Manjanggul

Introducing Manjanggul

East of Jeju-si and about 2.5km off the coast road is the world’s longest system of lava-tube caves (783 4818; adult/youth & child W2000/1000; 9am-6pm Mar-Oct, 9am-5pm Nov-Feb). The caves are 13.4km long, with a height varying from 2m to 30m and a width of 2m to 23m. If you’ve never been inside a lava tube before, don’t miss this chance. Venturing inside the immense black tunnel with its swirling walls and pitted floor, it looks like the lair of a giant serpent and it’s hard to imagine the titanic geological forces that created it aeons ago, moulding rock as if it was Play-Doh.

Take a jacket, as the cave ceiling drips and the temperature inside is a chilly 10°C. The lighting is dim so a torch is a good idea. You can walk for 1km along the black tube to a 7m lava pillar, the cave’s outstanding feature. The walk takes 30 minutes as the floor is pitted and full of puddles.

Lunch at Daesikdang (; meals W5000-12, 000; 8am-6.30pm) where the local fish speciality, okdom (), comes with rice and good side dishes. For a light lunch, two people can share one okdom. It’s on the 2nd floor of the tourist complex with an outside balcony.

A 20-minute walk back down the access road is Gimnyeongsagul (Snake Cave), which is officially closed, but just follow the sign to walk through the first double-decker lava-tube cave and on to the even larger second lava cave, which you can venture down if you have a torch.

On the other side of the road, on the right by the shop, is another lava-tube cave with an unusual lava-platform feature.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009