Geumdangdo Belongs to Wando, But No Boat Leaves From There

No matter how carefully you search the ferry terminal website run by Wando County in South Jeolla Province, you will never find a "Wando-Geumdang" route. On the map, Geumdangdo is clearly part of Wando County, yet the main Wando island terminal itself sells no ticket to it at all. This is exactly the trap first-time foreign visitors to Wando fall into. To actually reach Geumdangdo, travelers need to catch a boat not from Wando but from Nokdong Port in neighboring Goheung, or from Udu Port on nearby Geogeumdo.

Travel time: about 40 minutes from Nokdong Port to Geumdang's Ulpo Port, about 15 minutes from Udu Port · Fare: roughly KRW 9,000 one way for an adult, about half that for a child · Service: car ferries run by Pyeonghwa Shipping, 4 to 5 sailings a day (summer schedule, March 1-November 20) · Inquiries: Pyeonghwa Shipping, 061-843-2300.

Geumdangdo belongs to Geumdang-myeon, a township of Wando County, but it did not make the list of five islands — Cheongsando, Yeoseodo, Nohwado, Soando and Bogildo — covered by the county's "half-fare island ferry support program," which it resumed this September. That discount program only applies to routes that actually depart from Wando port, so Geumdangdo, which has no sailing from Wando to begin with, simply cannot qualify. Anyone who shows up at the Wando terminal without knowing this ends up wasting anywhere from dozens of minutes to well over an hour for nothing.

The shortest route is from Udu Port on Geogeumdo. Five sailings run between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., and the crossing to Geumdangdo's Ulpo Port takes just 15 minutes. From Nokdong Port, four sailings a day start with the first boat at 5:50 a.m., and the trip takes 40 minutes. Both routes are served by car ferries, so travelers touring the island by rental car can bring their vehicle along.

Step off the boat and the scenery known as the "Eight Views of Geumdang" awaits. There is Byeongpung Rock, which rises from the sea like an unfolded folding screen; Geumdang's red cliffs, often compared to China's own Red Cliffs; Gama Rock, an island at high tide that opens into a walkable path when the water recedes; and Gyoam Cheongpung, a sheer cliff-top lookout over the archipelago. Together they form a stretch of coastal scenery hard to find on Wando's main island.

Time it right and a day trip is entirely doable. Catch the 9 a.m. boat from Udu Port, and you can spend more than half a day on Geumdangdo before heading back on an afternoon sailing; taking the first morning boat from Nokdong Port and the last evening sailing back also makes a same-day return possible, with no overnight stay needed. Ferries can be canceled depending on sea conditions, though, so it is safer to call the operator the day before to confirm the boat is actually running.