Useful Apps For Travelling in Jeju
MAPS & NAVIGATION
Google Maps is useless in Jeju, personally I use Kakaomap, though Naver Map seems more popular, as some shops are marked on Naver Map but not Kakaomap. The reviews are lesser on Kakaomap. I forgot how Kakaomap became my default. I shall give Naver Map a try.
TRANSLATION
I’ve never used Papago because I don’t have the need to. I hear about it a lot.
TAXI
Kakao Taxi is like Uber or Grab. You can set up to pay via the app or on the taxi which should have devices to accept credit cards, T-money or cash. T-money is the transportation card for public buses, subway and taxi in South Korea. If you want to pay by cash, you must choose the ‘General Request’ car option.
Kakao Taxi for Android
Kakao Taxi on Apple
BUSES
Jeju has a good network of buses round island, however the buses may not be frequent at less populated locations. For example, the feeder bus comes by hourly for the bus stops near Hallasan. Usually I check on Kakaomap the buses I could take and then their scheduled timings. The below site has some English words but the names are in English, so it may not be that useful if you don’t read Hangeul. It is helpful for you to note that most buses stop operating around 10pm - 10.20pm, so if you would want to save money on taxi fares, do end your conversations with you friends timely.
http://bus.jeju.go.kr
TOURIST INFORMATION CENTER
I’ve contact the online chat once from Seoul in January 2022, the beginning of the end of pandemic when tests were still needed for travellers. They were helpful though I can’t remember what I asked about.
Phone : Call Center +82-64-740-6000 ☞ Press 1 for Korean, 2 for English, 3 for Chinese, 4 for Japanese
Advice by chat : Online Chat
Offline : Come to the Jeju Tourist Information Center office
Hours of Operation : Daily 09:00~18:00
EXPRESS BUS 101
Express Bus 101 is one I take frequently to go to the airport. Bus 101 travels the North-East-South of the island. See the route map here. If you use Chrome browser to see the route map here, right click “Translate to English”. Bus fare is KRW2,000 to KRW3,000 depending on distance by card. A flat fare of KRW3,000 for cash payment.
Red buses are express buses that link up all 4 cardinal points of the island and are numbered in the 100s. Red express buses skip many local stops and only service key destinations, like transit centers and popular tourist attractions.
Blue buses are intercity and city buses and are numbered in the 200, 300, and 500s. The fare is KRW 1,200.
Green buses are branch buses numbered in the 400, 600, and 700s. These buses are also known as “village buses”, and they have shorter routes and travel smaller roads in the cities or villages in the country. These buses may travel less frequently, so wait times may be long. The fare is KRW 1,000
TRANSPORTATION CARD (T-Money)
In Jeju, T-Money card are purchased and top-ups are done in convenient stores which will only accept cash. In Seoul, they are sold in subway stations which don’t exist in Jeju. A single card can be by multiple people on a bus trip. Let the driver know how many people and wait for him to cue BEFORE tapping the card.
I tap my card on exit for transfer discounts or fare amount base on distance on express buses. Tap on exit is otherwise not necessary but I still do it as a habit. I’m not sure of the discounts. If you are interested, look up 환승할인 on the official page.
CAR RENTAL
I use Lotte rental car because they open at 7AM, so it’s helpful for early flights. Sign up for free membership for discounts. They also seem to have customer service that is more familiar with foreigner customers.
JEJU CCTV
Sometimes I like to see the weather, car or human traffic condition at certain places.
