Jeju Joins the World's Top 7 Dive Destinations

Korean travel publication The Travel News picked the seven dive destinations Korean divers are actually choosing, and Jeju Island made the list alongside Palau, the Maldives, Fiji, Seychelles, Gili Trawangan, and the Philippines. As Korean divers push beyond Southeast Asia toward the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, Jeju was described as "another world you can experience without going far" and "the most realistic alternative."

The Top 7 at a glance

• Palau hooking into the current at Blue Corner while walls of reef sharks pass by
• Maldives manta rays and whale sharks; night mantas circling overhead
• Fiji the "soft coral capital," crimson-and-violet coral walls and Beqa Lagoon shark dives
• Seychelles granite boulder seascapes, calm water, unhurried diving
• Gili Trawangan swimming alongside sea turtles on a slow-travel island
• Cebu & Anilao, Philippines the sardine run and world-class macro; where many start
• Jeju Island volcanic rock and kelp forests, "familiar yet the most different sea"

What this means for divers and travelers

As an instructor guiding Beomseom dives daily, one line in this list stands out: the other six require a day or more of flying, Jeju is a one-hour domestic hop (and for international travelers, a direct flight or quick transfer from Seoul or Busan).

Here's what the article didn't have space for: Fiji is called the soft coral capital, but the waters around Beomseom hold Korea's largest soft coral colonies, protected as Natural Monument No. 442. Those crimson-and-violet coral walls? They're a five-minute boat ride from Seogwipo. Add the kelp-forest dives the article describes, and Jeju's place on this list is no courtesy.

One practical tip: if a long-haul trip to Palau or the Maldives is on your list, get certified and build experience at Jeju first. Then, at your dream destination, you can focus on the diving itself. The Open Water certification course is where that starts.