장바구니에 상품이 없습니다.
미분류
Scuba Diving in South Korea: Prepare Two Things, the Sea Does the Rest
31
7월
7월
Diving in Korea · Interview
Scuba Diving in South Korea: Prepare Two Things, the Sea Does the Rest
A Seoul office worker with 100 logged dives on why the sea an hour from the city deserves your weekend — and the two things she never dives without.
the office worker with 100 dives
Cold and Nothing to See?
She Has 100 Dives That Disagree
Ask around Seoul about scuba diving in South Korea and you will hear the same two sentences: it’s cold, and there’s nothing to see. Jieun Choi has heard them too. She is a thirty-something office worker living in Seoul, an Advanced Open Water diver, and in three years she has logged one hundred dives — most of them in the Korean sea she was told to skip.
We sat down with her for one of our honest interviews: what the water here is really like, which sites she keeps going back to, and what she actually packs. Her answer to the last question is the heart of this article, because it is so short. Two things. Prepare for the temperature and prepare your own light, and the sea an hour from your desk stops being a compromise.
why we handed her the microphone
A Diver’s Word,
Not a Brochure’s
We could tell you ourselves that the Korean sea rewards the divers who learn it properly — diving is our culture, and our motto has not changed in a generation: learn it slow, keep it forever. But a working diver who spends her own weekends and her own money underwater makes the case better than any dive centre can. That is why we keep publishing these interviews: not for everyone, only for you — the reader deciding whether this country’s ocean is worth their time.
26Years accident-free since 2000
5,910Divers certified & counting
976Dive pros trained
At our own centre in Songpa, Seoul, training runs small — 1:1 to 1:3, never more than three students — with staff instructors who each carry ten-plus years of teaching. And if you are an expat, the language barrier ends at our door: our dive professionals communicate in English, as well as Korean and Japanese.
four seas in one country
Four Seasons of Scuba Diving
in South Korea
“The biggest charm is that the sea changes with the seasons,” Jieun says. In spring, while the land blooms, the water is still wintry — but sunlight through the swaying seaweed forests, with clouds of fry drifting between the fronds, is a scene she says belongs to spring alone. Summer brings colour: reef fish, playful nudibranchs, and her favourite oddity — hanging below the surface and watching monsoon rain hit the water from underneath.
Autumn, she argues, is the finest season of all. The sea has spent all summer warming up, temperatures hold steady, and surface intervals are comfortable — the easiest months to log dive after dive. And winter? The coldest water carries the cleanest light of the year, and for the well-trained there is even ice diving. Four seasons, four different oceans, one coastline.
warmth is the whole game
Preparation One:
A Suit That Actually Fits
Jieun’s first essential is thermal protection that genuinely fits. The reason is a phenomenon warm-water divers rarely meet: the thermocline. “In some seasons it is 25 degrees down to ten metres,” she explains, “then below twenty metres it drops under ten.” A well-fitting suit matched to the season — and in the cold months a hood, or a drysuit — is what turns that surprise into a non-event. Cold is not a fact of Korean diving; being underdressed is.
This is also where training quietly pays for itself. The drysuit specialty is one of the courses we most often recommend when divers level up for Korean water, and training gear is available to rent, drysuit included, so you learn what warmth feels like before you ever buy it.
carry your own sun
Preparation Two:
A Light and an SMB
Her second essential is a dive light — and its quiet partner, the surface marker buoy. Korean visibility can be superb and it can be moody, sometimes on the same day. A light keeps the dive calm when the water turns green, paints colour back onto walls and wrecks, and lets you peer into the crevices where the interesting creatures actually live. “Prepare for the temperature and the visibility,” she says. “That is honestly the whole list.”
The SMB is the safety half of the pair: sent up from depth, it tells the boat exactly where you are before you surface. Jieun’s advice is to practise deploying it until it is boring — and to keep the buddy system sacred, whatever the conditions. If you are wondering what safety equipment a visiting diver should bring versus rent, our FAQ covers the practical details.
an hour from the city, a different planet
Walls, Wrecks and Soft Coral —
All on a Day Trip
Where does she keep going back? The East Sea, for sheer walls, rock formations and the little worlds that grow on artificial reefs — and for nudibranchs in surprising variety. Jeju’s Seogwipo and Seongsan for soft coral colonies in full colour, with tropical visitors in the warm months. Uljin and Tongyeong for the sheer blue of the water. None of it requires an airport: the east coast works as a day trip from Seoul, and joining one of our guided dive trips means the site briefing, the season and the logistics are already handled.
Her one caution is fair: if you trained in a warm resort sea and have not dived in a while, Korea will feel like a new sport for the first hour. That is what refreshers and guided first dives are for — and why our courses are billed the transparent way everything here is: an instructor’s day, divided by the two or three students sharing it, laid out on the pricing page. Stop partway and you are billed only for what you did, with the rest refunded.
Meet the Sea Next Door
Tell us how you dive now — or that you never have — and we’ll map your first Korean dive honestly. A consultation is free, needs no registration, and comes with no pressure to sign up.
good to know
Scuba Diving in South Korea — Common Questions
Is scuba diving in South Korea really that cold?
Only if you dress for the wrong sea. Summer and autumn surface water is genuinely warm; deeper layers and winter water are cold but entirely comfortable in a suit matched to the season — a good wetsuit with a hood, or a drysuit. Divers who prepare for the temperature simply do not describe Korea as cold.
What is there to see underwater in Korea?
Sheer walls and rock formations in the East Sea, wrecks you can train to enter, artificial reefs busy with life, seasonal seaweed forests, a surprising variety of nudibranchs, and soft coral colonies around Jeju’s Seogwipo and Seongsan. With a good guide, there is more than one trip can cover.
When is the best season to dive in Korea?
Autumn, by most divers’ vote: the water has warmed all summer, temperatures stay stable, and conditions are the easiest of the year. Winter offers the clearest visibility, spring has its seaweed forests, and summer brings the most colour. There is no closed season — only different seas.
Can I dive in Korea as a day trip from Seoul?
Yes. The east coast is close enough to leave Seoul in the morning, make two boat dives, and be home for dinner. That accessibility is Korea’s quiet superpower — no flights, no hotel, no annual-leave request for a weekend of real diving.
I certified overseas in warm water. Can I handle Korean diving?
Yes — your certification is valid here, and thousands of warm-water divers have made the switch. If it has been a while, we suggest a refresher first, and your first Korean dives happen alongside an instructor in a small group of one to three, so the new environment arrives at your pace.
Do I need a drysuit to dive here?
Not in the warm months — a well-fitting wetsuit is fine from early summer into autumn. A drysuit is what removes the calendar limit, keeps long dives comfortable, and opens the winter season, when visibility is at its best. The drysuit specialty course teaches it properly.
What equipment should I bring for Korean conditions?
The two things this article is about: thermal protection that fits, and a dive light with a surface marker buoy. Everything else is standard kit — and training gear is available to rent, drysuit included, so you can try before deciding what to own.
Is wreck diving possible in Korea?
Yes — the east coast has accessible wrecks, including the well-known site at Gyeongpo, and they are a highlight for divers with the right training. Wreck penetration requires specific skills and an experienced guide; seen from outside, a wreck is already a spectacular dive.
Can I learn and dive in English in Seoul?
Yes. Theory, briefings and in-water training all run fully in English at our Songpa centre, and our dive professionals also communicate in Korean and Japanese. Many of the divers on our Korean trips are expats making this country their home water.
← PreviousSix PADI Specialty Courses That Unlock Diving in KoreaNext →An Open Water Course in English in Korea: Meg’s Honest Story
