Gimnyeong's Hidden Tidal Path: Cheonggulmul Spring, Tteooreuggil, and a When Life Gives You Tangerines Filming Spot
On the east coast of Jeju, in a quiet village called Gimnyeong, there's a stretch of coast that only shows its full character at low tide. A cold natural spring called Cheonggulmul surfaces right at the water's edge, and a few minutes' walk away, a stone sea path built by hand by local haenyeo divers rises up out of the water. A short drive further, the same tide uncovers a hidden lava-rock path that was used as a filming location for the Netflix series When Life Gives You Tangerines. I put all three together into one easy half-day route, timed around the tide.
① Cheonggulmul — A Cold Spring Right at the Sea's Edge
There's no need to search for Cheonggulmul by name on a map — park at the open lot beside Bongjidong Community Center instead, the same spot I used for Tteooreuggil later, and follow the coast on foot from there. It's about a 5-minute walk.
A sign near the spring notes that this area used to be called Cheongul-dong, named after the water itself. Jeju's volcanic rock is porous, so rainwater sinks straight through it instead of forming rivers on the surface. That water travels underground toward the coast and, once it reaches sea level, has nowhere else to go but out — surfacing as freshwater springs called yongcheonsu. Cheonggulmul is one of the clearest examples I've come across, sitting only a few steps from the waves, yet completely fresh.
I tasted the water myself, and even sitting a few feet from the sea, it wasn't salty at all — a proper freshwater spring. Some Jeju villages still keep communal spring baths built around water like this, traditionally split into separate sections for men and women. Cheonggulmul isn't set up quite that formally, but it holds onto the same year-round chill.
It was a hot day, and the moment I put my feet in, the cold hit immediately — the kind of cold that only comes from water that's been underground. A few seconds in and the heat was gone. On days like this, plenty of people skip the ankle-deep approach entirely and just get in.
Heading back along the coast toward the parking area, I spotted two haenyeo — Jeju's traditional female divers, who free-dive for shellfish without oxygen tanks — working just offshore, with a sailboat passing behind them. It's not a paid attraction or a set-up view; it's just what happens to be out there on an ordinary afternoon.
② Tteooreuggil — A Stone Sea Path That Only Rises at Low Tide
After spending some time at Cheonggulmul, I walked back toward the parking area — Tteooreuggil is just a few minutes further, right across from where I'd left the car.
This path was never built for visitors. Jeju's haenyeo divers laid these stones themselves, one at a time, as a working path to reach their diving grounds. These days, at low tide, the moss growing on the stones turns green, and the path seems to rise up out of the sea as the water pulls back — which is where the name comes from: Tteooreuggil roughly translates to "the rising path."
When I arrived, the tide was just starting to pull back, and the path was only beginning to show through the water on either side — it felt genuinely strange to watch it appear. Families were wading in nearby, kids and parents together, picking through the rocks for sea snails and top shells. It looked less like sightseeing and more like a shared outdoor lesson happening in real time.
I found a sea snail of my own tucked between two rocks, and there was something satisfying about hunting for it piece by piece, like a small treasure hunt.
③ Where "When Life Gives You Tangerines" Was Filmed — A Hidden Tidal Path
About a 7-minute drive from Cheonggulmul brings you to a filming location for When Life Gives You Tangerines (Korean title: Pokssak Sogatsuda), the Netflix series starring IU and Park Bo-gum that follows a Jeju woman named Ae-sun and her husband Gwan-sik across several decades of their life together. Set your navigation to Delmoondo, Gimnyeong branch — it's a café with a parking lot right next to the coast.
From the parking lot, a short walk brings you to the entrance, across from a wind power research facility. This same entrance doubles as the start of Olle Trail Course 20 — Jeju's island-wide network of coastal walking trails — and also leads straight down to the tidal path below.
Past the entrance, black volcanic rock stretches out as far as I could see. This whole stretch is normally underwater. It only becomes walkable once the tide pulls back.
The first time I saw it exposed like that, I genuinely stopped and stared.
Further along, past patches of green moss and small pools of seawater, is the exact path from When Life Gives You Tangerines. The two leads are shown standing together on this same stretch, more than once.
That's actually the reason I timed this visit around the tide — I wanted to walk the same path myself.
Scenes of young Ae-sun waiting on the shore for her mother were also filmed nearby. If you time it right, you can get a shot with a similar feel to the show.
Check the tide schedule before you go — see the related post below for how.
Right by the Delmoondo parking lot, there's a panel with a real captured frame from the Netflix series. It was filmed at this exact spot.
A chair sits in front of it, so you can pose with the same coastline behind you. It's close to the road, though, so watch for passing cars while shooting.
If you're a fan of Korean dramas, there's one more stop worth adding nearby: Seongsegi Beach and Segi-al Beach, just a few minutes away by car. Segi-al Beach became known as a filming location for the JTBC series Welcome to Samdal-ri — its red lighthouse, emerald water, and backdrop of wind turbines match the show almost exactly, and plenty of visitors walk out to the end of the breakwater for a photo. It pairs well with the rest of this Gimnyeong coastal route.
Good to Know Before You Go
| 📍 Suggested Order | Cheonggulmul → Tteooreuggil (5 min walk) → Tangerines filming site (7 min drive) |
|---|---|
| 🚗 Parking | Cheonggulmul & Tteooreuggil: open lot near Bongjidong Community Center / Filming site: Delmoondo Gimnyeong parking lot |
| 💰 Admission | Free for all three spots |
| 🌊 Tide Times | See the related tide guide post below for how to check |
| ⏰ Best Time | 1–2 hours before or after full low tide, for both photos and wading in |
Check the tide schedule before you go — see the related post below for how.