통영 홍도 (Hongdo, Tongyeong)
An uninhabited rock 50 km south of Tongyeong, and the best wall diving in Korean waters.
- Depth
- 10–38 m33–125 ft
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Entry
- Boat · Liveaboard
- Typical current
- Strong
- Coordinates
- 34°31.866′N 128°43.884′E
- Activities
- Scuba · Freediving
Hongdo is a bare island two hours out of Tongyeong, far enough offshore that the South Sea's usual green turns blue. The walls carry soft coral as dense as Jeju's and hold the biggest Asian sheepshead wrasse most Korean divers will see — old males with foreheads like a fist. It is an advanced site: the crossing is long, the current is real, and there is no shelter if the weather turns, so trips are weather-called on the morning and cancelled often. Late summer and autumn.
Two hours by boat from Tongyeong. Most operators run it as a day trip or an overnight on the boat.
Best season
- ExcellentAug–Sep
- GoodJul
- GoodOct
Before you get in
- Past 30 m, where no-stop time and gas both go quickly and nitrogen narcosis starts to show.
- A wall. There is no bottom in sight to judge against, so depth is kept by the gauge alone — and it is easy to end up deeper than intended.
- Recorded as a site with strong current. Settle your gas reserve, when you would call the dive, and your surface signal before you get in.
Taken from this site’s recorded depth, type and current, and nothing else. An empty list is not a safe site — the sea on the day, the local geography and the boat traffic are not in it. The briefing on the spot comes first.
Conditions
No live conditions for this site yet.
We only show numbers we can attribute to a source.
Sea state and tide
Marine life you may see
- Soft coralDendronephthya spp.Common
- Asian sheepshead wrasseSemicossyphus reticulatusCommon
- Striped beakfishOplegnathus fasciatusCommon
- Korean rockfishSebastes schlegeliiCommon
- Pearl-spot chromisChromis notataCommon
- NudibranchNudibranchiaCommon
From divers
What people who were in the water reported. Not a forecast, and not a judgement about whether the site is safe to dive.
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