Seongmodo Island

Seongmodo lies just 1.2 km across the water west of Ganghwa Island, and since the Seongmo Bridge opened in 2017 you can drive straight onto it. Bomunsa Temple on its seaside cliff, a Buddha carved under a rock "eyebrow", the Minmeoru mudflats that stretch almost a kilometre at low tide and autumn fields of red sea-blite make it an easy island day trip from Seoul.

How the island grew

Seongmodo is one island today, but it used to be several. Land reclamation under King Sukjong joined it to Songgado in the north and Maeeumdo in the south, and in the colonial period Eoyujeongdo to the south-west was added. It covers about 42.8 km² with a coastline of about 41.8 km, and belongs to Samsan-myeon, Ganghwa County, Incheon. Three hills run along it, Haemyeongsan (309 m), Nakgasan (267 m) and Sangbongsan (316 m), popular with hikers.

For a long time you reached it by ferry from Oepo-ri on Ganghwa. The 1.41 km Seongmo Bridge, opened on 28 June 2017, now links it by road to Naega-myeon on Ganghwa.

Bomunsa and the Eyebrow Rock

Bomunsa, on the slopes of Nakgasan in the west, is said to have been founded in 635 under Silla's Queen Seondeok by the monk Hoejeong, and is counted among Korea's three main shrines to Gwaneum, the bodhisattva of compassion. In the grounds is a stone grotto shrine in a natural cave, linked to a legend about a fisherman who netted stone figures and placed them in a cave as a dream told him, and was blessed with good fortune.

Steep steps behind the temple lead to the rock-carved seated Gwaneum beneath Nunsseopbawi, the "Eyebrow Rock". Carved in 1928 by the abbots of Pyohunsa on Mt Geumgang and of Bomunsa, the figure is 9.2 m high, with the rock jutting out over it like an eyebrow. The sunset over the West Sea from here is the island's best-known view. In the courtyard stands an old Chinese juniper listed as an Incheon Monument, and a large millstone is preserved as folklore heritage.

Hikers can follow the ridge from Haemyeongsan in the east over Nakgasan down to Bomunsa, with Ganghwa and the sea on one side and the small islands of the West Sea on the other.

Mudflats and sea-blite

• Minmeoru Beach: in Maeeum-ri; at low tide about a kilometre of mudflat appears, good for exploring with children.
• Sea-blite fields: the salt-marsh plant chilmyeoncho, the "seven-faced plant", is named for changing colour again and again; it starts green and turns purple-red in autumn, right next to golden rice fields.
• Eoyujeong and Janggot harbours: small ports where boats take anglers out to sea.

The films Il Mare and Chihwaseon (Painted Fire) were partly shot on the island.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: about 2 hours for Bomunsa and the Eyebrow Rock; half a day to a full day with the mudflats and sea-blite fields.
• Best time: the sea-blite is reddest in October and November; sunsets are good all year. Check the tide tables if you want to see the mudflats.
• Getting there: by car, cross Ganghwa Island and then the Seongmo Bridge. By public transport, change at Ganghwa Bus Terminal to a county bus onto the island; check times in a map app first.
• Watch out: the climb to the Eyebrow Rock is a long, steep flight of steps. Weekend afternoons bring heavy traffic on the bridge and the roads into Ganghwa, so set off early.