How to rent a car in Jeju

This post continues from post where we first arrived at Incheon and then transited to Gimpo and took a domestic flight to Jeju!

So to day 2! We woke up early, ate the sandwiches and went to our car rental. I booked a taxi using Kakao T App, see how I did it here (wip post). Because we had 2 huge luggages, I did not want to get a taxi with a small boot so I booked a Venti, which was like a mini van, which cost about 1.4 times a regular cab (highest I saw during the whole trip was 2.2 times which was very expensive!).

We opted to go for Klook’s car rental and got a car at SJ Car Rental. I had wanted to get elsewhere that was nearer the hotel but the insurance was not comprehensive enough, i.e. it only covered up to 4m won and does not cover loss of vehicle. Of course Klook’s car rental was more expensive!

How to collect the car

The rental process was straightforward, we got the car keys at the counter and paid a 500k won deposit. This deposit will be refunded after 2-3 months to pay for any traffic fines. I saw a Singaporean queueing before me who tried to use a Youtrip card but got declined by the card payment machine so I used a bank card (with very poor exchange rates). There were 3 instances in our Korea trip where the Youtrip was declined, this, and when buying the limousine bus tickets at Incheon airport and at a specific Korean BBQ restaurant (Sukseongdo). Other than that, Youtrip worked at all restaurants, convenience stores and attractions that we had been to. We also had to pay a rental fee to use the dashboard camera.

So the first thing to do after getting the vehicle is to take pictures or video of the car exterior including the wheels in case there’s any need to dispute.

We also rented child seat and this is necessary in Korea for children below 6 years old. This was at a separate building within the SJ car rental compound and we had to stop the car right in front of the building for the lady to fix the car seat.

Good to know about driving in Jeju

So we have heard many good things about the in-car navigation system. Yes it is not bad, but it is not very easy to search for the location. Sometimes we can’t find the place we want to go, so we had to search for another address nearby. Of course you can also use Naver Map which is quite good as well, just that you would need a phone mount in the car.

One important thing to take note while driving is the speed limit in Jeju. The speed limit changes very often. When you reach a school zone it drops to 30 KM/H and you will notice every car slowing down dramatically. We failed to slow down in time for once and we noticed the camera going off. Luckily we checked that the fines were not astronomical. This was also the reason for the car deposit. The highest speed we saw was 80 KM/H. We do see vehicles moving higher than the speed limits, and on further research it is common for people to drive slightly above the limit up to about 10 KM/H.

In Jeju and Korea in general, people drive on the right side of the road. To note, you can right turn on red. Do note that the pedastrian crossing still needs to turn red before you can do so else I think it is also an offence. There’s also something called an unprotected left turn (which we heard the in-car navigation system prompt us), which means while the traffic light is green for you to do a left turn, you still need to look out for the incoming traffic so it is ‘unprotected’ in a sense.

Regarding parking fees, we have not visited any place that required us to pay any parking fees, including restaurants, attractions etc. Most places have spaces for you to park, and if there aren’t any parking lots drawn out, it is usually okay to park in some place where you obviously don’t block anybody. The only place I saw so far that required parking fees was a multi-storey parking near Dongmun Market.

How to return the car

Just prior to returning the car, you will need to fill up the petrol again. Just head to any gas station to do so, and the attendant will help you even if it is a self-service type because they recognise that your car is a rental one (because of some stickers that are prominent on the car).

After that, you will just need to drive back to the car rental shop and park in a designated spot. Leave the car keys in the car and a representative will soon come over to do a check. Once done, the representative will let you know and you can leave.

At this point, depending on your car rental shop, there should be a shuttle bus to the Jeju airport which you can take for free. For us and the timing we returned the car, the shuttle bus comes every 20 minutes, so do plan your schedule accordingly.

Hope this helps you! :)