip traffic. Ferries stop in wind, which strands visitors on the island.

Before you go

Taking the white sand is prohibited and enforced. Scooter hire needs a valid licence - many are turned away. Ferries cancel in wind. The island is crowded in season and quiet outside it.

Nearby

Seongsan Ilchulbong is at the ferry port; Seopjikoji and eastern Jeju are close.

Key facts