The Best Spot Near Jeju Airport for Plane Spotting: Yongdam Beach in Front of Yongduam Haechon Restaurant

There was a time I spent a lot of hours chasing aircraft with my children. Gimpo, Incheon — anywhere there were planes, I went. Museums too. The Jeju Aerospace Museum I visited more times than I can count. The Gimpo Aviation Museum as well. I even made the trip out to the Korea Aerospace Museum in Sacheon (사천), and the Air Force Museum at the Korea Air Force Academy in Cheongju (청주). In Hawaii, I tracked down the aviation museum at Pearl Harbor.

Among all those places, Jeju Airport gradually became something more than just a gateway. It became a destination in itself. My kid was completely obsessed with planes.

A Neighborhood Restaurant That's Always Been There

Whenever I arrive at or leave from Jeju, I sometimes end up stopping somewhere for a meal without much thought. That place is Yongduam Haechon (용두암해촌), in Yongdam 3-dong (용담삼동). It sits along the coast just east of the airport. Nothing fancy about it — a local neighborhood restaurant — but the food is solid, and there's something reassuring about a place that's just always been there.

It's also, as it turns out, one of the better spots to catch planes coming in low over the water.

Why This Spot Works

There are several plane-spotting points around Jeju Airport. The airport itself isn't large, so the approach and departure patterns are fairly predictable. But this stretch of coastline along the eastern side gets traffic too.

On days when weather conditions push landings to approach from the east, it's ideal. The aircraft come in from far out over the open sea, which gives you time to get your shot ready. Blue water, blue sky — and a clean frame with nothing but the plane.

The longing for planes — you can see it in every inch of his outstretched arms.

If you use Flightradar24, you can get aircraft info and arrival times in advance, which makes things much more efficient. That day, though, I just waited. No app. Just the anticipation.

When a plane passes directly overhead, it moves fast. Frames get cropped off. Horizons go sideways. None of that really matters.

Utility Poles and All

Since Jeju isn't home to a huge variety of airlines, a couple of hours at this spot is usually enough to see most of the aircraft types that serve the island. Clean shots are fine. But the real draw here — the thing that makes this location different from the other spotting points around the airport — is the tangle of utility poles and power lines running across the frame. Planes threading between them, looking like they might clip a wire on the way down. That tension is the shot.

The aircraft are genuinely low here. Just before touchdown. Not close enough to touch, obviously — but close enough that if you're sitting inside Yongduam Haechon eating a meal, the engine noise fills the room. The building trembles a little. That kind of close.

Old Photos, Old Thoughts

I've been going through old photos lately, backing things up, sorting through archives. Seeing the plane shots brought up a lot.

There was a period when I took the kids everywhere. 2025 wasn't one of those years. Two trips overseas, and that was about it. Nothing much domestically.

On my end, I changed jobs. The kids have grown. My oldest is about to start high school — already deep in whatever it is that hits Korean middle schoolers in their second and third year. That difficult stretch. You know the one.

He wanted to be a pilot when he was young. Planes were everywhere in his childhood. But in Korea, becoming a pilot means passing through one of the most competitive academic pipelines imaginable — and study wasn't his strong suit. Somewhere in middle school, the goal shifted.

He said he wanted to work on the ground — maintaining aircraft at the airport. So he wanted to apply to a specialized vocational high school (특성화고, the old-style technical schools). Not what I'd pictured for him, but I went to the information sessions, did the research, supported him through it. And honestly — some of those schools are impressive. Jeongseok Aviation High School (정석항공고) in particular. Good facilities, solid curriculum. I would have been curious to study there myself. His grades didn't line up with that one, so he applied elsewhere. It didn't work out in the end. A regular high school it is, which isn't a closed door. But his habits and motivation — that's still the real concern.

His dreams will probably change again. He's only just finishing middle school. Whatever comes next, I hope he finds something he actually wants to pursue, and throws himself into it. College entrance exams and university aren't everything — but they're not something you can dismiss unless you have the kind of talent or drive that renders them irrelevant.

In 2026, I hope that wide-eyed feeling of looking up at the sky — the kind he had as a small kid watching planes — finds its way into something real. Some kind of effort. Some kind of step forward.

💡 Foreign readers might also want to know:How does Jeju Airport work? Jeju International Airport is one of the busiest single-runway airports in the world. Its compact layout and high traffic volume mean approach paths are consistent — which is exactly why plane-spotting here is so rewarding.What is a 특성화고 (specialized vocational high school)? In Korea's education system, students can choose between regular academic high schools and vocational high schools that specialize in fields like aviation, IT, culinary arts, or marine engineering. Admission is competitive and grade-dependent, much like university.Where exactly is Yongduam Haechon? It's located in Yongdam 3-dong, on the coastal road east of Jeju Airport. The area is also home to Yongduam Rock (용두암), a well-known basalt formation — worth a short walk if you're in the area.

The location marked on the map is the photo spot.