Terraced gardens
Down to the sea.
NabinMewahang — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han) — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han) — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han) — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han) — CC BY-SA 2.0
Oedo is a small island belonging to Geoje in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, inside Hallyeohaesang Marine National Park, about 15 km southeast of central Geoje in a straight line. The whole island has been turned into a Western-style marine botanical garden. Oedo was once an isolated, barren, rocky island with no electricity or telephone and only eight households. In 1969 Lee Chang-ho and his wife Choi Ho-suk settled here, tried growing tangerines and raising pigs, then decided to create a botanical garden; their plan was approved in 1976. The island now holds more than 3,000 plant species, including cacti, palms and eucalyptus, in a mild, almost subtropical coastal climate. Terraced gardens step down the island's slopes towards the sea, with paths between clipped hedges, colourful flower beds and tropical trees, and views over islands, rocky cliffs and blue sea. From the air the island looks like a green mound in turquoise water. Visitors arrive by boat from Geoje's ports on a trip that passes islands and sea rocks, then tour the gardens before returning on the same boat. Boats may stop in bad weather, so check before you go.
Down to the sea.
Palms and cacti.
Past islands.
Oedo Island, Geoje, South Gyeongsang, South Korea
By boat from Geoje's ports.
They may stop in bad weather.