Dense macroalgal assemblages are a common feature of the rocky subtidal habitats along the coast of Geumo Archipelago in the central South Sea of Korea, but are highly variable in space. This study addresses two questions concerning the algal assemblages: (1) how variable the distribution, abundance and species composition of the assemblages are in space, and (2) how closely the distribution, abundance and species composition of the assemblages are correlated to the spatial variation in abiotic factors. To answer these questions, we investigated 30 sites along the coast in autumn of 2003. The nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis showed that there were strong differences in the composition and abundance of species in the assemblages among the sites. The similarity among the sites based on presence/absence data was approximately 51%, whereas the similarity based on abundance data was less than 37%, suggesting that the abundance of species contributed much to these differences. There were also strong differences in the number of species, abundance and vertical distribution of the assemblages along the coast. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the number of species, abundance and vertical distribution of the assemblages had a positive relationship with water depth, but less than 58% of total variation in these variables was explained by this abiotic factor. The results suggest that spatial (between habitats) variation is an important and consistent component of subtidal algal assemblages in Geumo Archipelago and should be explained before any differences between localities are assessed.