South Korea has been a hidden gem of a dive destination for both my 11-year-old son and me. After living in South Korea for almost two years, we have had the opportunity to explore several areas from Yangyang on the northeast coast down to Jeju Island in the south of the peninsula. 

The name for these women divers, in Korean, is haenyeo. It literally means ‘women of the sea’. Traditionally, the women wore only a simple home-sewn white linen combination of pants and a top with lead-weighted vests where they tucked the specialized tools of their trade.

Bonnie McKenna is an internationally known fine art photographer specializing in the beauty of life under the sea and the nature of the great outdoors. She is a PADI certified Master Scuba Diver Trainer. She has written for several publications including D-Log—an interactive dive log for the islands of Palau—Houston Community Newspapers and The Tribune News-papers as a travel writer after a long career with Continental Airlines. She is currently a reporter for the Houston Chronicle.