I’ve always been fascinated by people with a strong character and a strong spirit, the Haenyeo of Jeju island are definitely the greatest exponents of this characteristic of the human spirit that I’ve ever met.
Jeju is a wonderful volcanic island on the south-west coast of South Korea, where for hundreds of years there has been a community of women divers harvesting in the cold sea holding their breaths, a source of income for them and their families.
The women immerse themselves in the water of the coasts of Jeju Island with their fins, wet suit, chest weights, gloves and mask, managing to reach without breathing depths of about 10 meters, even if I heard of haenyeo that reach 30 meters underwater. They remain in the depths of the sea, usually harvesting for 3 to 6 hours a day.
Going back to the surface after about 2-3 minutes of diving, according to the ability of the woman, the haenyeo emit a particular whistle (called Sumbi Sori) that allows them to release the carbon dioxide generated during the time underwater without breathing, a sound that seems belong to fascinating mythical creatures, born from the encounter between the human and the marine world.
Consider one of the Jeju island treasures, the women divers, without the aid of oxygen tanks or snorkels and equipped with only a hooked rod called kkakkuri, capture mollusks like an octopus, oysters, sea snails and sea urchins that they put in the green net attached to an orange float, and then resell everything at the markets or to the restaurants.
Some organize banquets by the sea where they clean and serve their fresh catch directly in the jaws of satisfied customers. At every mouthful, the eyes of the diners open wide in an expression of adoration for the food just tasted.
Traditionally the girls started their training around 11 years old, going from shallow water to deeper depths and then officially became an haenyeo after 7 years. By learning to hold their breath, dive deep and understand the limits of their bodies related to the pressure exerted by the water or the level of oxygen, things of vital importance in this type of underwater harvesting.
The wetsuits at the beginning were just cotton swimsuits with weights sewn to facilitate the dive, which in winter made fishing even more demanding and hard. The cold and the bad weather have never stopped these women with an independent and strong temperament, even today the haenyeo gather around a bonfire on the coast to warm up, before getting back into the water without any hesitation.
The number of women of the Jeju sea has drastically decreased in the last decades as the difficult life related to diving has found alternatives, especially thanks to the growing business of tourism and agriculture (characteristics of the island are the cultivations of mandarins, scattered everywhere especially in the Seogwipo area) and the possibility is given by modern education in finding other types of work much less heavy and way easier but that has another impact on the human soul, which is definitely not getting stronger and shinier sitting at a desk of an office.
Today haenyeo are practically all over 50, often they are even more than 80 years old, but if you see them in action they look like the age of a young girl.
I’ve traveled a lot and met many cultures, people and lifestyles and I can say that the haenyeo are rare and unique women that really impressed me with their singular strength, determination and courage in risking their lives practically every day they dive to take home the money for them and their beloved families.
Their looks is what fascinated me the most, bright eyes full of vitality in a face decorated by the signs of the past in tough physical conditions, with a genuine and pure smile and something indescribable, intense, wise and deep that they can transmit you just being close to them.
