1. What is Woongdo?
(From instagram ‘chanifoto’)
Woongdo is a little island which is located in Seosan city, Chungcheongnamdo Province. It takes 3 hours from Seoul and 1 and half hours from Pyeongtaek by car. Recently, this island has been the most trending place in Korea at this moment. Because there are only 2 times for local residents to get inside Woongdo Island.
The Woongdo was named after the shape of this island. When you look at this island from the sky, it looks similar to ‘Bear’ and ‘Woong’ is an old word of bear in Korean. There are over 7,000 islands throughout Korea and Woongdo is one of the smallest islands with around 100 local residents. Like more than 4,000 islands in the west coast, This area is famous for sea foods from the mud flat such as small octopus, Manila calm, cram and so on, that’s why there are regular visitors with family and kids for Mud Experience Program and also there will be many interesting activities.
2. Why it is so special?
This bridge called ‘Yoodugyo(유두교)’ connects Woongdo with ‘Mogaeseom'(모개섬); Mogaesom is another island to get to Woongdo. It looks as it is flooded. But it is not. When you go to West coast in Korea, Low tide and High tide easily can be seen. Most of the 7,000 islands in Korea are located on the west coast, due to the difference between the tides. That’s why this phenomenon is also happening here.
(From Naver)
It is a place where many people line up and visit to take pictures when the tide is high due to social media. And here are some pictures I took today. I did my best today, but I think I’ll have to try again next time.
3. How to know when it’s High tide and Low tide
Of course, you shouldn’t go anytime to take pictures like this. If you go during the low tide, you can only see mudflats. There are times when you can take these pictures twice a day, and you have to go on time well. From now on, I’ll tell you how to find out the right time.
(1) Search ‘badatime’ on Google
(2) Search Woongdo(웅도) in the yellow search bar in the upper right corner.
(3) Click the word ‘웅도’
(4) Let’s check when is high tide and low tide.
At this point, you need to focus on this picture. It’s very important moment. As I wrote, the left side is high tide, and the right side is low tide. Next to the time, you’ll see the numbers in parentheses, and usually 700 is the most appropriate height to take a picture. For example, on this pictuire, 14:46, 24th of May is the perfect moment to go if it is not rainy.
