Sanbangsan Mountain Carbonate Hot Springs — Attraction in Seogwipo-si

Right off the bat, I'll say this place IS foreigner friendly & they have English signs and explanations available in most areas. The front desk can explain the process in very basic English too. I'm white & dont speak a word of Korean, but the spa staff were helpful & treated me well, so foreigners don't be shy. If you've never been to one of these before, the process for this one is detailed down below.

This is a pretty standard Korean spa/bath house. I've been to several & also onsen (Japanese version). Comparably, this one is pretty good & quite large.

There are several hot (& I do mean HOT) baths to soak in, 1 cold bath, 2 large carbonated baths, tons of sitting & standing showers, an outdoor co-ed area with a pool & hot tub area (swimsuits required outdoors, obvs), body scrub area, a large co-ed jjimjilbang sauna, steamroom, restaurant, lounge area... lots of stuff to do.

For those who have been to Japanese onsen, Korean spas are pretty much the same thing, except you won't get booted out for having a tattoo! 😆

For those who have no onsen or jjimjilbang experience, here's the breakdown for this place: go in & tell the front desk what you'd like to do for the day (indoor spa only vs both indoor & outdoor; and if you want to use the sauna). Pay. Get a ticket with a # on it, a towel, sauna clothes (if needed), bathing suit for outdoors (if needed, or bring ur own). Take off ur shoes. Put them in the shoe lockers (to the left of front desk) that match your ticket #. The shoe lockers will give you a bracelet with the same # as your ticket. DONT LOSE THE BRACELET. It stays on your arm or leg the whole time.

Go into the locker room (men second floor, women first floor). Find your locker (same as ticket#), unlock it by touching the circle with the bracelet. Strip down fully nude. Yes, nude. No, they wont let you use a bathing suit in the indoor spa.

Buy some shampoo/conditioner/body soap from the vending machine. Or bring ur own. Most locals bring their own bathing products. This spa doesn't provide free hair/body products like some do.

Tip: if you buy products from the vending machine it's 1,500 won/each for a packet of shampoo, conditioner & body wash. Don't buy all 3 separately like I did. There's a 3-pack option in the vending machine with all 3 for only 3,000 won.

Shower in the spa area before going in the hot tub. Go in the hot tub before the carbonated tub (opens your pores more if you use the hot tub first, I guess). Keep your towels dry by putting them in a large bowl (you'll see cream colored large bowls stacked on the top of the shower area). There's not a good place to put your towels here where they'll stay dry.

If you're doing the outdoor option, put your swimming suit on in the indoor spa area right before you go outside (you have to walk thru the indoor spa to get to the outdoor one). As soon as you come in from the outdoor area, take your swimming suit off.

(Btw, there's no way to do just the outdoor pool/hot tub. You either do just indoor or both indoor & outdoor)

Max time allowed at the spa is 5 hours, or they charge you more by the hour. If your bracelet won't open the shoe locker when you try to leave, you haven't settled your bill (i.e., you got a body scrub or something & haven't paid yet).

Long review, sorry, but a lot of foreign people are intimidated by these places, so a detailed breakdown would have helped me out a lot before I went to my...

English Instructions for tourists I came here by public transport and walking after visiting Sanbangsan cave temple. I don't recommend public transport because Naver map never give me the correct schedule or it's always late. Taxi costs about 25k won or less from Seogwipo At the reception, a staff helped me in simple English. I paid 20k won for entrance (18k), swimsuit and sauna. I was given a ticket with the number of my shoe locker. After I left my shoes in the locker, I keep the locker key which is a badge with spiral hairband. Then I proceed to the changing room, I found the locker with the same number and open it using the badge. I left my belongings in the locker. Here, you can either undress conpletely to get into the indoor spa (towel is provided to cover your head) or put on the sauna clothes to go to the sauna or put on a swimsuit to go to the outdoor spa. The sauna and restaurant entrance is next to the reception. The indoor spa area has several warm and cold pools, shower area and korean scrub area. Whole body scrub costs 90k won. The warmest pool is 44C. To access the outdoor spa, you need to pass through the indoor spa and shower area. I honestly like the outdoor spa a lot. There are several pools with view of Sanbangsan mountain. Many people bring a waterproof casing for their phones to take pictures. You are advised to wear dark colored swimsuit because the water can discolor your clothes. You can also access the restaurant and sauna from here. You can order food at the machine (only in Korean) and scan your badge. The staff is nice enough to help me to order by pointing to the pictures of the food. You will need to pay for the food on your way out at the reception, otherwise, I heard that the shoe locker will not open. Once you are done, you can take a shower and return to your locker. All the wet towels and clothes provided can be left in a big collection bin. There is a waiting room next to the reception in case you need to wait your...

First experience of a Korean hot spring baths and thought it was okay.

As per previous posts, experience would be better if more English was available. There is actually an A4 size paper with some English information but staff did not show it to us on arrival. I spotted it as I was leaving.

Standard entry of 13,000 Won is for the main hot springs baths which is nude only (jeju residents pay a discounted price 9k). If you also want the outdoor hot springs, it's an additional 5,000 Won. You can't not pay for the indoor nude baths.

Time limit 5 hours from entry.

Towels are provided. Guests are given a ticket with locker number. There are lockers for your footwear before entering the bathhouse and bigger lockers within the bathhouse for your belongings. Ladies bathhouse entrance is on ground floor next to reception and mens is on upper floor.

Guests have to walk through the nude indoor hot baths to get to the outdoor hot baths. When you return from the outdoor baths, you are not supposed wear your wet dripping swimsuit into the lockers & changing area. There is a small dryer spinner machine at the door for drying wet swimsuit or towels.

Communal showers (no cubicles) are in the indoor baths area. Changing area is simply a big space with benches. There is no private cubicle for getting changed.

Water dispenser available in the lockers & changing area.

Aside the baths, upstairs there is a resting area, a sleeping room and...