Seogwipo café with ocean-view workspace: Forest Jeongbang

I came to Seogwipo! This time, it was for 2 nights and 3 days, haha. I came to get my scuba-diving open-water certification. There is seriously so much to say about that, so I’ll do a detailed review separately later, haha. That day, after training and before dinner, we had a little time left, so I looked for a nearby café where I could use my laptop and rest!

That’s how I ended up at Forest Jeongbang (포레스트 정방)! True to its name, it had a forest view—and if you turned your gaze just a little, there was the sea too—so it looked like a great place both to work and relax.

🅿️ Oh! For parking, use the space next to the café. From what I saw, it looked big enough for around 10 cars. Looking at other reviews, it seemed everyone parked here, haha. It wasn’t something I needed to worry too much about :)

Entrance Characters and the Layout

🧸 The entrance was full of cute characters! As soon as you walk in, there are Pokémon characters lined up—Pikachu, Squirtle, Psyduck, and more, haha. There were characters like Hello Kitty too, so I think kids who love this kind of thing would really enjoy it. Even as an adult, I kept looking because they were so cute, lol.

There was also a spot behind them where you could sit for photos, so it would be nice for taking a proof shot. Plus, the scenery behind the characters was pretty too, so I think the photos would turn out well :) Using the characters as your reference point, the left side leads to the ordering area and second-floor ocean-view space, while the right side has a comparatively quiet space for sitting and working.

Kiosk Ordering and Choosing the Second Floor

☕ Once inside, you order at the kiosk~ :) Maybe because lots of tourists come here, the menu was written not only in Korean but also in English, Japanese, and Chinese.

We ordered the Jeongbang Waterfall Latte (a pistachio latte), a brown-cheese croffle, and a decaf Americano.

🌊 When I asked the owner, they said tourists use the second floor a lot, while people working on laptops also often go to the space on the right. So at first, I was planning to order and head straight to the right-hand space.

But when I went upstairs... huh? It was quieter than I expected! More than anything, the view was so good, haha. So in the end, we settled on the second floor. As expected, lots of people were sitting on the terrace. On a nice day, it would be so lovely to drink coffee while looking at the sea.

Forest and Ocean Views All the Way to Seopseom

🏝 Turn toward the terrace and the sea stretches right out before you, with Seopseom Island in the distance. Really, just like the name says: both a forest view + ocean view, haha. There are so many ocean-view cafés around Jeju, but when that lush green scenery comes in too, it creates a different kind of atmosphere.

There were also seats that would be good for a larger family group. I think the tables are normally separate, but a group had pushed them together that day. When they left, they put everything back the way it was :)

There’s a Separate Door to the Terrace

🚪 Wanting to go out onto the terrace... I started opening the folding door right in front of it, lol. You know, one of those accordion-style doors. But it was much harder to open and close than I expectedㅠㅠ My husband and I struggled away, saying, “Why is this so hard...?” and finally got outside... only to see that there was a separate terrace entrance door a little to the side, lolol. Ah... we used all that effort for nothing, haha.

Quiet Workspace and Pet-Friendly Notice

🌿 The terrace by the workspace on the right had such a nice atmosphere too. When I went, lots of international tourists were sitting on the terrace seats. The right-hand space seemed to have groups of friends, while the other side looked more like families.

It seems like a nice place to stop and rest after seeing Jeongbang Waterfall, or to sit for a while looking at the sea during a Seogwipo trip. And when I visited, it was listed as a pet-friendly café. So I thought there would be lots of dogs... but I didn’t see even one that day, lol. If you’re traveling around Jeju with a dog, it would be a good idea to check the current pet policy once more before visiting :)

Jeongbang Waterfall Latte and Brown-Cheese Croffle

💚 And finally, the drinks! First, the Jeongbang Waterfall Latte. It was seriously so pretty, haha. I almost didn’t want to mix itㅠㅠ My husband suggested trying the top layer first and then mixing it, so I took a little sip from the top first.

Before mixing, the rich latte flavor came through first. Once it was all mixed, it became a latte with a subtle pistachio flavor. And what I liked was that it wasn’t super sweet! Pistachio drinks can sometimes be so sweet that they feel heavy after just a few sips, but this one was gently nutty and sweet, so I liked it :)

🧇 Does the brown-cheese croffle even need an explanation, haha? I... really love ice cream, lol. I’m the kind of person who never regrets eating ice cream, even while dieting... So vanilla ice cream + croffle + brown cheese? Honestly, I knew it would be delicious from the moment we ordered it, haha.

Cold vanilla ice cream sits on a warm waffle, with the salty flavor of brown cheese added in. There was also a sweet sauce underneath, something like honey or syrup. So every bite goes sweet → salty → nutty → crispy, back and forth, lol. For someone like me who loves ice cream, it was just... so, so, so delicious, haha.

Meeting a Training Classmate and Taking the Final Exam

😳 We came into the café with about 1 hour and 20 minutes left before our dinner plans that evening. We found seats, took a few terrace photos, and were about to sit down when... someone who looked very familiar was sitting right next to us. A person from our scuba-diving training, lol.

Three of us, including us, had trained together, and this person had come alone. They recognized us first and said hello, and we were like, “Huh? Here?!” We were so surprised, haha. I think they recognized me first after watching me struggle to open that folding door right in front of them, lolol. Well, if we were sitting right beside each other, we would have recognized one another anyway... but of all the cafés in Seogwipo, meeting again here, haha. It made me think, “This really must be a café lots of people come to!”

💻 And then we... took our open-water final exam at the café, lol. I thought we would be done after the practical scuba-diving sessions, but it turned out there was a theory test too. After opening up our laptops and taking the exam, it was exactly time to go eat dinner, haha.

So when choosing a café that day, whether the tables and chairs were comfortable was pretty important too. We spend a lot of time working on laptops at cafés, so whenever we go to one, we look at the table height and chairs first. The tables and chairs at Forest Jeongbang were great for laptop work too! :)

Haha, we enjoyed it so much! There are drinks left in the photo, but we drank every last drop too~~~ :)

🚻 There were English instructions in the restroom too, which made me think, “Ah, this really is a café with lots of tourists,” haha. It’s so close to Jeongbang Waterfall, so it makes sense that many travelers would stop by!

The View Again on the Way Out, and the Right-Hand Space

🌊 On the way out, I looked again at the scenery behind the characters I had first seen at the entrance. Isn’t it so pretty, haha? When we first came in, I only noticed the characters, but after walking around the café and looking again, the green landscape and sea spreading out behind them made it look even prettier!

💻 Before leaving, I also looked around the right-hand space that I had originally planned to use. It definitely felt better for sitting quietly than the second floor. The chairs were comfortable, and the tables looked good for putting down a laptop and working. The view was pretty nice too. Of course... the second floor wins for the ocean view, haha.

Still, if you want to work quietly on your laptop rather than be around a busy terrace or touristy atmosphere, the right-hand space seems like a good option too! 👍🏻

Jeongbang Waterfall Right Next Door

🌴 As we left the café and turned the car around... Jeongbang Waterfall was right next door, lol. We had scuba training from 8:30 in the morning until after 2 p.m. that day... so we didn’t have the energy to make it all the way to Jeongbang Waterfall, lol. Saying, “Wow... it’s right next door...,” we still turned the car around, haha. But Jeongbang Waterfall is such a wonderful place, so I’ll come back and visit it properly next time :)

If you’re looking for a café after seeing Jeongbang Waterfall, take in the sea from the view-filled second floor, and if you need to open up your laptop, have a look at the right-hand space too, haha. We came for coffee... and ended up taking our scuba-diving exam too, lol.