Taxi to Seogwipo can hit ₩40,000–₩50,000; buses cut that.
Intercity Bus Services from Jeju International Airport Terminal 1 work best if you’re heading to Seogwipo or smaller towns and don’t want that long-meter taxi bill. The catch: there’s no single “airport–Seogwipo” magic line. You usually ride a city bus from the airport to a main terminal such as Jeju Intercity Bus Terminal, then transfer to an intercity line heading down-island.
Inside the arrivals hall at CJU, the tourist information desk is the real hub; staff speak enough English and Japanese to get you sorted and will usually circle your terminal (for example, Jeju Intercity Bus Terminal) and write bus numbers on a paper map. One guide flat-out recommends going here first rather than hunting bus stop boards outside.
Bus stops sit just outside the Terminal 1 arrivals exit, in signed bays grouped by direction such as downtown Jeju, east coast, and south toward Seogwipo. Expect to first board a local city route from these bays for around 10–20 minutes to reach a major terminal, then switch to an intercity or express route for the longer leg. It’s normal for the airport part of the ride to feel like a short shuttle hop rather than the “real” trip.
Fares run on the usual Jeju card-and-cash system: T-money, Cashbee, and similar cards work on both city and intercity lines, and single rides often land under ₩5,000 even with a transfer, compared with a ₩40,000+ taxi to Seogwipo. Some drivers still prefer exact coins or small bills if you pay cash on an older intercity coach, so keep at least ₩10,000 broken into smaller notes.
Regulars skip the trial‑and‑error. They walk straight from baggage claim to the tourist information desk, say “Seogwipo,” “Pyoseon,” or another final town, and hand over their arrival time; staff then write the right intercity line number plus transfer terminal and sketch how many minutes each leg usually takes. This avoids trying to decode Korean‑only route maps with multiple 100‑series and 200‑series lines.
Watch out for one thing: the extra transfer. Many first‑timers expect a single bus from the airport to every town and end up confused when told to change at Jeju Intercity Bus Terminal or another hub. Build at least 20–30 minutes of buffer for the change, especially in the evening when headways stretch and missing one coach can add noticeable wait time.
Practical tip: before you exit arrivals, snap a photo of the desk‑marked map and the written bus numbers; if you lose the paper on the bus, that photo is your backup when you ask the next driver or station clerk for help.