Chuja-do (Chuja Island), is a small island between Jeju Island and the mainland of South Korea.
The island is home to two of Jeju’s famous Olle Trails and is typically one of the last Olle’s people complete since it takes a little more effort to visit!
In this post, I’ll explain how we got there, how the ferry system works and where we stayed. If you’re interested in hiking in Korea, you can also find out how we completed both Olles in two days with three kids 10 and under!
Getting to Chuja Island (Chuja-do)
To get to Chuja Island from Jeju Island you’ll need to catch a ferry.
Booking Tickets to Chuja Island
We booked tickets with Direct Ferries, which appears to no longer offer these tickets unfortunately. You can purchase tickets on the day when you arrive at the ticket office – but double check times before you arrive.
Alternatively, you can also book via Hanil Express, which is a better option if you speak Korean (or have someone who can help you). This site lets you purchase tickets for all types of ferries, including the fast ferry (listed under Jeju-Wando, stopping at Chuja Island on the way) and the slower ferry.
The ferries leave from different terminals at the Jeju City port, with the fast ferry taking around an hour and departing from Terminal 1 at 7.20am (Blue Pearl) and arriving at the main port known as Sangchuja Island Port Ferry Terminal, located at the top of the island.
The slower ferry takes about 2 hours and leaves Terminal 7 at 1.45pm (Songlim Blue Ocean) and arrives at Sinyang Port Ferry Terminal (the smaller one at the bottom of the island).
Cost of Ferry to Chuja Island
The cost of the ferry can vary depending on the type of ticket you get and which ferry you’re opting for. The slower ferry is the cheapest option, and you can get second class tickets cheaply. You’re also entitled to a discount for kids under 13 (with infants under 24 months free).
The Chuja Ferry Experience
Travelling on the slower ferry and choosing second-class tickets involved sitting on the floor (shoes off, please!) with some hard pillows for our backs (or heads when we had to lay down to help ease the seasickness!).
Everyone felt a little seasick and it felt a lot longer than 2 hours. Arriving in the afternoon (around 3.45pm) and on the quieter side of the island there wasn’t much to do apart from take a quick stroll around the port area.
Staying at Chuja
You don’t need to stay overnight at Chuja, but if you want to complete both Olle trails without running, it’s advisable!
There aren’t a lot of options, given the size of the island. You can choose to stay at either of the ports. Sinyang is definitely the more quiet of the two, while Sangchuja boasts more shops, restaurants and tourist information.
We chose to stay at YouStay Chuja, a gorgeous little pension right on the water with amazing views. It also boasted great little cafe downstairs where we had dinner. Each night our lovely host, Min, gave us little extras on top of our dinner order, including a delicious Korean pancake and some smiley-face potato chips for the kids! Although the menu wasn’t extensive (we had cheese pizza two nights running), it was fine for a few nights and pretty much the only option on this side of the island.
Hiking the Olles
Both the Olle trails (18-1 and 18-2) start and end from either port so you can tackle them in either direction.
We started with 18-1, which is listed on the Jeju Olle site as 11.4km. However it was definitely much longer according to our Garmin watches. That said, the trail was beautiful and there were some great lookout points along the way.
The Olle ends at the tourist information office, which is very helpful (no English but Google translate always works), who can provide you with information about the bus back to the other side of the island.
The bus is the only real option. There are no real taxi services on the island – as we found out after scoring a lift back from a friendly local when we couldn’t source a taxi.
On our second day, we tackled 18-2, which was the most stunning out of the two trails.
While 18-1 was beautiful, the views from 18-2 were breathtaking and we spent our morning break perched high above the sea overlooking the beautiful blue ocean where you can see all the way to Jeju Island on a clear day. Again, though, it was definitely more than 11km and we were well and truly exhausted by the time we reached our destination.
Hiking Both Olle Trails With Kids
It was probably too much to attempt both trails back to back with a four-year-old! Our bigger kids (8 and 10) were amazing, although there was a fair amount of whingeing along the way at different points. Surprisingly, they were much better on day two.
My husband had to carry our son for around 4 or 5kms both days, which is an effort given he weighs over 20kgs and we don’t have a proper hiking kid carrier! I really wish we’d invested in one of these kid carriers before visiting!
The Olle trails are also very popular with Korean hikers. Many of which are fully kitted out with hiking poles and other hiking equipment.
Tips for Visiting Chuja Island with Kids
Chuja was stunning, and the Olle trails were definitely worth the visit. However, there’s not much else to see and do on the island.
Here are my top tips for visiting Chuja Island with kids:
- Be sure to pack lots of snacks and things to entertain the kids when you’re not walking – like travel board games or card games.
- Be aware that the small ferry can be cancelled quite frequently due to bad weather. It was cancelled the day before we left, so we opted to go home on the bigger ferry just in case as we didn’t want to be stuck on the island longer than necessary!
- Consider taking your car for more things to do. We didn’t take ours as we knew we were really only going to do the trails, but there are probably lots of pretty spots to visit if you’ve got a car and want to spend a few more quiet days on the island.
- Take cash. There aren’t many ATMs on the island, and it’s better to be prepared than worried about being able to pay for food and drinks when you’re travelling with kids!