Haenyeo – Inside the Island of Sea Women

Lessons from Jeju | Freediving and Motherhood with Kimi Werner

Documentary: 12 year old Korean Haenyeo Diver in 1975

This film documents a day in the life of a 12 year old Korean girl, learning to dive as a haenyeo on the island of Jeju. This novice diver is of the last generation that will engage in this vocation, and serves as an important historical document.

100 Icons of Korean Culture: The Haenyeo of Jeju (Episode 15)

Diving with the last generation of Korea’s Mermaids by Heidi Shin

I’m on a boat with a group of Korean grandmothers — but it’s not a cruise ship and there’s no shuffleboard in sight. It’s a motorboat and these elderly ladies are sporting wetsuits and goggles. They’re in their 60s, 70s, even 80s, and they’re about to jump into the ocean with what look like small garden hoes in hand. READ MORE

Haenyeo Divers — Haeynyos preparing for their dive. Commerical fisheries have largely emptied the waters so the divers have to travel further out to find their catch.

Sun hats — After the dive, the haeynyos swap their dive masks for floral sunhats.

The Haenyeo Community

Haenyeo Diving

In March, Haenyeo go out to the inter-tidal zone and gather seaweed using a hoe. Most fishing villages collect and share seaweed together.

Haenyeo going to dive, with drying agar along the roadside

Forming a Community of Fishing Industry - The divers' union has been an autonomous unit since the latter era of the Choson Dynasty. The fishery community has been organized in order to protect the rights of Haenyeo.

Haenyeo diving from raft-style boat and sailboat

Haenyeo weighing collected marine products on large scale (In the 1970's)

Haenyeo sitting at port while waiting for boat

Bulteok

Haenyeo sitting and chatting around fire pit shelter

Friendly Talks at the Bulteok (Outdoor Fireplace)

Sea Women Documentaries

Sea Women Promo Clip — A film by Mikhail Karikis

The Women Divers of Jeju Island – Talk by Brenda Paik Sunoo