Travels in Thailand: Koh Tao Island

Two weeks in paradise on Koh Tao

Koh Tao has got to be in the top ten most beautiful places I've ever been in my life. It's a very small island (about 8 square miles) in southern Thailand, famous for being one of the best places in the world to scuba dive. A friend of ours who worked at our university in Nanning moved to Koh Tao to become a diving instructor, so we decided to go visit him and see what Koh Tao had to offer.

If you close your eyes and imagine a tropical island paradise, you'll probably think of soft white beaches, sunshine, clear, bright blue water, schools of colorful, exotic fish, palm trees, sipping cocktails from a lounge chair on the sand... and that is pretty much exactly what you're getting on Koh Tao. Add to that a generally younger, more athletic and adventurous crowd of tourists who are there for the internationally famous diving spots and you get a really interesting place to spend a vacation. 

We arrived there only two days after entering Thailand, with no real plan for how long we would stay. We were invited to our friends' wedding on the nearby island of Koh Samui which was at the end of January, but that was our only definite plan for our trip to Thailand. In the end, Koh Tao was so lovely we kept extending our stay until we absolutely had to leave for the wedding. We stayed about for about two weeks altogether.

The island is divided up into a few main areas. The most popular place to stay and the most lively is Sairee Beach. Most of the nightlife can be found there, with sunset happy hours every night along the beach, and entertainment like fire dancers and live music. There are a lot of different accommodation options, from fairly cheap hostels to very expensive resorts. We stayed at 8 Homestel, a hostel near Mae Haad Pier which is where the ferries come and go. It made arriving on the island easy as we could just walk a few minutes to the hostel from the pier. That said, it was not the cleanest or nicest hostel I've stayed at. After that we moved over to Prik Thai Resort at Sairee Beach, which has very reasonably priced cabins that were absolutely perfect for us. It was clean, super comfortable and quiet, and the woman who runs the resort was probably the friendliest person I met during our travels.

Our cabin at Prik Thai Resort

The garden view from our cabin at Prik Thai Resort

Watching the sunset on Sairee Beach

For people who want to stay somewhere even quieter and are prepared to get around the island by motorbike, Chalok Bay or Shark Bay are also nice options. Personally I liked staying in Sairee Beach because there were so many good options for food and going out in the evening, and Prik Thai Resort was a quiet escape from the beach when we needed it.

Chalok Bay

Cabins at Shark Bay

Most people go to Koh Tao for diving, and there are plenty of schools that will teach absolute beginners over the course of 2 or 3 days and get them from zero to actually diving. There are so many different diving schools to choose from, with instructors speaking a wide variety of languages. My friend works for Koh Tao Divers and while I did not go diving, I did snorkel with them and it was such a fun experience. When they happen to have room on their boat, snorkelers can sign up with Koh Tao Divers to go to some of the dive sites that are difficult or impossible to get to by land, such as Mango Bay or Nang Yuan Island (two small islands connected by a sand bar next to Koh Tao). They provided me with a life jacket, snorkel, and fins, and I got to snorkel on my own along the coast near the boat. I had about an hour or so at each site while the others were diving, and both Mango Bay and Nang Yuan were absolutely stunning. I really cannot recommend it enough.

Heading out in the morning to go snorkeling with Koh Tao Divers

Mango Bay

The Koh Tao Divers' boat

Nang Yuan Island

My post-snorkeling raccoon face lol

You may be wondering why I didn't try diving on Koh Tao. I really like outdoor sports; I've done hiking, camping, kayaking, rock climbing, skiing (both downhill and cross country), snowboarding, snow-shoeing, snorkeling, etc., but honestly diving is just not for me. The idea of going underwater with only some equipment to keep you alive kind of creeps me out. That said, the diving schools take safety very seriously, especially from what I've heard from my friend at Koh Tao Divers. For beginners, they only go as far as learners are willing and safely able to go, and the experience sounds really amazing. Despite my fear of diving, my friend did have me seriously thinking about giving it a try. Who knows, maybe someday I'll get over it and give diving a try.

Other things to do on the island: there are some good look out points that can be hike up to, such as a really easy one by Chalok Bay called John-Suwan Viewpoint. This was just a 10-20 minute walk uphill from Chalok Bay, and you do have to pay to enter the viewpoint "bar". But it was definitely worth it in my opinion. They will provide you with a drink on entry (bottled water or soda) and the look out has unbelievably beautiful 360 degree views of Chalok Bay and Shark Bay. There are tree-house style platforms to sit and enjoy the ocean breeze, and it would be a fantastic place to watch the sunset. Another nice place to walk to is Hin Wong Bay, about a 30 minute walk up a fairly steep hill from Sairee Beach. It's a gorgeous little beach and a great place to go snorkeling.

View from John Suwan Viewpoint, looking toward Shark Bay

John Suwan Viewpoint

Looking out over the mountains at John Suwan Viewpoint

Walking over to Hin Wong Bay

The beach at Hin Wong Bay

You can also get traditional Thai massage, eat a wide variety of delicious food - everything from Mexican-American to Indian, and of course plenty of Thai - and a lot of people get a bamboo tattoo while staying on Koh Tao as well. Bamboo tattoo involves dipping a needle attached to a piece of bamboo into ink and is a very old method of tattooing that has existed in Thailand for centuries. Some people who have done both bamboo and machine tattooing claim that bamboo is less painful, but I've also heard people say the opposite. It may depend on what part of the body is being tattooed. The design may also end up looking different depending on which method you use, as it's more difficult to do shading with the bamboo method. Do your research if you plan to get one while traveling in Thailand; not all the tattoo parlors take health and safety as seriously as they should. Make sure you choose a place that has sterile tools, good ink, and has a lot of good reviews.

American style tacos at Cantina de Koh Tao, Sairee Beach

A pancake covered in chocolate and vanilla sauce, popular street food in Thailand

Mango sticky rice

Amazing shrimp Pad Thai at my favorite cafe on Sairee Beach, New Heaven Cafe

Finally, a couple words of caution. If you don't know how to drive a motorbike, you probably should not rent one in Thailand, and especially not on Koh Tao. Every year tourists in Thailand die or are seriously injured in accidents driving motorbikes that they are not trained to drive, or because they're behaving recklessly and drinking and driving. Think of your own safety and the safety of everyone around you, and don't be an idiot. If you've been drinking plan to walk back or get a ride. And secondly, there is some crime, such as theft or sexual assault, so if you're planning to party exercise some caution; always take a friend and communicate with each other well about where you're going and who you're with.

That said, I felt really safe on Koh Tao and absolutely loved my time there. If I get the chance to go back to Thailand someday, I would really like to return to the island. It was the perfect place to both relax and feel active. Snorkeling there and getting to know the local ecosystem in the coral reef was incredible. And there's nothing better than spending every evening on the beach, watching the sun set over the ocean.