Ulleungdo travel guide: ferries, Dokdo trips, coastal trails and stays

Dodong, Jeodong or the north coast: where to base yourself

Most visitors stay on the east side of the island, in one of two harbour towns a short coastal walk apart. Dodong is the arrival port: VisitKorea places Dodonghang 188 kilometres north-east of Pohang and notes that, as the ship comes in, Manghyangbong Peak is on the left and Haengnam Lighthouse on the right. The ferry terminal is at 14 Dodong-gil, and the restaurants near it, the coastal trail and the Dokdo Observatory Cable Car are all within walking distance. It is the base for travellers without a car.

Jeodong, just to the north, is the biggest port on the island and, says VisitKorea, where most of Ulleungdo's squid fishing and processing takes place. The Sunrise boats to Dokdo leave from the Jeodong terminal at 171 Ulleungsunhwan-ro, according to Daezer Ferry, so a night here makes an early Dokdo departure easier. After dark, look out to sea: the lights of the squid boats, *jeodong eohwa*, are counted among the island's Eight Beauties.

The north coast, around Chusan and Cheonbu in Buk-myeon, is quieter and closer to Gwaneumdo, Seokpo and the Nari Basin. VisitKorea's best-known stay here is Healing Stay Kosmos, a 12-room spiral-shaped resort on a cliff beside Songgotsan Mountain that opened in 2017. Staying in the north makes sense if you want a resort and will arrange transport; for a first trip without a car, Dodong or Jeodong is simpler.

We could not verify the island's bus timetable from an official page (the Ulleung County tourism site blocks automated access), so ask your lodging how to reach the north and west coasts before you arrive.

Crossing from Pohang, and planning around cancellations

The fastest link is Daezer Ferry's El Dorado Express from Pohang Ferry Terminal, 44 Haean-ro, Buk-gu, Pohang. On its official site when we checked on 3 October 2026, Daezer described it as a 970-passenger wave-piercing catamaran built by Incat in Tasmania, put the route at 217 kilometres and the crossing at 2 hours 50 minutes one way, and listed a slower ship, the Sunrise, at 3 hours 40 minutes. Its daily sailing board for 4 October listed one El Dorado Express departure from Pohang to Dodong at 09:50 and one back from Dodong at 14:20; check the current board, because sailings vary by day and season. VisitKorea also notes that ships to Ulleungdo leave from Mukho Port near Donghae on the Gangwon coast.

The weather decides. Daezer explains that it analyses the weather from the evening before to the morning of departure and sails only if safe passage is assured; the decision is normally announced by its ARS phone line after 07:00 on the day. When a sailing is clearly impossible, or clearly certain, it decides the day before and announces it between 15:00 and 17:00. If sailings are stopped by bad weather or a wind-and-wave warning, bookings are cancelled automatically and you must rebook another day; card payments are refunded automatically. That is why the return leg needs slack: a cancelled afternoon boat means another night on the island.

When we checked, Daezer's own cancellation fees were 10% two to three days before departure, 20% the day before and 50% on the day. Every passenger must carry ID; for foreign visitors Daezer lists a valid passport, a Korean alien registration card or an international driving licence, and photocopies or phone photos are not accepted.

Getting to Pohang: VisitKorea lists Pohang among the KTX high-speed rail destinations from Seoul, and puts Pohang Station about 35 minutes from Dongdaegu by KTX or SRT. Daezer sells combined KTX-and-ferry tickets on its site and advertises a shuttle bus between Pohang Station and the ferry terminal; check its current notice for times. Drivers can leave a car at the terminal, which Daezer listed at 5,000 won per 24 hours for a small car.

Dokdo by boat from Jeodong

Dokdo is a pair of rocky islets, Dongdo (East Island) and Seodo (West Island), that VisitKorea places 87.4 kilometres from Ulleungdo. It is a protected Natural Monument and a home for rare seabirds; civilian visits were prohibited until March 2005 and are now allowed under certain conditions. Dongdo, the eastern islet, has a lighthouse and a wharf.

Daezer runs the trip on its Sunrise catamaran from Jeodong, listing 1 hour 40 minutes each way; its daily board for 4 October 2026 showed departures at 08:20 and 14:25. VisitKorea warns that cruises may not run in bad weather and that fees vary by cruise. Treat the Dokdo boat as the most weather-sensitive part of the trip: put it early in your stay so a cancellation can be moved to the next day, and do not plan it for the morning you leave the island.

If the boat does not go, you can still look towards Dokdo. VisitKorea says it can be seen from the top of the Dokdo Observatory Cable Car on very clear days, about 50 days a year, and from Haengnam Lighthouse on clear days. The free Dokdo Museum in Dodong's Yaksu Park, opened in 1997, covers the islets' history; when we checked, VisitKorea listed it as open 09:00 to 18:00 with last entry 30 minutes before closing.

Dodong to Jeodong on foot: coastal trail, lighthouse and cable car

The best half day from Dodong needs no transport. The Dodong Coastal Trail leaves from the port and joins the Jeodong Coastal Trail; together they form the Haengnam Coastal Trail. VisitKorea lists the Dodong stretch as section 1 of the Ulleung Haedam-gil, 2.8 kilometres, with bridges over open water between caves and eroded gullies and a rainbow bridge with geopark-logo LED street lights. It is also a geopark walk: the rocks get younger as you go from the port towards the lighthouse, with basalt lava, ignimbrite and trachyte on display.

About 400 metres from Haengnam village stands Haengnam (Dodong) Lighthouse, on the island's easternmost point between Dodong and Jeodong. It was first lit in 1954; from it you look north over Jeodong Port, Chotdaebawi Rock and Seonginbong Peak, and VisitKorea notes the hillside turns yellow with flowers in autumn.

Back in Dodong, the Dokdo Observatory Cable Car rises from Yaksu Park to Manghyangbong Peak for a view over the whole harbour. When we checked on 3 October 2026, VisitKorea listed it as running 08:00 to 19:00 from April to October and 08:00 to 18:00 from November to March, with last tickets an hour before closing, and an adult fare of 7,500 won.

The north coast: Gwaneumdo, Jukdo, Seokpo and Elephant Rock

Gwaneumdo, the third-largest of the islets around Ulleungdo, was once joined to the main island and is now reached by a footbridge. VisitKorea lists three viewpoints and two trails on it, plus sea cliffs at the Gwaneumssanggul twin caves and columnar joints from cooled lava. When we checked, it was open 09:00 to 18:00 (ticket office closing at 17:00) at 4,000 won for adults. VisitKorea warns that strong winds can restrict access, so check before you set out.

Above Cheonbu, Seokpo Observatory looks over Jukdo and the Buk-myeon coastline from an eight-sided pavilion. VisitKorea notes that the Japanese used the site from 1905 to 1945 to watch Russian warships, and that a trekking path links it with the Naesujeon Sunrise Observatory.

Jukdo is a small inhabited island 4 kilometres from Jeodong; VisitKorea says most visitors see it on a boat trip from Dodong, and listed a 2,000-won adult entry. Off the north coast at Hyeonpo, Elephant Rock (Kokkiri Bawi) rises 50 metres from the sea about 500 metres offshore, a lava formation with a wave-cut arch that gives it a trunk.

Taeha, Nari Basin and the inland forest

On the west coast, Taeha has a cliff-top walk to the island's main lighthouse. VisitKorea describes the Taeha Coastal Trail beyond a footbridge next to Hwangtogul Cave, past honeycomb-weathered tafoni rock, and a route up to Ulleungdo (Taeha) Lighthouse and the Hyangmok Geo Skywalk: about 6 minutes on the Taeha Hyangmok monorail, then roughly 20 minutes on foot. The junipers growing in the cracks of the Daepunggam cliffs are a designated natural monument. The white lighthouse, first lit in 1958, stands 7.6 metres high.

Inland, the Nari Basin is the caldera north of Seonginbong Peak and, by VisitKorea's account, the only flat land on the island, with Nari village in it. The primeval forest at the foot of Seonginbong is Natural Monument No. 189 and holds plants found only on Ulleungdo. If you want a stop by the sea on the drive round, VisitKorea describes Tonggumi Pebble Beach as a kilometre of dark pebbles on the coastal road where there are always waves.