Jindo SeaParting/Miracle Sea Road Festival

The festival entrance

On April 29th I went to the Island of Jindo, SK to witness the Jindo Sea Parting event. Only occurring once a year during the months of April-May, a difference in the tides causes a small land bridge that connects Jindo to the island of Modo that is nearby. It is a highly popular festival for both Koreans and tourists alike, so there were many people that attended. We arrived very early in the morning on the last day of the festival, so many of the stalls were not open yet. My friend and I were able to look around and found a map of the festival grounds. I didn't try any unique foods this time, just cheap festival foods, but I didn't lack experiences.


First, I was able to see Jindo dogs up close. I think they are some of the cutest dogs ever and I really want one. The puppies look like little teddy bears, they are all fluff and eyes. They can be a variety of colors too, although I think I may be partial to the white ones. At the festival I was able to play with some Jindo puppies, and even got to hold and cuddle them. They were very popular and had many admirers. I also was able to see a Jindo dog show, where they had some very skilled trainers and well trained dogs do some amazing tricks. It seems like a great breed, and its a traditionally Korean dog breed. I need one.

The festival had many other events as well, including a color festival on the beach, wrestling matches, and a global zone where foreigners were performing, dancing, and singing. I was able to stay entertained throughout the day by watching various events, strolling the beach looking for shells, and relaxing in the shade. The beach was littered with tiny little abalone shells, which are really shiny and beautiful on the inside and commonly used in jewelry. I collected lots of the tiny shells. I also watched the boat parade that made its way up and down the shore throughout the day, drumming and dancing to the beat as it slowly moved about.

Where the sea road begins....before people arrived

Above is one of the boats passing by during the boat parade, with its colorful flags, upbeat drumming, and traditional looks.

The actual sea parting began to occur at about 6pm, so that is when everyone donned the nice plastic boots they had bought earlier that day and began the trek across the sea. It was actually pretty amazing to see the road appearing as the tide went out and the water slowly disappeared. Lots of locals went out and were not there for the walk, but rather were harvesting. I am not sure exactly what all they were collecting, but lots of women collected seaweed, shells, and other sea life which I assume was edible. The children on shore were also having a blast collecting the crabs that were suddenly exposed. While we walked my friend and I came across two starfish that were along the path. In our attempt to be good samaritans, we picked them up and politely moved them away from the trample zone.

Once people arrived

Crossing the Sea Road

My StarFish Find

Midway to the Island

Since it was the last day of the festival, it unfortunately began getting dark before the sea road opened up completely around 7:20pm. Since it was getting dark, the people crossing were forced to turn back to Jindo before completely reaching the island of Modo for safety reasons. It is a little disappointing that we were unable to walk all the way across, but I am still glad that I was able to experience the event. It is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that I will cherish. As we were walking, those that stayed on shore also released several hundred lanterns of various colors into the sky as the sun set, which gave a very peaceful setting to the end of the event after a crazy long day.