Scenic drive along the Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road

12 November 2022

The western coast of Jeju has some of the most scenic coastal roads, starting from Suwolbong Peak and going north towards Hyeopjae Beach.

It was only a short drive from Osulloc Tea Museum to reach the western coast of Jeju. One of the optional attractions I had in my itinerary was Suwolbong Peak. Suwolbong Peak is a small oreum located in Gosan-ri, the westernmost point of Jeju Island. Rising 77 meters above sea level and ocean-facing, one could get a panoramic view of the Jeju countryside as well as good views of Chagwi-do (island) and the windmill coastal road.

Since we were already behind schedule, I told Mr Won to skip this place and bring us to Chagwi Port where I hoped we could see sights of squids hanged out to dry near the port. However, there were none to be seen. Mr Won explained that it was drizzling this morning and no fisherman would dry squid in wet weather. 

There were a row of stalls selling dried squid. One of the stall owners offered me a piece of dried squid to try. The dried squid tasted quite nice. She toasted some more of the dried squid and also some dried fish on a charcoal stove for all of us to try. The toasted dried fish and squid tasted even better after toasting. So good that everyone, including Mr Won, bought some.

The stall owner told us that her husband owns a fishing boat and these dried fish and cuttlefish were caught by her husband.

Happy customers and even happier stall owner.

Dried squid and dried fish for sale. 

From Chagwi Port, we drove northwards towards the Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road. We chanced upon some squid hanging out to dry at Yongsu-hang (Yongsu port)!

Mr Won made a quick stop for those interested to go snap some photos.

Rows of squid drying in the sun. Chagwido could be seen in between the rows of drying squid.

In my blog post for my previous trip, I made a comment that there were no flies seen on the drying squid or cuttlefish in Jeju. This time, I spotted some flies.

Try to spot the flies on this row of squid.

Continuing on, we drove along another coastal road with rainbow colours painted on stone markers. This is now quite a common sight in Jeju.

Another rainbow coastal road in Jeju.

First view of the Sinchang wind turbines.

We soon caught sight of the wind turbines at Sinchang. I remembered I came by this way with Mr Won 11 years ago. During those days, wind turbines were a rare sight. Now with the push for sustainable energy, it is good to see more and more of these wind turbines being installed all over the place.

We made a stop so we could get a closer look at these wind turbines. While Annabelle stayed close to the van with her leg in a plaster cast, the rest of us took a walk down a walkway towards a lighthouse and some wind turbines.

Walkway to some wind turbines and a lighthouse.

We could walk right up to some of the wind turbines and feel the power of those blades rotating slowly above us.

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! Quite an experience standing right beneath these gigantic blades.

This place is likely to be windy all year round and would be extremely cold in autumn or winter, with the wind chill factor. We were lucky that it was a rather warm and comfortable day in November.

Looking back at the path we took to the lighthouse and Won Dam.

There is a walkway that is half submerged in water. This is actually a stone wall or dam built in the intertidal zone for the local villagers to catch fish trapped inside the dam at low tide. It is built just high enough to be submerged during high tide.

A walkway on top of a dam that is half submerged at high tide.

Signage explaining the purpose of Won Dam.

Most adventurous guy in our group checking out Won Dam.

A few of my travelling companions actually took off their shoes to walk on the half submerged dam.

After some fun at the wind turbines, we continued our scenic drive to Hyeopjae Beach where it was time for lunch.